Little Help? I Think I messed up my sons Lionel HHP-8 locomotive.

Are the plugs back in the right spot, are the pick up leads connected correctly, is the drive train jammed?  G

ggg, Thank you for the response.

 Yes I believe the connectors are in the correct order, there are only three connections that I touched.

  1: A large 8 pin connector that goes from the directional lighting board in the shell to a board on the frame.

  2: A smaller three-pin connector that goes to the sound dashpot.

  3: A single gray wire that I think goes to the antenna for TMCC.

I didn’t see any open sockets and all the connectors look to be different sizes so I don’t think I put a connector in the wrong socket

 As a note: I rechecked the issues and the cab light does work and the bell and horn do function, the directional headlights do not. Like an idiot I didn’t check to see if the volume was turned up in my first post.

The issue is the motor operation or the lack of operation.

I don’t see any burn marks or anything broken. I have checked other connectors on the boards to confirm positive locked in position but still no go on the motor operation.

Could my mistake have caused some type of reset with the TMCC side of the circuits?

Thank you again for your help.

Did you try reprogramming the engine from scratch for a new TMCC address?

Is the RUN/PROG switch in the RUN state?  If not, you could have it locked in neutral.  We did this once with my son's HHP-8.  He found that the top cover comes off and he messed with the switches.  Then when it didn't go anymore he came crying to me, but failed to tell me about the switches.

Gunrunnerjohn, thank you for the response. I don’t have TMCC. We run conventional on our platform. We have Z-4000, Z-1000, and Cw-80 trans formers. I have a Lionel 1033 transformer for my testing unit that I performed my initial test after my service. Could that have nuked it?  After the initial problem was noted Idid test the engine on all three transformers noted above with no positive result.

Sinclair thank you for your response. I did check and reset the program switch to RUN. Would I need to do a procedure or something else to get it back into the operational state?

No, it should just work once in RUN.  I have a couple TMCC locomotives, and as seen in another thread, I am having problems with them working in command.  Once they are in conventional, they all work great.  As log as you are not in a command environment, which you have stated, once in RUN, it should work.  Being it isn't, hopefully these guys can point you in the right direction to get it moving again.

How about the connectors that go from the motor to the board, if this has separate motor board, from the board to the motherboard.  Do the motors have flywheels and can they turn easy no binding?  G

Are all of the interconnects in the wiring harness some kind of socket sets?  Aka no wire nuts?  I've seen the behavior you are getting with loco's that required mini wire nuts to tie different parts of the harness together.  If one of those is not making a good connection the engine will not behave properly.

You didn't try running DC motors with AC did you?  That doesn't work.

I'm not sure exactly where you are, but if you can bring it to SE-PA, I'm sure I can get it working for you.

I have a Lionel hippo that stopped running so I took it to Charlie at Nassau Hobby. He told me that the board blew and they didn't make that type of board anymore so they put in a forward only motor. Postwar parts are all over and they don't have a part for a two year old engine.

The manual for the set says if the engine will not change direction (your engine is stuck in neutral), "Be sure that the locomotive reverse switch is 'ON'".  From the description in the manual, the 'ON' position is really the 'RUN' position on the 'PRG/RUN' switch.  Check the wiring to that switch and cycle it several times to clean the contacts.  It could also be that the enclosure for the switch is preventing the slide from going all the way to the 'RUN' position.

Additionally, the power supply for your set is a CW-80 transformer.  The CW-80 does not go to zero volts when the power handle is in the 'OFF' position, which can prevent a modern engine equipped with LED lights from cycling.  The direction button on the CW-80 will take the voltage to zero volts and allow proper cycling.  If that is your problem, you can add a car with incandescent lighting or make sure you always use the direction button to cycle power.

These are long shots, but easy to check.

Good Luck...

Earl Staley

Thank you Gentleman,

All good info. EIS I tried your recommendations with no luck. I must have done something when I disassembled it. I think it has to go to a Lionel guru to get its mojo back I'm afraid.

Thank you again.

Please post the results of the repair so that we can learn from your experience.  Nothing in your original post suggests the cause of the problem, unless you inadvertently dropped something on a circuit board that caused a short circuit.

Earl Staley