(Another) Lionel Smoke Fan Question /Fixed

I just ran across this thread about the same smoke unit. I guess a new board may be in order.

https://ogrforum.com/...3-smoke-unit-6-11131

I’m only chiming in here not as an “expert” but because I have worked on this particular run of smoke units, which are the most prolific smokers Lionel has ever made. This is a 6 Ohm model and they are prone to failure owing to the AC regulator getting fried but I think we can elimate that as your problem because you have heat and regulator failures are spectacular in terms of overheating.

I suspect what a real expert will tell you is that a component on the board has probably failed - could be the black one near the damage you describe, which is about a 30 cent or less part if you want to try replacing it yourself. But it might be one of the related components in the fan circuit and they are so small as to be a real pain to take out and replace. Frankly as the PCB for this model, but not the whole unit, is still available from Lionel, in your position I’d replace that. 

But don’t take my word for it; wait until GRJ or another expert posts.

Thanks for the input Hancock. I'm totally fine replacing the PCB.

I was just disappointed when the fan motor wasn't the issue. I wanted to make sure I wouldn't be further disappointed in the event a new PCB didn't fix it.

At any rate, an extra fan motor will cetrtainly come in handy at some point.

Could the new fan motor be bad. Have you tested that?

RickO posted:

Thanks for the input Hancock. I'm totally fine replacing the PCB.

I was just disappointed when the fan motor wasn't the issue. I wanted to make sure I wouldn't be further disappointed in the event a new PCB didn't fix it.

At any rate, an extra fan motor will cetrtainly come in handy at some point.

 

Next time, before replacing the motor, check the voltage to the fan motor with a meter. You can follow the motor leads up to the board to a connector. The pins will be accessable from the top of the board. If you don't have a set of rollers you can just start the engine on the tracks with the shell off and run it as slow as possible so you can keep the test leads on the motor contacts. If you see the voltage swinging between 5 and zero (roughly) then the motor is bad. If no voltage swings then the board is bad. Being Legacy you might even see 5 volts with the engine stopped as most Legacy engines now put out a steady stream at idle.

Pete

Another recommended upgrade is replacing the 6 ohm resistor with the 8 ohm resistor.  Lionel was suggesting this as the 6 ohm one was cooking the regulators too often.

As for the fan, first stop is to see if the on-board regulator is alive, it really only has three components, a diode, capacitor, and a regulator, all can be replaced.

E Unit. I tested the old fan with a 9v battery and it worked, but its been mentioned on here that a fan motor that runs on 9v may still not run on the 5v supplied by the board. The loco being 9 years old and smoke used regularly I figured a new fan motor would be a quick fix and at $5 no big deal to try.

So I bought a fan motor I may not have needed. I currently own 7 locos on my own, 3 with whistle steam. I'm sure I'll have a use for an extra fan motor at some point.

Thanks for the input Pete and John!

I think I'll order a new PCB as thats easier (for me) to install, and grab the 8ohm resistor while I'm at it. I'll report back the results next weekend.

Ordered the new board as well as new batting and the 8 ohm resistor as suggested.

Dad's LM big boy smokes like new. Thanks for everyone's advice!

Heres a pic of the old board showing the nick in it. Not sure if the nick damaged the board but this Loco was just shipped back from repairs of more serious issues when the smoke fan quit.

The back edge of the pcb is only 1/16th of an inch away from the flywheel on the front motor. With the floating nature of the lionmaster front set of drivers I suspect a rough shipment might have smacked the flywheel into the board

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Another recommended upgrade is replacing the 6 ohm resistor with the 8 ohm resistor.  Lionel was suggesting this as the 6 ohm one was cooking the regulators too often.

As for the fan, first stop is to see if the on-board regulator is alive, it really only has three components, a diode, capacitor, and a regulator, all can be replaced.

Glad, you chimed in!  I knew heard that someplace.