Lionel Amtrak Acela pantograph problem....

Typical of the Pantos on the acela. Most likely it is the motor that is bad. Had mine replaced 3 times and they still don't work. Lots of problems with the Acela sorry to say.

Your very fortunate that this is the only problem that you have had with the Lionel Acela. Contact Lionel's service center for a return auth and hope that your luck holds out when it is returned.

I had this problem.  It eventually cured itself and the pantograph has worked reliably since.  There's a long thread elsewhere on this forum about the old and new model Acelas in which there are comments to the effect that (a) the panto gear mechanism needs to be lubricated and (b) the control boards were rather unreliable.

 

That said, you are probably better off sending it to Lionel for service than trying self-help as the mechanical parts of the pantos are very complicated.

Alan I know you probably are way ahead of me .. But did you check that the switch is in the right position??

Thanks guys....RD, yes....that was the first thing I did.  That particular pantograph was working just fine.  THEN....for whatever reason I noticed that it had popped out of where it is attached.  Just sitting there kind of loose.  I don't know how that happened..???  Anyway, I carefully looked at how it was supposed to go back in place and all went well as far as I can see except there is no operation at all...  Seems the motor that operates it isn't working at all. 

 

I don't know if I should just see if it cures itself like Hancock52 says above or just don't worry about it!  Honestly, I really love the set.  If the pans didn't work at all I guess I would be fine with it.  I was hoping that perhaps the problem was a simple fix that I am overlooking.  I can't imagine this being under warranty especially since I am the second owner and don't have a sales receipt...

 

Still, if any of you have had a similar problem and were able to fix it yourself somehow, please let me know. 

 

Thanks,

Alan

leavingtrack (Alan)

 

The Acela 6-31714 in 2005 has a board that drive the pantographs and the part no. is 691PANAB01 (PANTOGRAPH PCU Board Rev B).  This board is in both engines power & no-power.

 

I had the same problem this is why I know this is the part; Lionel informed me that the motor doesn’t burn out like some people think.  They were right because I but DC power to the motor using a battery and they worked.

 

Call Lionel and see if they have the board, if they do you can send the engine back or ask them you can do it.

 

Phillip

One of the interesting and maddening things about this hobby is how we try to work things out by deduction when one of these models malfunctions. Here's my extra two cents worth with the caveat that in my experience, it's better NOT to try any repairs at home on any of Lionel's more expensive offerings, especially with a problematic beast like Acela version 1:

 

1.  Here's the link to the thread I mentioned earlier concerning the re-issued (but modified) Acela sets scheduled to ship in December of this year; look for the postings by SantaFe Fan (Jon, Lionel CTO): https://ogrforum.com/d...9358366674480/page/2

 

2.  He mentions the new 2012 Acela having new pantograph boards with better thermal overload capability. I infer that the original boards had a problem in this respect.

 

3.  I am not an electrical engineer (my brother is), but I know that my Acela's pantographs simply stopped working in circumstances very much the same as Leavingtracks describes, that is there was no motor sound at all, which must have meant that it was not being activated. (You could not fail to notice the absence of the mechanical sound because it's extremely LOUD, drowning out whatever Railsound effects there are.)

 

4.  I don't know (because as far as I can tell Lionel have never told us) but I think that the pantograph PCBs were redesigned at some point; if you look at the Acela replacement parts diagram (which I could swear has been modified since the last time I looked at it in March), you will see that the pantograph PCB is named "revision B":

 

http://www.lionel.com/Customer...e9-a2b2-b1e3aa6c2ead

 

5.  Mine revived when I by accident I slightly pushed up the voltage to the track to 19v, but that was after some running time (not much) during which there was no action and no sound from the powered unit's pantograph. If the board overloaded I suppose it might have reset after some use.

 

6.  One last thing: I also had a pantograph dislodge from the complicated mechanism that raises and lowers it. If you go to this page you will find at the very bottom a "Service Tips - All" document that shows how and how not to re-install the pantograph:

 

http://www.lionel.com/Customer...roductNumber=6-31714

 

My strong advice: get an RA if the thing does not wake up of its own accord!!

 

P.S. I didn't see Phillip's post above before I wrote mine, but it seems that the PC board might well be the problem. They are shown as in stock at Lionel but I'd think twice about doing an installation myself.

 

 

 

What are the chances you knocked a wire or a connection loose when you snapped it back in place?

Thanks again everyone.  I agree that I perhaps don't need to get in there and mess with something that is more complicated than my expertise...especially since I have no expertise!!  I am just hoping that there is a chance someone on the forum has had a similar problem in which they found a solution....even if it means I have to send it in to Lionel for service.  BUT, if I am over looking something that I can do myself, then....?

 

RD...I don't think much of a chance since the problem occurred before I reinstalled it.  What perplexes me is how it popped out in the first place....never touched it nor did anyone else...and it didn't collide with anything overhead.  SO.....???

 

Alan

Mine got dislodged just because a small screw had worked loose from normal operation. Also, if one of these units has been sitting in a shipping carton the normal effect of being moved about/shipped to you can be that the mechanism works loose. I've had this happen with other operating pantograph models, especially from MTH. They are not designed to be robust; at least Lionel tells you exactly how to reassemble them.

 

Please post when you have a solution, even if the thing just springs back to life.

Hi Alan

 

The pantograph could have come out any time before and you didn’t see it.  I will say that the pantograph to the motor is a notch to make the pantograph got up and go down.  If you do not have the pantograph on the notch the pantograph will not work.  I believe you said that you didn’t hear the motor work at all, this tell me that you need the new board as I have stated before.  I believe you should send this Acela back to Lionel and you will be happy again as I was when I put the new boards back in my Acela.

 

Phillip

Now the exact same thing has happened to me - non-powered unit's pantographs became totally non-functional - but I know why and the problem corrected itself.

 

I fear that lots of the Acela cars have faulty close-coupling mechanisms; they jam in the V-shaped grove they are meant to slide sideways in. The one on my Bistro Car jammed going around a curve and when it did I could see flashes from the infrared connector between the car and the engine - really looked like sparks but I assume wasn't.  Whole thing shorted out, pantographs stopped working and after disconnecting the car and engine no number of soft resets made any difference.

 

However, I connected up a non-defective car and after letting the engine sit for a while I put power to the track and presto, the pantographs worked.

 

I sure hope that the new issue Acela due out in December has a new coupling mechanism as well as a different signal transmission system.

 

BTW, before this the pantograph control arm also came out of its base and it took about an hour to fix it but afterwards it worked.