LCRU Out of Commission?

Hard to say from that description, not enough information.  OTOH, who cares?  You're going to replace the motor and electronics, so anything that might have failed will be renewed in any case.

Did you try reprogrammng the board ? Similar to assigning a new ID but a little different. 1;PRORAM /RUN SWITCH TO PROGRAM. 2; COMMAND BASE ON.  3; LOCO ON TRACK, POWER ON.  4; PRESS  ENG, LOCO ID #, PRESS SET.   5; PRESS ENG, THEN LOCO ID AGAIN.  6; PRESS AUX1 THEN CODE NUMBER 740.   7; POWER OFF WAIT 10 SECONDS THEN MOVE LOCO PROGRAM/RUN SWITCH BACK TO RUN. 8; LOCO BACK ON TRACK, PRESS ENG AND ID NUMBER AND BOOST.    Hopefully your back to normal.    John

This is an LCRU2, don't think it has the AUX codes, at least the manual doesn't mention them. 

Lionel 6-18056 Hudson User's Manual

John, not sure where on the Lionel site I printed this out but I have a page that has Reprogramming codes for R2LC  &  LCRU2 codes. It gives 740 as the reprogramming code for  18056 and 18062. Not to mention that going through the reprogramming protocol I was able to revive a LCRX  that refused to respond. The manual does not mention that this is possible. This board went dead so to speak after my attempt to add a second parallel .01 uf cap across an led when one capacitor would not crank the triac. One cap was working fine on the front LED but the rear LED would flash on then off.  So since I just bought one hundred .01 uf caps and I only have four 1K resistors in my parts bin, which is what I had been using to keep triacs on. I decided to try two parallel caps and see if it would hold the triac. Then a very strange thing happened. When I applied power to the test track both headlights began to flash, about two flashes / sec. till they stopped in about five seconds. The board seemed dead no lights no coupler functions.  I pulled both LEDs out and replaced the incandescent bulbs. Still dead !  So I figured, "Whats to lose" try  reprogramming.  I used AUX1+4  and when I switched the P/R switch back to run and applied power the board was back with the living. I suspect any number after AUX1 would work on the LCRX board, perhaps no number at all may even work , who knows.  I'm not going to try till the next time I'm desperate.   J

Right you are John, I have this page, and is sure does show the 18056 Hudson!  I stand (or rather sit) corrected!

I know the LCRU doesn't have reprogramming, I made the false assumption that the LCRU2 didn't either.  I don't know where the LCRX falls in that list, but I believe it's for unpowered units.

Period Lionel Instructions for engine with LCRU2 also have reset codes.

LCRU 2 PROGRAM CODE FOR OTHER ENGINES

0 = STEAM WITH SIGNAL SOUNDS

1 = DIESEL WITH SIGNAL SOUNDS

2 = DIESEL WITH CAB LIGHT AND SIGNAL SOUNDS

4 = STEAM WITH SMOKE

5 = DIESEL WITH STROBE LIGHT

6 = DIESEL WITH CAB LIGHT

36 = ALCO PA’S - NEW IN 1997

70 = J1E HUDSON & S.F. WARHORSE (BOTH

LOCO&TENDER MUST BE ON TRACK)

75 = SOO LINE SD-60

I did try the AUX1+7+4+0 reprogramming John described. Still nada. I do know that most of the time, this works - as I did with many other Lionel TMCC locos - but not this one.

GGG posted:

Period Lionel Instructions for engine with LCRU2 also have reset codes.

...

Did you see what was posted right above your post?

Yes, but that is the generic posted one that happens to have the model number for "some" LCRU engines but not "all" of them.  The point is that if you look at period instructions for engines with LCRU2 you will see a table of reset codes.  There are other steam and diesel LCRU2 engines that do not have there model number in the chart you posted.  Trying to point that out for others who do a search for an engine not the 18056.  G

GGG posted:

Yes, but that is the generic posted one that happens to have the model number for "some" LCRU engines but not "all" of them.  The point is that if you look at period instructions for engines with LCRU2 you will see a table of reset codes.  There are other steam and diesel LCRU2 engines that do not have there model number in the chart you posted.  Trying to point that out for others who do a search for an engine not the 18056.  G

I understand, I just didn't get your point as the model in question being discussed happened to be represented in that chart.  I agree, it's a generic chart and many locomotives wouldn't be represented.

Well as long as this old thread is still open, let's have at it! @GGG and @gunrunnerjohn, you both posted info above regarding LCRU2 codes. That is useful stuff, but do you have any more info (4 years later) that would provide more detail? For example code 1, does it provide outputs for couplers, rear lighting, sound (serial data), cab lights, etc.? And very importantly, which of the outputs (J1 thru J4 control all of these things? I have scoured the diagrams on here and other places, but most if not all, are provided for a specific engine/Lionel p/n. Are the outputs "soft" or hard wired?

And while I have your attention, when a single digit engine code is programmed into an LCRU2, does it matter if a zero precedes it, i.e. 01 the same as 1?

