Legacy 10 wheeler problem

Two cab light blinks is the OBD indicating a main smoke unit element problem.

Have you tried turning off the smoke unit to see if anything changes?

Thanks. It stopped the error light. I guess I need a new element. But the engine does not respond to Legacy commands.

I'm confused about the new board not fixing it, that suggests to me that there may be something that is cooking the boards in there!

I have a plan.  As it turns out, I recently completed a project that hits at the heart of this issue, Building a Lionel RCMC Board Test Fixture.  I can test both boards for you and see if there's an issue with the boards.  It's also possible that there might be repairs possible if the boards are damaged.  Before I had my test set, it was hard to test these.

Here's the test set in action.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

I'm confused about the new board not fixing it, that suggests to me that there may be something that is cooking the boards in there!

I have a plan.  As it turns out, I recently completed a project that hits at the heart of this issue, Building a Lionel RCMC Board Test Fixture.  I can test both boards for you and see if there's an issue with the boards.  It's also possible that there might be repairs possible if the boards are damaged.  Before I had my test set, it was hard to test these.

Here's the test set in action.

As long as the motor hasn’t turned the board into “Cannon Fodder” ……that’s the weak link to sudden death!….😬

Pat

I think I may start recommending a PTC in the Canon equipped locomotives.  FWIW, I believe the 10-wheeler has a smaller Mabuchi motor, not the Canon.

I can send you the boards. Bear in mind I can run the train motor using the cab2 speed controls. I do not have any sounds or programming. Aux1,5 does shut down the locomotive. No sound. I understand the tender gets involved through the IR on the draw bar. Is there a way to test and verify a signal is actually being sent and received or why it is not?  Where would I send the boards, John. BTW. I am jealous of your electronic knowledge on these engines.

Let's do a simple diagnostic.  Put the locomotive only on the tracks and power it up.  Take your digital camera or your cellphone, using the viewfinder, look directly at the locomotive drawbar IR transmitter LED.  You should see a purple glow that indicates that serial data is being transmitted.  If so, the serial data is getting out.

My chief concern is you seem to have multiple issues.

• No sound control. sometimes, other times it seems you have sound control.
• Smoke unit element error
• Locomotive ID Programming issues

With these kinds of symptoms with an MTH locomotive, I usually slap the board on my test set and verify the board functions.  Now that I've finally completed my RCMC tester, that would be my first move here as well.  I realize that doesn't work for you locally since you don't have a test set.

Have you looked inside?  It's possible that a connector is loose or a wire got pinched during factory assembly, I've seen it quite a few times.

I apologize for not getting back sooner. It's been a busy week. Nice trick, John , on the camera. I do have the glow of the IR LED so there is data. I can package and send the boards to you and send along a check. Where can I send them and let me know how much. Thanks for helping me in this

my email pdobrien2@juno.com