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I just posted a (positive) review of the new Lionel New York Central E8 AA set (#2033360) on the Lionel Products forum. Now for the bad news. I purchased the set online from a very reputable dealer and, as seems to be my luck, right pout of the box there were problems. Basically the two powered units are not working in sync under certain circumstances and the trailing unit starts to slow down on its own, or even stop--cab light comes back on--whole the lead unit is still going at the speed set on the Legacy controller. After a tug of war lasting a few seconds, the pair stops, but the lead unit is spinning its wheels starting to drag its twin along. At first it seemed random, but I learned I can cause it to happen anytime by holding down the whistle. Once the back unit stops, if I just adjust the throttle by one unit it comes back to life and eventually catches up to the lead unit's speed. If run separately, by themselves on the track, both units work perfectly.

A second issue is that there is a constant background static emanating from the sound unit on the lead locomotive.

I'm sending videos separately.

Full disclosure...I sent the unit back to the dealer, whom I trust implicitly, and he replaced it with a new one. The new unit has the exact same problems, BUT....the dealer said he did NOT see those problems when he put the original unit I sent back on his layout. Could this be caused by something on my layout?? I'm running them now on a simple 4 x 8 oval powered by a 180 watt brick through the Legacy system.

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Update! When I tested the rear unit running by itself I had it running forward cab pointed ahead. But the problem is happening when it is running forward with the cab pointing to the rear as the second unit so I tried running it by itself that way and sure enough activating the whistle or the crew talk, even though there is no sound without the front unit, caused the locomotive to stop!

I have no idea if my issue is the same as your, i will copy my post.  For whatever reason my new E9 AA will not run well on my ZWL.  Runs great on my Z4000 and PW ZW.

I had the same issues sometimes I would hit the horn for the AA and one would stop but not the other.  No idea if you have another transformer, but worth a try.  Worked for me, no problems now, just can’t run it on two of my tracks.

https://ogrforum.com/...2#152899748986379832

Last edited by Tony H

We tested this morning and could not replicate the issue of one of the units stalling. I recommend doing a reset of both units and see if that resolves the issue. The reset procedure is in the manual.

As for the static at low volumes, that is normal. On older Legacy engines with the RCMC/RSL3, at low volume, you could hear faint beeping noises. That was caused by noise in the system of the commands constantly being sent back and forth. The mild background pops you hear in your E8 that has the new Legacy electronics is the same thing. With so much going on in the system, there's no way to avoid it. I recommend turning the volume up!

Hi Dave, I reset several times using the R button on the controller, but it did not help. As far as the static, I have your 2017 E8 and the 2019 PA sets And neither of those have any static sound whatsoever that I can hear any volume. Whereas with this new E8 the static is quite prominent. FYI so far there are 3 of us as far as I see On the form who are having some sort of issue with these new E8 units Fighting each other on the track either at speed or when coming to a stop. by fighting I mean they are not running at the same speed and one locomotive is trying to drag the other.  I first noticed the problem when I would bring the train to a stop when I heard the wheels of the front unit still spinning after the train had stopped. But now it sometimes happens at speed even without blowing the whistle. If it were just me having a problem I would guess it’s something about my system although my set up is very simple. But now there are at least three people having this problem.

@Dave Olson posted:

As for the static at low volumes, that is normal. On older Legacy engines with the RCMC/RSL3, at low volume, you could hear faint beeping noises. That was caused by noise in the system of the commands constantly being sent back and forth. The mild background pops you hear in your E8 that has the new Legacy electronics is the same thing. With so much going on in the system, there's no way to avoid it. I recommend turning the volume up!

Hi Dave - Do you anticipate the static/beeping/popping issue with any steam locomotives that will be coming out in the near future?  Thanks.

Last edited by Phoebe Snow Route
@Dave Olson posted:

We tested this morning and could not replicate the issue of one of the units stalling. I recommend doing a reset of both units and see if that resolves the issue. The reset procedure is in the manual.



The problem I am reporting on the thread "2020 Lionel E9 Sync Problem" is not corrected by reset.  My problem only occurs when momentum is below 6 or if the Brake button is used to slow the train.  My issue is the A unit with sound.

@MikeH posted:

If the popping and clicking is part of the new normal, there are going to be some very unhappy customers soon.  I have 8 Legacy engines from 2018-2020 catalogs and NONE of them sound like this.

It is a very faint sound at the lowest volume levels. Seriously nothing to panic about. Older electronics have feedback. Newer electronics have feedback.



@JFC454 posted:

The problem I am reporting on the thread "2020 Lionel E9 Sync Problem" is not corrected by reset.  My problem only occurs when momentum is below 6 or if the Brake button is used to slow the train.  My issue is the A unit with sound.

We saw that thread and tested at all the various momentum levels and also could not reproduce any issues. I can't solve what I can't reproduce, so I would recommend calling in and sending in for us to look at them.

@Dave Olson posted:

We tested this morning and could not replicate the issue of one of the units stalling. I recommend doing a reset of both units and see if that resolves the issue. The reset procedure is in the manual.



I check the owner's manual for these new E8/E9 and noticed that the reset instructions have changed.  If I follow exactly what is now on page 33, the engines are rendered completely unresponsive.  If I leave out step 6 (Press and hold the Reset button until the ding) which is a new step, and use the old steps which would require after pressing SET the power be turned off for 10 seconds and then move the switch to Run, the engines are restore to operating conditions.  The problems I have with them are still there, but they at least run.  So, either I have a real problem with the boards or the new instructions for reset are wrong.

@JamesRx posted:

Hi Dave, I reset several times using the R button on the controller, but it did not help.

I think what Dave means by reset, is to reset the engines to factory default settings.  There are new instructions for how to do that on page 33 of the manual.  Having said that, if I follow those instructions the engines become unresponsive to all commands.  To get them running again, I had to change Step 6 (Press and hold the Reset or 0 button until the ding) with the step that use to follow pressing SET which was turning off the power for 10 seconds before moving the switch to Run.  Before sending them back you might try resetting to the factory default settings.

@JFC454 posted:

I check the owner's manual for these new E8/E9 and noticed that the reset instructions have changed.  If I follow exactly what is now on page 33, the engines are rendered completely unresponsive.  If I leave out step 6 (Press and hold the Reset button until the ding) which is a new step, and use the old steps which would require after pressing SET the power be turned off for 10 seconds and then move the switch to Run, the engines are restore to operating conditions.  The problems I have with them are still there, but they at least run.  So, either I have a real problem with the boards or the new instructions for reset are wrong.

The reset instructions are not wrong. Make sure after the bell ding, you put the switch back to RUN.

@Dave Olson posted:

The reset instructions are not wrong. Make sure after the bell ding, you put the switch back to RUN.

Dave,

I did exactly what the directions say, including waiting for the bell ding.  Horn blows and engine comes alive when SET is pushed.  Hold the Reset (0) until the ding, move the switch to run, engine remains powered (sounds and lights) but will not respond to any command from the remote.  If I turn the power off and then back on the engine will not start up using the engine number.

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