Need Help with Headlamp Problem

I would first verify all of your power connections. Loose common or dirty wheels.

If two separate power districts are they properly isolated?

Start with engine only see what it does. Then sit the cars on the track one at a time to see if there's an issue. I would start with lighted cars first.

if you have multiple transformers, are they phased correctly? Any that have a non-polarized plug, try turning it 180 and plug it back in.

Flickering head light means the engine is having problems getting the TMCC signal.  So check you lay out connections.

For the TMCC engine it may be the bulb was changed and a higher voltage was used.  Normally the bulbs are 12-14V.

Not sure what you mean on the legacy diesel, but tracing wires is what needs to be done.  Does it have a connector going to it?  Could be loose, or solder joint issues, etc...  Start at the light and work towards the board.  G

Thanks for both responses. A known problem for my layout for Legacy and TMCC is that the wiring in my house is fairly old and was installed before ground wiring was mandatory. Until recently, running Legacy and TMCC was pretty much no fun because of the poor signal quality. I've since added a floating ground wire to the Cab 1L power plug and that has improved signal quality a great deal. But what you're both saying makes sense. It's less likely to be a loose wire or bad bulb than it is to be signal integrity. Seems like the best approach is to crawl under the house -- yuch -- and install proper ground connections on this side of the house.

I was having a similar problem with my Cab 1L, I called Lionel to explain my problem to them and Lionel service sent me a different wall wart. The replacement I believe is what is used on the Cab 2, it has a different voltage 8 volts on the replacement, I believe the original was rated 9 volts. This solved my problems.

Ray

Actually, the CAB2 has a really huge wall-wart, nothing like the CAB1-L model.

Yes John, You are correct the wall wart for the Cab 2 is much larger in size but the output voltage is lower. I previously had Cab 2 but opted to go to Cab1L for the simplicity of use and the wall wart Lionel sent looks to me the same as I had with Cab 2.

Ray

Thanks Ray, pretty sure it's somehow signal related. Had track power on this am and both engines were on the track. Neither was powered up but both head lamps were flickering in unison again for about 10 seconds then stopped. That can only be a signal issue.

Have you held your hand over the engine to see if that stops the flickering?

Just tried that and no luck on either. I have a much newer model Legacy that's trouble free if that helps. Either way, will be crawling under the house to check out a bad furnace valve and will find out more about the missing ground wire connections on this side of the house.

Final report:
Under house check showed that this older part of the house is all two-wire. Only the newest part of the house (kitchen and garage appliances) is three wire and properly grounded. I added ground to the primary outlet in the train room. No improvement in head lamp flicker but I DO have proper ground.

Thanks for the help!