Single blink signal on a 2-8-0 legacy consolidation, 2231670, Similar to catalog 2231130

The other reason for that to happen is the flywheel sensor isn't seeing the flywheel rotations.  Look for broken wires or the flywheel toothed wheel not properly positioned between the sensor legs.

Note, if you have low track voltage (just in a spot or entire layout/transformer not turned up) LCP2 (Lionchief Plus 2) boards WILL fault out on motor drive because they sense they may not achieve commanded RPM.

Just saying, ensure you have 18V on the track- otherwise you can get the same false sensed cab light blink motor fault!!!

@Vernon Barry posted:

Note, if you have low track voltage (just in a spot or entire layout/transformer not turned up) LCP2 (Lionchief Plus 2) boards WILL fault out on motor drive because they sense they may not achieve commanded RPM.

Just saying, ensure you have 18V on the track- otherwise you can get the same false sensed cab light blink motor fault!!!

Vernon, checked on my test track and several places on the main layout and all have 18 volts.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

The other reason for that to happen is the flywheel sensor isn't seeing the flywheel rotations.  Look for broken wires or the flywheel toothed wheel not properly positioned between the sensor legs.

GRJ, The flywheel connectors (blue/ yellow and the five pin w/ black wires) appear to be seated well in the board.  I will remove them and check them for continuity in the morning.  Is there a specific measurement or way to tell the toothed wheel is positioned properly between the sensor legs?

Gents, thanks for the suggestions!

The wheel should be close to the bottom of the U-shaped sensor, but it must NOT touch it when the motor armature is pressed down to take up the slack.  I shoot for 1/16" or less when I'm putting flywheels back on.  If it's not hitting the bottom, your picture looks like it's positioned correctly.

If there is no binding in the geartrain, and the motor turns freely around a complete rev of the drivers, my next test is to yank the two pin plug and connect the motor to a bench DC supply on my test rollers and see how much current the motor draws running.  Running on the rollers you shouldn't be drawing more than 300-400 milliamps at 6-8 volts.  If it's significantly more, I'd suspect the motor.  For RCMC equipped locomotives, I put the board on my tester.  I don't have a tester for the LCP2/3 boards yet, that's in the project queue, so I just take a spare board and substitute.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

The wheel should be close to the bottom of the U-shaped sensor, but it must NOT touch it when the motor armature is pressed down to take up the slack.  I shoot for 1/16" or less when I'm putting flywheels back on.  If it's not hitting the bottom, your picture looks like it's positioned correctly.

If there is no binding in the geartrain, and the motor turns freely around a complete rev of the drivers, my next test is to yank the two pin plug and connect the motor to a bench DC supply on my test rollers and see how much current the motor draws running.  Running on the rollers you shouldn't be drawing more than 300-400 milliamps at 6-8 volts.  If it's significantly more, I'd suspect the motor.  For RCMC equipped locomotives, I put the board on my tester.  I don't have a tester for the LCP2/3 boards yet, that's in the project queue, so I just take a spare board and substitute.

I gave up waiting on Micromark rollers to be in stock and rigged up a half-baked test stand to investigate this issue. Just to refresh the problem, this thing starts and moves 12 inches and then stops with the blinking overload light on in the cab.

I disconnected the two-pin motor plug and powered the motor with a dc power supply -the motor ran fine and draws 185 milliamps.   I also checked continuity for the four wire plugs that connect the motor tach to the mother board and they are good.

At this point, it seemed the choices are a motor power supply circuit overload or tach feedback (lack of rotation) sensor was shutting it down. To isolate these two, I connected track AC to the roller pickup and frame and left the DC power supply on the motor. I used a universal controller to start the locomotive while I was increasing the dc to the motor, so it rotated. No blinking light was signaled with the motor power circuit out of the system. The unit appeared to run fine.

So, my assumption is the tach speed sensor is not the issue, the problem is in the motor dc power circuit.  Somehow it does not like my 185-milliamp load.

Am I missing something and does it sound like the motor dc control circuit?   

I had one legacy 2-8-0 come across the bench with a gear mesh problem. These locomotives are backdrivable. With the locomotive in your hand, roll it on the palm of your other hand, like an old fashioned friction toy. Listen for a faint click, that would indicate a tooth skip. It may be hard to get a feel for it at first, but if she’s skipping a tooth, it’s pretty definitive……it just sounds out of cadence …..you should be able to hear the gear mesh in a quiet room, a skipping tooth makes a very distinct sound.

Pat

I'm having a hard time with this being the actual board, I'd want to test that board separately before I thought about replacement.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

I'm having a hard time with this being the actual board, I'd want to test that board separately before I thought about replacement.

Me either!….I suspect something else is going on here!….😉

Pat