Tmcc controlled with dcs smoke problem

Has it smoked before?  Does it smoke in a conventional environment?  If not, may be a bad switch... 

Jorge-

What kind of steamer do you have? How is it set up in the DCS remote? Does the locomotive smoke normally when controlled via the TMCC/Legacy remotes?

On a more basic level, I would check to see if there is enough smoke fluid in the unit, and that there are no air bubbles in the smokestack. Lionel recommends blowing down the smokestack after adding fluid to clear any bubbles that may prevent the smoke from coming out. If you hear the fan but still no smoke, it might be a burned out heating element (ceramic resistor).

Another option as suggested by Cheryl is the smoke/no smoke switch. Sometimes these switches are wired or installed backwards, so while it may sound counterintuitive, check if the unit smokes when the switch is in the "no smk" position.

Good luck!

-John

How about the exact model number of the problem engine?

Thanks Charly and thanks AcelaNYP,I really appreciate Your help.

GunrunnerJohn,the specs on the engine are Lionel Hudson  J3a num.6-28072 4-6-4.

thanks a whole lot.

jorge

Since this is a mechanical smoke unit, a couple of questions.

Can you feel any "heat" from the stack or smell the fluid being evaporated by the smoke resistor?  If you are getting heat, you may have a stuck piston in the smoke unit keeping it from puffing.

First step, is what Charly stated, test this engine in conventional to see if it smoke.  This may not be a TMCC/DCS issue at all.   G

Jorge,

Just to clarify...

You say "remote is one". Does that mean that the Smoke button ("1" on the DCS Remote") has been pressed and says that smoke is on?

Thanks gunrunnerjohn,

no smoke,no heat,no smell,no increase in amp.usage when I turn it on manually or with the remote .

when I use the remote a short hiiissss,comes from the locomotive.

my dear Ambassador (with all due respect) maybe this will also answer your request.

thanks to everyone,sincerily .

I will consider each and ever I one of your suggestions,

Wow this is fun.

JORGE

I think Barry's question was how specifically are you using the remote to turn on the smoke.

The idea of running it conventionally is a good one, as that eliminates control issues.  If it doesn't work in conventional mode, it's probably time to start doing some probing around inside to see what the issue is.

Yes Barry I thin my reply was not complete.I turn the smoke on by pushing #1 key and it gives me a quick hisss and the screen shows smoke on.

regards to all

jorge

Barry while I have the honor of having Your attention I have a quick question.I wired a TIU,TMCC,and LEGACY together following your instructions carefully  and I only Eire the common ground from the legacy base back to the TIU commons or ground that I connected all the black in the TIU in a daisy type fashion,my question is do I need to ground the TMCC to the black terminals of the TIU or just the LEGACY only?

Thanks Barry?

jorge

I ment wired.

jge

Jorge,

Do not connect the TMCC ground wire to anything. If you do, it will most likely ensure that neither Legacy nor TMCC will operate correctly.

Thanks a lot to all of You for your kind and most intelligent advice,I really appreciate it.

my best regards and respects to all of You

jorge

Jorge-

If the problem still persists, I would do a factory reset on the locomotive per the manual, ensuring that the TMCC 'feature' option is set to "smoke". Sometimes the TMCC receiver is inadvertently configured so that the feature option is set to a strobe or cab light. I ran into this issue with a TMCC diesel with a smoke unit - the receiver feature was set to "strobe light", which resulted in the smoke unit's fan pulsing on and off. Resetting to the correct code restored the normal smoke function.

-John

John, the number he gave is for a mechanical smoke unit, so there is no fan.

OTOH, your advice is spot-on as far as configuration, if it was set to strobe the heater would not get hot enough to smoke.  I have also seen them mis-configured and indeed the smoke doesn't work, fan driven or otherwise.

This is very valuable information,I am talking with the GURUS of railroading.Thanks a lot my friends I really appreciate your advice.

I do not think there is one person in all Mexico that knows any of this valuable information .H O scale is very popular O and G very few.

thanks again to all of You.

jorge