Bought a Polar Express at a Salvage store. Works fine, but no sound. Could someone help me troubleshoot this? I have already checked the connection to the tender, but don't know where to go next.
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Do you have a meter? Take the shell off of the tender and check for continuity on the speaker. Should be around 8 ohms.
If you can jumper power to the engine, get some help to hold the wheels off of the track or table. Put your test leads to each wire on the coupler with a mVolt setting. That should tell you if the sound board is working. Check the tender coupler contacts for a continuity test also. Visually check the wires for a broken wire.
You can turn off chuff, but the blow down and announcements will still work. It takes a power cycle to set it after moving the switch. Switch is in cab.
if none of those work, you may have to take the shell off the engine and look for a broken wire going to the coupler from the sound board.
If that fails, a new board setup may be the solution. It's all in one. It's $45 + shipping from Lionel #40 on the list
Post back with your findings? Good luck.
Is the Switch for sounds turned on? Look at the back of the engine where the firebox is. 2 switches. One is smoke other is sounds. G
What screws are removed to take the shell off the engine? The photographs of all the components do not really show how things are assembled. They are not as descriptive as the "exploded-diagrams" lionel provided in the past.
Originally Posted by butch1:
What screws are removed to take the shell off the engine? The photographs of all the components do not really show how things are assembled. They are not as descriptive as the "exploded-diagrams" lionel provided in the past.
There are two under the cab at the rear and two in the front near the valves. use a properly fitting screw driver(#1, I believe). Don't hold it by the side rods. You'll bend them and have more problems. Try to stay on the wheels.
When you lift it, move straight up. The valves are slotted and ride on a guide. Then slightly tilt the rear forward and continue up. When you put it back on, be careful to align the smoke unit before trying to seat the shell. Don't force the alignment in the front. Just wiggle it a little to get it to slide down.
My volume for whistle, bell & announcements went from being loud to really soft - can anybody tell me why? 1225 polar express 15th anniversary set - new out of box.
Check the wire connections on the drawbar. Just fixed one where they broke under the heatshrink due to all the flexing.
