Legacy Mallet number board lights

Well, I doubt this will be corrected without looking closer at the wiring and bulb for the number boards.  The description sure sounds like a poor connection somewhere.

What was the outcome on the number board? Loose connection? Bad led? Has anyone else had this issue and resolved it?

The left one is out on my mallet. Lionel appears to be sold out of the oem as well as alternate part numbers for this.

With the lack of availability.This must be a common issue with led number boards.

Worst case, I'm not opposed to unplugging/ disconnecting the side that works. They are especially bright and since 99.9% of the time my trains are running in 1:48 day light I won't miss it.

I have this exact engine and I'm wondering if you have a different problem than just the light. On mine as delivered new, if you used sequence mode (hit and held AUX1 while the engine is idle until switches to sequence mode) and then later manually blew the whistle using either TMCC or Legacy (CAB1L or CAB2, even original CAB1) then you still got whistle steam, but no whistle sound.

I had to send mine back to Lionel twice to get them to correctly flash the firmware and fix this problem.

https://youtu.be/HXvmZcpnUkc

How does sequence mode effect the number board lights?

I've never had any interest in using sequence mode on any of my engines.

Back to the specific problem at hand, I agree, possibly just a loose connector. While the front does articulate- that should not interfere and be the reason. Probably going to have to pull the shell and investigate.

@RickO posted:

How does sequence mode effect the number board lights?

It doesn't, but since this is another person with this exact engine, I'm trying to find out if they have the same problem or if they have a different problem. My engine was fixed by sending it to Lionel and them reprogramming it. They never answered if this was a one off failure or if other engines had the problem, or if nobody knew of the problem (never knew or used sequence mode).

More importantly, since there might be an engine specific firmware fix or update- even though this engine is out of warranty- could be a reason Lionel might have to or need to fix one problem and maybe that solves others? Again, I'm not saying the number board problem is firmware. I am saying, there is a small chance this engine might have a problem I had and might have to go to Lionel to fix that.

It would be nice if it's just a loose connection , but lack of replacements across several models other than these mallets seems to indicate the led may be defective.

@RickO posted:

How does sequence mode effect the number board lights?

I've never had any interest in using sequence mode on any of my engines.

The number boards should be wired directly to track power.  It has nothing to do with the Legacy board or configuration.

My number board light was fixed a bit over a year ago by a Lionel Service Station. I’m not sure if it was a loose connection or a burned out LED. I am confident that it had nothing to do with the Legacy Control system.

I also own 2 other Lionel legacy Mallets from 2018 and neither have experienced any number board lighting problems.

Well, there is this distribution board. So the LEDS look like they plug into the J3 header, and then there is the larger J1 connector, carrying multiple lights and power for all of these different functions. I'm not saying the board is bad, but one would check the LEDs and their wiring, then jump to this board, then check the wiring harness plugging into this board from the wiring harness in the lower engine half.

Again, not saying it's the distro board- just the fact it exists- another point where connections are and can be tested.

Thanks for following up on this Peter. I'll investigate and see what my options are.

This is my only option for a "somewhat prototypical "articulated on the NYC and in negotiates my 060 curves. They didn't have USRA 2-6-6-2s but they had their own small 2-6-6-2s so this one fits the bill for me.

It sounds good ,runs good, and is much more esthetically appealing in person than I anticipated.

@Vernon Barry posted:

Well, there is this distribution board. So the LEDS look like they plug into the J3 header, and then there is the larger J1 connector, carrying multiple lights and power for all of these different functions. I'm not saying the board is bad, but one would check the LEDs and their wiring, then jump to this board, then check the wiring harness plugging into this board from the wiring harness in the lower engine half.

Again, not saying it's the distro board- just the fact it exists- another point where connections are and can be tested.

Excellent info Vernon!. Now at least I know what to look for.

Funny, all of my grain of wheat bulbs in older engines  have worked for 20 years trouble free. Go figure.

@RickO - What’s the product # for your NYC engine Rick?

@PH1975 posted:

@RickO - What’s the product # for your NYC engine Rick?

6-85182

@Vernon Barry posted:

It doesn't, but since this is another person with this exact engine, I'm trying to find out if they have the same problem or if they have a different problem. My engine was fixed by sending it to Lionel and them reprogramming it. They never answered if this was a one off failure or if other engines had the problem, or if nobody knew of the problem (never knew or used sequence mode).

More importantly, since there might be an engine specific firmware fix or update- even though this engine is out of warranty- could be a reason Lionel might have to or need to fix one problem and maybe that solves others? Again, I'm not saying the number board problem is firmware. I am saying, there is a small chance this engine might have a problem I had and might have to go to Lionel to fix that.

Vernon, I had the same sequence mode issue, described here.  Did Lionel report a diagnosis finding I could use to initiate an RMA request?

After testing the sequence mode. Mine gas the same no whistle problem. Still a non issue as I have no interest in sequence mode.

I can't see Lionel reprogramming locomotives that are 5 years old under warranty. I believe folks were only given the 1 year time frame to get those 5 chuff hudsons programmed back to 4.

As far a my number board goes. I popped the shell and there's a ton of wires as well as both smoke units in the way of accessing the number boards.   The front of this engine is packed with electronics. The lighting board vernon posted above is tied into the whistle smoke unit hardware.

For now I'm leaving well enough alone and we'll say the engine is due to be shopped and the roundhouse will look at it then.

I may re-investigate the number board in the future.  Having said that. If the led is bad and there are no replacements it'll be alot of work for nothing.

I did rotate the front set of drivers so they are now out of sync though...for what that's worth. A little bit more visual interest when running I suppose.

@RickO posted:

I may re-investigate the number board in the future.  Having said that. If the led is bad and there are no replacements it'll be alot of work for nothing.

There's no LED that I can think of that can't be replaced.

@RickO posted:

I may re-investigate the number board in the future.  Having said that. If the led is bad and there are no replacements it'll be alot of work for nothing.

It's probably a standard 3mm flangeless LED. I've got a drawer full of them. ~20 minute fix, worst case. Most of that is just opening up the shell to get at the number boards.

Number boards are SMD LCD on a small PCB

Also, alternate out of stock

That said, if you wanted exact OEM color match (because white can be tricky), maybe get a cab light one and move that LED to the original number board PCB? This is in-stock at the moment.

https://www.lionelsupport.com/...GHTING-2-10-4-LEGACY

No problem, I've fixed a bunch of similar issues, soldering a new SMT LED on isn't a big deal.  Of course, first step is to determine what is really wrong.

Lionel does ditch lights with a similar board, I just had a rash of those lately with a bad LED.