Lionel Hot Box Reefer Question

The hot box is a bit smaller......heres a pic!   

-Pete

They are the most annoying cars on the face of the earth.  Want more fun, find the cattle car with the quilling cow (originally Vision, then they made a UP version thats not Vision but is the same electronics). 

They are not bad at all as long as you remotely control it with your cab2 and the Electric RailRoad hot box reefer kit and their mini commander.  It actually is a real crowd pleaser when modded with that device.  By itself, I agree it can be quite annoying.

-Pete

This Guy Knows what he's talking about!

You know the movie Dumb and Dumber where Jim Carey says "want to hear the most annoying sound in the world"? Well, he was wrong. I remember places blowing those cars out for $39. I have one with the upgrade Pete refers to, and even still if I ever hear it again it would be too soon! However- the smoke and flashing light is a real cool effect. Otherwise, fingernails on a blackboard!

Rich

I just turn off the sound.  That ends the annoying squeal and unintelligible dialog while preserving the "fire" glow and the smoke.  Even without the sound, the special effects are crowd pleasers.

X2000

It's a great sound car. But as Pete says,  install the ERR BOard so you can turn it off & on at will . That's what I did & it works great !!!  Fun Car!!  We have three of them that we (at our Club Site) run together!!!  Wow, great fun !!!

I have a couple of them, we run them for club shows and of course I did install TMCC control.  It's not nearly as annoying if it only runs once in a while.

I also put an LED under the car so that I could tell if my installed ERR was turned on or off. 

Thank you all for the great information!

If I do buy the car I will definitely get the ERR board as suggested. I just read their instructions which look pretty clear.

What a great forum to be part of!

On another forum long ago a group of us brainstormed how to make a functioning hotbox car.  When Lionel came out with theirs I was tempted to get one just to take it apart and see if they had the same ideas we did. 

Another recommendation for the ERR Hot Box Kit!  Without the ability to turn on/off via remote it just is too plain annoying.  Run for a while, let it turn on once, then back off works out.

Jim

I have one that I had gone and changed out the body to a scale body to fit with the scale cars that I have. now it blends in with all the other cars.

hah3 posted:

I have one that I had gone and changed out the body to a scale body to fit with the scale cars that I have. now it blends in with all the other cars.

How did you do the smoke filler door?

???  The thing can be turned off and on by whistle blast combo code in conventional.

Are you saying it can't be shut off by command?

Did the most annoying  sound in the world keep you from being able to read the instructions?...ok, That I get.

At home, its fun for 30 minutes, then once every two years for about 30 seconds set to low volume.

  I live by the tracks and the real ones sound better, hurting your brain less. 

  I actually hate the crew talk more than the squeel.

  I just want to smack that little guy upside the coopala, throw water on him to clear his crows nest, and tell him to shut up.

They have issues working at times too. One day they do, one day they dont. I have two because I like the swift cars. They never like to work they same day. I don't know; maybe there is only one little crew guy that works ALL of the swift cars ??

Adriatic posted:

???  The thing can be turned off and on by whistle blast combo code in conventional.

Are you saying it can't be shut off by command?

 

It's just a little klunky to address the transformer with TR# and press the whistle/horn button to quote the instructions. I like using the ERR and the car an accessory better.

The best car ever made by Lionel

Cool for about 30 seconds then bloody irritating. 

cjack posted:

Adriatic posted:

???  The thing can be turned off and on by whistle blast combo code in conventional.

Are you saying it can't be shut off by command?

 

It's just a little klunky to address the transformer with TR# and press the whistle/horn button to quote the instructions. I like using the ERR and the car an accessory better.

I imagine so.

So you CAN turn the originals off and on by command, and even control the volume ; or manually control the volume and trigger sounds by horn blasts.

It seemed implied you couldn't and had to buy a board.

  Did they make a non tmcc version? I just haven't seen one.

  If it has tmcc normally, and that goes for a blowout rate, why the push for the ERR version? New options? New sound files?

