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Gents

 

Operating a Legacy 10 wheeler tonight.

I had it sitting on a siding with power off (to that siding).

Ran an MTH engine by accident into the siding which briefly "turned on the 10 wheeler".

 

Now the 10 wheeler has idle sounds coming from the tender and nothing else.

No movement, no headlight ect.  The only lights on are the front marker lights.

When I add power to the track the tender sounds come on and I have absolutely no control with my Legacy remote.

 

I cleared the engine off Legacy and re-added.  I did a TMCC reset using the program switch..........nothing works.

 

So what have I done................and how much!!

 

Thanks for the help Guys

Dave

Last edited by Soo Line
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Your engine is coming alive in conventional mode.  It is not seeing the Legacy signal.  If it was seeing the Legacy signal the tender would be quiet.  If you posted the Lionel number it would be easier to troubleshoot.  We do not know if you have early modular boards or the current RCMC board system.  It does matter.

 

Real quick, check to see if you have continuity between the locomotive handrails and ground.  If you do, fix the issue.

That is a modular engine.  Did the engines collide?  Normally having the tender sounds starts means no serial data making it to the tender.  So you check the alignment of the drawbar so the IR sensors can talk. 

 

But since the engine doesn't run that means something is up inside the engine.  You can pull the R4LC and reseat (inside engine).  Did you do a Reset or just new ID on the engine.

 

If reset doesn't work, you could swap with another R4LC S03 code.  Maybe the R4LC was damaged, but weird that the power up did that.   G

Last edited by GGG

The IR sensor is in the draw bar and it is how the command board in the engine communicates with the tender RS boards.

 

Did you take the MTH engine off the siding with power applied?

 

I would swap the R4LC first.  Sounds like a dead R4LC.  IF the boiler is lite, power has made it to the engine.  They may be driven off track power or the DCDS motor driver board.

 

The engine should be able to receive commands and operate less sounds stand alone.

 

Did the switch make it back to the run position after you reprogrammed?  G

Do all the checks the guys stated.  Do you have another early Legacy tender you can try behind your locomotive.  On your engine, IR is not encoded by the old AD20A decoder board like in TMCC.  It is handled by the Railsounds audio board.  Reseat the audio and power boards in the tender.  Can you address the engine without the tender on?  

 

When you reprogrammed the locomotive did you do engine # then set  then engine number again then AUX-1 then press #1?

 

I am still leaning to the R4LC board.  Do what was stated on debugging.  Check continuity between the rollers and pins 1 or 2 on the R4LC.  Next check continuity on ground to pins 2 or 4 on the R4LC.

Last edited by Marty Fitzhenry

Hey Guys

 

Had a Doctor appt.......but back now and will begin all the ideas supplied here and return with info.

Unfortunately I do not have another tender.......I only have 2 Legacy engines and one is a diesel.

 

I should mention that the crane and boom cars were behind the 10 Wheeler and they are fine.......

 

Appreciate the help

Last edited by Soo Line

On the engine, the board on top with the 24 pins is your R4LC board.  In the tender, your board on the right is your Railsounds power board and the board on the left is your Railsounds audio board.  Do you have a Lionel tech near you?  If so he can put your boards into the board tester he has.  If not, you can send me the boards and I can test them for you.  

 

Your communication issue is in the engine.  The fact that it is not in Legacy remote mode is your issue.  Find the wire that connects to your handrails and do a continuity test between the wire and pin 23 on the R4LC board.  Looking at the picture of the R4LC, pin 23 (antenna) is the top pin on the left.

 

Follow the wire that connects to the handrails (usually a grey wire) to a 2 pin plug on the motherboard.  When you find the plug, do a continuity test between the pins on the motherboard and pin 23 on your R4LC.  If you have no continuity there, you may have a bad trace on your motherboard.  If that is the case, let us know and we will give you the shortcut to use instead of buying a motherboard.  

 

 

Dave, your tender came alive because your engine was still in conventional mode.  I have run into these that will drive you crazy.  One last thing, pull the plugs off the motherboard one at a time and plug back in.

 

Problem is antenna not talking to the R4LC or a bad R4LC like the guys stated.  Do not go crazy over the tender as your locomotive will operate without it.  Concentrate on the things to look for in the engine.  The fact that sound is coming up on your tender just tells you that your engine is not in command mode.

Last edited by Marty Fitzhenry

Gents

 

I checked the part number of the R4LC board on the Lionel Parts site for my Legacy 10 Wheeler.

As luck would have it ..........I had a Legacy diesel that had the exact same R4LC board.

 

Took the R4LC board from the diesel and tried it in the 10 Wheeler......Bingo!

 

So that was the problem as you all indicated.

 

So I don't know if it was just coincidence that the board went at the moment the second engine allowed power to the isolated siding or if it would have failed anyway..

 

Marty does not have a board in stock so I'm off to Lionel to order one.

 

Thanks again Guys for all your help.

Offering your expertise and time to help a fellow out is most appreciated.

 

Dave

 

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