New Legacy 990 Cab 2 problem

There seems to be a whole bunch of people in this forum posting issues about this.

I was so frustrated in reading about it all, I cancelled my order for a 2nd Legacy 990 set.

Had planned on a 2nd layout in another room and/or using the 2nd set as a back up on case my first set breaks.

But now, I think I will just take my chances with my first set and not bother with a 2nd set.

I had a long conversation with a friend who belongs to a large train club in the New York area and was shocked to hear their opinion of quality control for both Lionel and MTH.

His thought was better to stick with good old conventional.

I am beginning to think he was correct.

You could try reloading the Cab 2 module software. Something could have glitched and corrupted the software.

Power off the Cab2 unit, before charging it, just to be safe. I don't know about charging in sleep mode. I always turn my unit off.

The directions are in the manual.

Since it should not happen with new stuff, I wouldn't go any further than that. Then go exchange it.

If the reload of the firmware doesn't fix it, I'd swap it out for a working one, that's clearly not normal.

I seem to remember a similar complaint with the previous 990 batches from about two year ago People slightly loosened the screws the Cab2 and it fixed it

Yes, the screws loosened will help, I had charging issues also so thye upgraded that at the same time.

Actually when I was speaking to Mike Reagan about the issue at Alex and Dina's Open House two years ago, he said just to power it up and smack it on the back on a table!

I refused to do that as I thought he was joking, but he said it works!

I sent it in anyway! LOL

The Apple II computers had a problem where heat would cause some of the components to unseat. The Apple approved fix was to drop it from about 6 inches above the table. It really worked

As for the CAB2 screws only turn them about 1/4 turn and check

Thanks for the suggestion - tried the screw loosening w/o success.  Don't have the encourage to try the drop fix 

I wouldn't pound it on a table either, so I'm with you there!  If it needs something like that, it's broken!

I had this exact same issue with my pervious Cab2.  I ended up sending it to Lionel and the mother board was bad along with the charging circuits.  They just swapped it out for a new/refurbished Cab 2.  

But it is a quick fix for the evening! Fix it later.

I had an 060 Fastrack switch that needed a whack with a screwdriver handle to free up the rack and pinion...worked for the evening run. BTW, it seemed like I could only fix it by replacing the parts with new/different parts. Nothing really obvious wrong with the rack and pinion.

Reminds me of a Chemist researcher I knew who bolted a vibrating vacuum pump to the side of a spectrometer that had a sticky mercury relay in it...

Well, I have my doubts that would fix anything. 

Well, it seems Lionel has entered the citrus supply market with its fresh batch of Legacy 990 lemons. When I get my 990 set back from Lionel repair in about month or so, I hope it will work properly. 

I suspect part of the QC issues are the urgency to get these in the pipeline. 

I tried our club's new 990 yesterday for the first time.  None of the middle column of touch-pad keys on the Cab2 work - dead, no beep, nada.  I called L Tech and they said to reload using the blue fobs -- base and remote.  I did.  No change.  Got a RA number.  Going back.  It also made engines jack-rabbit start when you press the upper left corner standard speed button.  Forgot to mention that.  Will include mention of it in the note I send along with the unit.   

I bought a used #990 spare for our club outings in the for-sale forum.  It was a good price and worked perfectly.  It's a shame these problems are surfacing on the new units, I hope they get all this sorted out soon.

I'm guessing that Lionel will be all over this, it's a pretty key component of the picture!

My replacement Cab2 is on the way from the dealer. I figured I'd take a chance on another replacement new one instead of waiting a month. If it has problems, I guess I'll send it to Lionel.

The ctc button pushes on two smt push switches. Tiny ones. I think the issue is that one of them actuates one the other one can't quite. I push harder and then let go and the cab shuts down. I found the tiny smt switches in China somewhere on the bay once.

New avatar Chuck?

Those tiny switches are in stuff like mice, I have a few that I've "rescued" from dead stuff that I keep for fixing things.

Yes, that picture was taken at a wedding a year or so ago. I like it.

I got the new replacement CAB2 from the dealer and it works perfectly. Yea!

Ouch. I bought my 990 on Sept. 6, 2014.  Mine just suffered this same issue. That's very disappointing.

Email sent to Lionel. Awaiting instructions.

Hmm...  I"m glad I got all my CAB2 units from the older shipments.

John

I can just imagine. The sad part is I am not hard on my unit. Very gentle and one would be hard pressed to see that I have used this very much. I have only used it to infrequently run my Christmas train layout with my Rock Island E-6's. A few hours per week.

Very disappointing.

I'm not sure why they've had so may issues with the new ones.  Other than the charging issue with the bases, the older ones have been quite stable.  I will say that Harry has an old one that flakes out regularly, creates some interesting issues with a bunch of trains running!

Two things. Mike R has some rather bandaid fixes for QC issues. But then, masking tape and that kind of thinking saved Apollo 13.

And, I keep thinking that the iPhone is the next handheld for Legacy.

Gregg,

    Either swap it or have it repaired correctly, the problem with the swap is that the next Cab2 might act the very same way or have a different problem.  I plan to send mine in for repair after the Christmas layout comes down.  Wish GGG or Guns or willygee (Bill Igraham) were warranty legal, to fix this stuff however.  The OGR guys do great work correctly the 1st time.

PCRR/Dave

I've had excellent results with Lionel service.

cjack,

   Meant no bash on Lionel service, just want more places to service our equipment, when needed.  USA Lionel service dept does a fantastic job, wish Lionel's original QC was as outstanding as the Lionel USA service dept however.

PCRR/Dave

Rick O,

  Part of my professional career was working for NASA, I am a retired NASA/Martin Marietta/United technologies, Professional Welding Engineer (PWE), it was duct tape in reality, and we never had a weld that failed, ever.  The (MMU) Man Maneuvering Unit was one of my favorite projects, I have a great deal of respect for Mike R, however engineering Lionel trains & Zero defect Space Shuttles, is not quite the same engineering discipline.

PCRR/Dave

 

 

Originally Posted by cjack:

Two things. Mike R has some rather bandaid fixes for QC issues. But then, masking tape and that kind of thinking saved Apollo 13.

 

I've had excellent results with Lionel service.

Not to speak for cjack, but I'd think maybe the "smack it's back on a table" comment from Mike R referenced above is a pretty serious "band aid" (regardless of whether Apple said a similar thing 30 years ago).

-Dave

We had two screens with Alien symbols on power up and a third which would not function. Took four to get a working one. Pretty sad quality.

I don't think the Apollo 13 guys thought that was a smooth mission.  I am not interested in that kind of thinking for my model train controller.

Just got mine back today from Lionel after similar problem with CTC button. they must have had several to repair because when I called them for a RA# the person I talked to could describe the problem to me. The paperwork with the remote that came back states they replaced faulty switches on PC board. If I had to guess by the part name it is a Logic Fairchild Mosfet transistor they replaced. Works great now.

I think this two switch under one push button is an issue. As I said it works for me by pushing harder with one of my remotes. I do have some of the little smt switches if I need them some day.