Fredstrains posted:

It's a great sound car. But as Pete says,  install the ERR BOard so you can turn it off & on at will . That's what I did & it works great !!!  Fun Car!!  We have three of them that we (at our Club Site) run together!!!  Wow, great fun !!!

Jim Sandman posted:

Another recommendation for the ERR Hot Box Kit!  Without the ability to turn on/off via remote it just is too plain annoying.  Run for a while, let it turn on once, then back off works out.

 

Jim

stangtrain posted:

Thank you all for the great information!

If I do buy the car I will definitely get the ERR board as suggested. I just read their instructions which look pretty clear.

What a great forum to be part of!

The HotBox car does NOT have tmcc.  BY default, when powered up, it will automatically start the sequence for the hot box.  To turn the feature off, you can press the whistle button on the the transformer, or you can use access the whistle button on the Cab1/Legacy remote for the transformer (TR<Track Number><Whistle button>.   When you kill track power, you will have to turn if off again when you power the track back up.

Adding TMCC allows you to have it off by default.  You then can address the car as an accessory on the remote and activate it.

Joe Fermani posted:

To turn the feature off, you can press the whistle button on the the transformer, or you can use access the whistle button on the Cab1/Legacy remote for the transformer (TR<Track Number><Whistle button>. 

I don't get how this works unless you have a PowerMaster in the mix controlling track power or the ZW-C or ZW-L transformers operating in command mode.

I see. The car recognises any whistle blasts regardless of the source. Sort of like how a loco decides if you are running conventional or command. If its not doing that by tmcc of some kind, then Johns doubts seem to apply though. Isn't an actual tmcc signaling for horns digital? I don't recall that coming up before, its just an assumption. Would a whistle /horn blast from a transformer still be recognised if a loco was in command mode, and the dc offset came from a CW80 or something?

(knowing the 5v boost of PW could toast a board by over voltage in command if you weren't careful)

John.. correct.  You need a power master or a ZW-c or a zw-l To use the remote to use the whistle button on the remote. That is how I turn the car off and I run legacy.

I received my PFE Hot Box Reefer today - found one in like-new condition on eBay at (what I think is) a fair price. Tested fine and looks (and sounds) like it will be a crowd pleaser. After testing, I ordered the ERR kit and look forward to installing it.

Thanks again to all who responded and helped me make up my mind to purchase the car and do the upgrade. It does look good on my layout with my Vision Line PFE cars.

I went to Radio Shack and bought some more of the tiny green LED assemblies like I used poking down under the floor of the Hot Box reefer car. They come with leads and there is a hole right next to the speaker that when slightly enlarged the LED plastic tube slides right up into. Then I used a diode pointing into the red wire and connected it to the power lead bundle for the car. The red wire that comes from the stock on-off switch and used to go to the red power lead bundle then goes to the power input for the mini commander. The black wire of the LED went to the black wire bundle for the car as well as the common lead from the mini cmd. It really helps me to see if it is turned on or off with the TMCC.

I've got the ERR TMCC board in my PFE and I love it!  Easy to install too. 

I received the ERR kit and installed it with little trouble. I found that I did need to use the added antenna wire. This car is very cool and looks great with my Vision Line PFE cars. Lots of interesting sounds coming from this train now! I'm so glad I checked here first and learned about the ERR kit. It makes such a difference!

Thanks for your help!

WHAT IS A ERR FOR THE HOT BOX CAR .THAT YOU HAVE TO PUT IN THE CAR? DO YOU HAVE A PICTURE OF THE ITEM?

I just bought one of those car. Do you have to have tmcc to work ERR?

Correct, the ERR Mini Commander is a TMCC control board.  I do have a relay remote control board that controls these in a conventional environment.  I describe it in this The Universal Wireless Remote Control Topic.  It uses an RF remote keyfob to control the remote relay, that's what is required to turn the hot box reefer on and off.

For the ultimate in control of the functions, you could also go with the 4-channel relay remote and emulate all the switches on the hot box reefer.