Railsounds Static on Lionel 2-8-0 - Update: NO SOUND!

Twice I've had that exact symptom. Both times it turned out to be the RS chips needed to be reseated in their sockets. Once it was static, the second time is was a popping and cutting in and out of the sound. You'll need a PLCC puller to reseat the chips.

Of course, I'd first check all the wiring connectors and the seating of the RS boards on the motherboard, might as well go for the low-hanging fruit first.

Thanks for the response.

Since I've never touched a Railsounds board before could please you tell me what the RS chips look like.

I have had the same problem with my 2-8-0. Except instead of the sound getting distorted, there was no sound at all. I just took it to a local Lionel authorized service station and they fixed it for between $5 and $20, I forget how much it was.

Well, you can't miss the RS chips, there's a square one on each side of the board, and they're the only socketed chips.

Thanks!

I'll pop the tender shell off and have a look...

Not to hi-jack you here but, I also have a railsound 2-8-4 Erie and with the sound switch off I still can get the whistle and bell sounds but I also get a crew talk message over and over "Hold the Main, Roger than". With My other railsound tenders with the switch off, crew talk is off also. Any ideas?

Well, reseating the chips can't be a totally bad idea, but you do need the PLCC chip puller to do it, do NOT try to pry them out of the sockets with something, that will surely break the sockets, bad news!

Will open it up and look, see if anything is obviously loose then acquire PLCC puller before proceeding.

Well, I got a chip puller, removed one chip and pressed it back in place... Now I have no sound at all.

The loco runs OK. But there is no sound. No whistle, bell or anything. Just a mild hum in forward and a louder hum in reverse.

What did I do and how do I fix it?

Thanks for any help.

Bert

Just removed and replaced both chips. Still no sound.

I guess now I need to send it to somebody to be checked out...

???

Are you running in TMCC? Did you try raising the sound level with the 1 button on the keyboard . You need to open the keypad using aux 1 command. Also did you try an engine reset.

Thanks for the suggestions about the chips! I have a Reading 2-8-0 that sounds like a Phantom loco, but only when running in Railsounds mode. In signalsounds, it sounds flawless. Will give the reseating the chips a try. Thanks again!

quote:

Originally posted by MrNabisco:
Just removed and replaced both chips. Still no sound.

I guess now I need to send it to somebody to be checked out...

???

Did you check around for other issues? How about the speaker, could it have gone bad? I'd try to eliminate the simple stuff before paying for a repair.

I normally swap in other RS boards, but I suspect you don't have any. Before I had spares, I used to take them from another working locomotive.

I tried to look for any loose connections and did a basic "push test" to make sure most everything was in place. The speaker seems to be working because I get popping sounds and a hum when the loco is in reverse.

Wish I had another Railsounds board to pop in and see what happens. Maybe getting a replacement Railsounds board would be cheaper than having a shop do a repair?

Guess I'll try searching for one...

UPDATE: I took the Railsounds board out of my H16-44 and put it in the 2-8-0. It worked fine. Full sound effects with no static. So I guess this tells me there is a problem with the original 2-8-0 Railsounds board, either one of the chips is bad/fried or something... Guess it is time to find a new board.

You are probably right, just on a lark try putting the original board back in.

Since you have nothing to loose, try taking the RS chips out and CAREFULLY inspecting the pins in the socket and on the chip. Look for any bent or malformed pins. This sounds like a poor contact between the pins, and it's easy for those PLCC chips and sockets to take some damage.