Lionel Repair

I think I ran into the same response around this time of the year a couple of years ago. Keep in mind that this is surely their busiest time of year. Their turn time is normally super fast so I'm sure that they'll jump on it later this Spring.

Just be thankful they will repair it. They have turned me away stating if its older that 5 years they will not touch it. Its too bad because their repair department was doing a great job.

Why not send it to someone on the forum to repair it?

it's out of warranty anyway-probably get it fixed and back before Lionel accepts it...just a thought.

By all means send it to GGG or one of the other Certified repairman who make many contributions to the forum.  You'll get your repaired engine back in a couple of weeks most times.

Older than 5 years doesn't seem like a very long time, yikes.

The product is a Visionline Genset Switcher with the "newer" electronics so I'd feel more comfortable having Lionel repair it directly.

I guess it makes sense that this is a busy time with repairs from the increased holiday season sales.

Have they stopped giving out RA numbers as well? 

What is the issue with the locomotive?

Not a good sign in my opinion.  There may be a delay, but the unit should be taken in on the first come first served, and warranty should have priority.   G

Am I confused? My VL Bigboy was returned to Lionel (RGA) last Wednesday/Thursday , I received an Email this afternoon that it is being shipped back today, will probably have it Thursday/Friday.

Just lucky I guess

Brent

As I mentioned in my initial post, my engine is out of warranty and they said they are giving priority to warranty repairs.  I'm assuming your Bigboy is still under warranty.

The engine stopped responding to Legacy commands.  It powers up as if it detects no Legacy base when I apply power to the tracks.

The engine stopped responding to Legacy commands.  It powers up as if it detects no Legacy base when adding power to the tracks.

Exactly what the BB was doing, Lionel emailed some reprograming instructions that worked for a short period. If you would like I will email the instructions to you, they are however in the manual but I found the email to be more instructive. (Ex: hit set then aux 1 then then the #1 button, beware, on the Legacy remote,  after hitting aux 1 the #1 button is the volume control) One thing they instructed is sure to turn the Legacy Base on before powering up the track.

Yes, the VL BB was under warranty.

Good luck with your engine

Brent

My last repair to MTH (I sent it to MD thinking it would be faster than a local) and it was there for five months; and very expensive.  The control board had a capacitor go bad.  Almost as much as a new engine!  In order to continue with MTH, I will need to go to their repair school and become a repair center when I retire.