Loco and tender was purchased with problems. As shown in the photo the wire at the top of the photo is not unattached. The left side of the photo is the front of the tender. I don't want to guess and make the problem worse. Everything works except the sounds. Any help appreciated.
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Speaker wire.
Looks like it goes to the rear speaker terminal, did you check to see if there is a wire there or not????
Marty
As the guys have said it can only reach a certain distance and doesn't seem to have been bent much previously.
Image from the other side?
The two wires to the speaker go to a plug and both seem to be solid. I removed the curcuit board in question and as the photo shows a little burnt spot....pretty well says something bad happened. Probably why the wire was cut or disconnected.
Looks like the wire originally went to the circuit board on the right side right above the black wire and in between the two yellow wire nuts in the photo. Looks like the two wires start here and go to the brass lugs on the board in the front group on the tender.
Looks like I will need the board or a suitable replacement. Any suggestions?
Your board with the cooked trace is the audio amplifier board, which was used in less than a half dozen Samhongsa-produced Lionel locomotives from the early 1990's. The part number for it is 691-8018-T25, but they're very difficult to find. I suppose your loose wire could have come in contact with something that caused the burned trace on the board.
Here's what I would do... first verify if the RailSounds board works OK. Connect your speaker directly to the two metal posts coming from the RS board (your loose wire came from one of them) and see if you get sound. The sound board should operate OK at this point, it'll just be on the quiet side.
If you don't hear anything, then chances are your RS board assembly is bad as well, although I suppose the speaker could also have been damaged as well. At this point, you might want to investigate a third-party replacement sound system.
But if the RailSounds board is OK, then you just need to worry about fixing or replacing the amplifier board.
TRW
Great advice...the bypass works. All functions were active. I was was surprised that it is not really that quiet. Since this board is scarce to say the least any thoughts on a substitute or who could fix it? I would prefer to replace it.
Thanks again!!!
It's been a long time since I worked on one of those units, but here are a few quick thoughts.
1) There are at least three boards in that tender -- QSI reverse unit for the loco, RailSounds (actually two boards), and the amplifier board. Does everything else work OK?
2) If I remember right, your damaged board serves as both the sound amplifier as well as the constant-voltage source for the tender lighting. Does all the lighting work properly?
3) It's possible that your board could be repaired, if it's just a bad trace. The burning could have been caused by your loose wire coming in contact with something it shouldn't have, and/or having a derailment where the current found the weakest point. If you're comfortable with it, jumper the bad trace with a wire and see what happens.
4) Lastly, check out this part number at Lionel: 6918010T11. It's the scale Turbine tender frame with the sound system (it's unique for the turbine sound) and what MIGHT be the same amplifier/lighting board found in your Southern Mikado. If you choose to go this route, take some good photos of your entire board and e-mail Lionel with the question.
I hope this helps.
TRW
Everything works and you are correct in that the board is constant voltage and sound amp.
I do think I will give a try to jumping the trace. I really appreciate you time, interest, and of course knowledge.
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