My Lionmaster T-1 duplex has problems

If your sure it has a fresh battey contact Lionel under the "service and repair question" heading. Fill out all of the info describing the problem, you should get a response from the service department by either today or Monday.http://www.lionel.com/ContactUs/

Also, the people at Lionel have said that this normal operation. I don't buy it. None of my diesels do this.

Forgot to mention, if you haven't already give the track and rollers a good cleaning. I've found the newer legacy locos are signifigantly more sensitive to dirty track or rollers than previous tmcc stuff.

No, I cleaned the track and the rollers before I put it on for operation. I am just worried that I am not getting my money's worth from Lionel. I would buy MTH, but their sound packages don't fit up to par.

What transformer/power source are you using?

MTH Z 4000

I have got to upgrade to legacy soon. fingers crossed. however, I won't know how to use it once I get it. I am not up on all the latest technology. I am coming late to all of this. I hope legacy is a user friendly system.

Have you checked the connections for the battery wire? Try removing the plug and reinserting it. It really sounds like you are not getting the battery power to the board.

It's acting like there is no battery installed.

Neil

Come to think of it, when these first came out I thought there was an issue with the board in regards to the backup battery, folkls were sending them back to get the boards changed under warranty. Have you contacted Lionel service and tech support as I mentioned above?, I think more often than not Mike R reads these emails and he should be aware of the board problem.

I thought that was the Challengers.

Yes it was the challengers, but I could swear there was a member or two here on the forum that sent a lionmaster t1 back as well, maybe someone will chime in . 

A pallet of the newer Lionmaster T-1 (legacy) had an issue with the inner foam box liners being "contaminated" with moisture that led to mold and rust as well as issues with some of the electrical boards.  In my experience Mike Reagan and Lionel quickly and professionally handled the replacement of the item.

I am not really sure about the mechanics of the lionel T-1 circuit board. I talked with someone at Lionel, but I am going to be insistent on getting some service. What should I do to replug it in?

Actually, I replaced the battery and looked at the battery wire. It does not seem at all like it it damaged for frayed. I am going to call again on monday.

"It is normal to experience your power dropping out your sounds when cycling the power on your transformer. Regardless of whether you run your engine with the battery in it or not, it does take a second for sounds to come back.

Thanks, Lionel."

 

This is actually what they told me in an email. I hope they are not lying or are trying to avoid me. I just want my engine to operate properly.  And yes, from an earlier post, its behaving just like it does not have a battery in it.

 

If I got the legacy command system, would this bypass this problem? Would this make any difference.

If you switch to legacy, track is at full voltage (18v) at all times whether the loco is moving or stopped.Once track power is turned on your loco will always have power, no interruption. The battery is not needed under legacy. Your loco will run much better under legacy,slower start up speeds,smoother operation all around, not to mention all of the added legacy goodies like the quillable whistle, and a bunch of other features(too many to list) you cannot access under conventional. IMO command control of any kind is far more fun running trains than conventional, legacy is one of the best.

I like the sound of that sir. I am going to get legacy ASAP.

I am surprised Lionel said that the sound should drop even with a battery. I own five legacyengines and none of them drop sound when power is cut. I'd call and look fomoderne clarification. 

 

Im most certain the battery is recommended for conventional use to prevent sound loss. 

Brian,

I am tracking down who sent that email from Lionel (and will be addressed internally). The information is in fact wrong! The only way the sounds can drop out when pressing the direction button is if the battery is either drained or, in some instances I have seen 9V batteries with a charge as high as 9.2VDC actually work like there is not even a battery installed. Once the power is down to 9V it behaves properly. 

 

If you have a multimeter in your arsenal please check the voltage reading on the battery itself (not plugged into the socket in the tender). This will tell the tale, if the battery is properly charged or not. If the sounds are dropping out my gut tells me the battery's charge is too low.

 

Direction makes absolutely no difference when it comes to sounds, as the sound system is only seeing power, it has no idea about direction. The fact that it happen in revers is merely coincidental, nothing more.

 

Thank you,

Mike Reagan

Lionel