George

Early LCRU were hard wire programed, only later version could be programmed like a R2LC.  It is the same architect.   They have front and rear coupler, directional lights, then you have one output programable. Either smoke, cab light or flashing beacon.  Directional lights can be steam HL on all the time, or Diesel, directional.  All just like a basic TMCC engine.  G

Thanks G! What I am really after is a list of what functions are tied to which inputs & output. After a day of researching the OGR threads, I found a LOT of info, but nothing that directly answered that question. So after looking at a lot of schematics, wiring diagrams and such, I wrote this up. If ya'll can take a look at this and offer any corrections or additions, I would appreciate it. If it's basically correct I will add it to the TMCC Info thread - thanks!

George

Isn't all this info up in the Lionel tech section?  You also can get the early GP wiring diagrams off Lionel service site.  Here is the early LCRU document.

@GGG posted:

Isn't all this info up in the Lionel tech section?  You also can get the early GP wiring diagrams off Lionel service site.  Here is the early LCRU document.

Thanks G, I have that document already, it is only for the LCRU. My question pertained to the LCRU2 where I can actually program a code, not just a few hardwire options.

What I am doing is installing an LCRU2 where there was none before. So if I choose to install an LCRU2 in, let's say, a 736 Berk, which of the reset or programming codes would allow Railsounds 2.5, a backup light, a rear coupler and smoke? Both your chart and John's show codes 1 and 4 as Steam with Signal Sounds and Steam with Smoke, respectively. Since neither of those mention a coupler, rear lighting, etc. how would I know which to choose? If I felt that those were the ONLY two codes that would work, then I would just experiment, trying both. But I believe there are others that would work as well, perhaps some codes that aren't even on that chart, or even some that say Diesel.

I guess it's just trial and error in the case of adding TMCC to an old PW engine, and the same could apply for a newer engine whose model number isn't listed in that chart. It would have been nice if the chart listed ALL FEATURES that each code would provide. That's what I have been asking, to see if anyone had that. That's also why I needed to know the pinouts for an LCRU2, to first allow me to wire up a rear coupler, a RailSounds system, etc., then to experiment with various codes to find one that worked. To the best of my knowledge there is no Installation manual for the LCRU2 that lists pin assignments, that's why II created the one above.

I appreciate your help and John's, I guess this is just one of the holes in Lionel's documentation.

George

The couplers and Railsounds serial data output work the same no matter what the programming is, they're always active.

The lights for diesel are directional, on in the direction of travel.

The lights for steam are headlight always on, taillight on in reverse.

The major difference in the programming is the "feature" output, it can be either a smoke unit, beacon, or cab light.

Note that the "smoke" output is a wimpy To-92 triac, so don't expect it to drive a full size smoke unit.  More than around 200-250ma through that triac will doubtless overheat it.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

The couplers and Railsounds serial data output work the same no matter what the programming is, they're always active.

The lights for diesel are directional, on in the direction of travel.

The lights for steam are headlight always on, taillight on in reverse.

The major difference in the programming is the "feature" output, it can be either a smoke unit, beacon, or cab light.

Note that the "smoke" output is a wimpy To-92 triac, so don't expect it to drive a full size smoke unit.  More than around 200-250ma through that triac will doubtless overheat it.

NAILED IT! That exactly answers my questions. Thank you, John!

George

Jeez, That is what I told you in the first post I made.  TMCC always has couplers and directional lights, then a programable output.  I said that.  I provided the document so you could see pinout.  I thought that was where you were lost.  G

@GGG posted:

Jeez, That is what I told you in the first post I made.  TMCC always has couplers and directional lights, then a programable output.  I said that.  I provided the document so you could see pinout.  I thought that was where you were lost.  G

And so you did! Thank you, my friend. Sometimes it takes a while for me to find my way out of the forest cuz of all the trees.

I was really stuck on two points:

1) the notion of exactly what are all the differences between a #1 and say, a #6 reset code, and

2) what are the pinouts for an LCRU2? Oddly, this didn't seem to be documented anywhere.

Here's a chance to offer more help though Tell me why Lionel labels all their LCRU2s (in the p/n and description section) as either steam or diesel? Aren't all LCRU2s capable of running either? I thought the answer was due to the wiring harnesses they included, but not all LCRU2s come with a wiring harness. So why the STEAM/DIESEL labeling?

George

@GeoPeg posted:

Here's a chance to offer more help though Tell me why Lionel labels all their LCRU2s (in the p/n and description section) as either steam or diesel? Aren't all LCRU2s capable of running either? I thought the answer was due to the wiring harnesses they included, but not all LCRU2s come with a wiring harness. So why the STEAM/DIESEL labeling?

I "think" that maybe the steam models handle smoke slightly different than the diesel models.  I know that I had an LCRU2 that went into "blink" mode on the smoke output when stopped when programmed for steam.  I never chased this down that completely, so I'm not sure if this is the default behavior.

Truthfully, I'm not sure if there is any operational difference in the boards, maybe the mounting for the heatsink is different?