Lionel 6-38022 WM Lionmaster Challenger smoke unit issue

Larry MullenOGR Forum Member

I am writing this for a friend of mine who is trying to get her late husband's trains up and running. She has the above mentioned engine and it wasn't working when I went over to see it, but after adding traction tires and soldering a lead back onto one of the motors, it is running great now.

The issue now is that it won't smoke...the unit doesn't get warm nor does the fan operate when it is running. I borrowed a friend's multimeter and it looks like the smoke element (put the hot and ground on soldering points) is showing about 28 ohms. Does that sound right? I also did a factory reset and it didn't help the cause. Also, the fan is not operating either. I'm assuming it should turn on each time the cherry switch is triggered??

Before I ship it off to a Lionel tech, is there anything else that I could/should try to see if I can get it to work? I barely know enough to be dangerous.

Thanks!

11/20/173:58 PM

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rrswedeOGR Forum Member

I am not familiar with that locomotive but the 28 ohm reading sounds perfect.

Since the smoke unit can be damaged if operated without smoke fluid, it is possible the on/off switch on the bottom of the locomotive has been turned to the off position.

Also, when you tested the smoke unit, was it on a test track and was the tender connected to the locomotive? I believe this unit employs a wireless tether, but perhaps the drawbar between locomotive and tender needs to be connected for the smoke unit and fan to operate.

swede

11/20/174:13 PM

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Larry MullenOGR Forum Member

Thanks. The tender was connected and the smoke switch was turned on. I don't own any Lionmaster engines, but my scale TMCC and Legacy engines' fan is always on...whether the tender is connected or not. I also think the fan is running whether the smoke unit is turned on or off. If I'm wrong, I know someone will chime in.

11/20/174:16 PM

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MikadoOGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBERFORUM SPONSOR

Did you check the smoke on/off switch?

the smoke unit is an 8057 type, fan on all the time, especially if it has a 27 ohm element.

If the switch is on, the engine has the correct auxiliary code: 74 (or 740) and you pressed aux1 and 9 and still have nothing, then it is likely the smoke output on the R2LC moreso than the smoke unit. (You can also chase the smoke hot lead from R2LC pins 5&6 to on/off switch to smoke unit. You will read continuity across smoke unit hit and ground with 27 ohms of resistance, if everything is connected.

if you need a repair or get in over your head, you can reach me at mreagan@twtrainworx.com

thank you,

Mike

11/20/174:18 PM