TMCC GS-2 ERRATIC

The first thing I would look at is for dirty track and or dirty wheels. 

Ray

DO a reset also.  G

I am with Ray.  If you open it, pull and re-seat the R2LC board.  Put the engine in program and after hitting the engine number and set, enter the reprogram number.   Remember, like all TMCC boards they are getting old.

Ok, I will be doing all of that tomorrow and I will report in.  My wife has plans for us today.  I assume that if it is an old board problem that would just be a matter of replacing the board, right?

Reprogram it first and see what you have.

Ok I reprogrammed and it didn't help.  I used number 74 for the reprogramming as noted in the manual. Here are some pics of inside, do y'all see anything amiss?  What should I unplug and replug ?

Sounds like a communication issue.  If you put your hand over the engine would the headlight clear up?  Unplug the plugs between the body shell and the chassis and try to run the locomotive with the boiler removed.  Check the antenna (handrails) and body shell for continuity.  If you see continuity, you found your issue.  I am in all night and will look at this with you.  If everything checks out, do you have another R2LC code 8?

One last thing before you do anything, shut your smoke off and see if the headlight flickers.

Marty I will have to do the check s early in the morning, with family this evening.  Thanks for the direction, you are awesome.

MARTY GUESS WHAT!!! With the boiler off it runs perfectly! No issues what so ever. Without the boiler using the cab 1 controller it operates as smooth as any MTH loco I have. So what does this mean? I did check and there is no continuity between the handrails and the boiler. 

If the handrails are not shorted to the boiler, make sure the antenna connection to the handrails is properly connected and has continuity.  With the antenna connection plugged in to the motherboard, measure continuity from the handrails to pin #23 of the R2LC.  If that's good, measure from that same pin #23 to the wheels and make sure a short isn't happening somewhere else.  You seem to have an antenna issue.

Do that but measure continuity from the motherboard connection to pin 23 on the R2LC.    Clint, I always like to scrape some handrail blueing to see bare metal on the handrails to do that continuity test to the boiler.   I would lay the chassis and boiler on a towel side by side with the antenna boiler wire hooked to the wire that comes from the motherboard.   Throw a jumper wire between the boiler and chassis and start measuring  out from the R2LC.  Measure each point to pin 23 on the R2LC not at the motherboard connection.  If you have an antenna issue see where you loose your continuity.  I do agree with John.

Ok guys test will get underway in a bit.  

Ok, I unplugged the antenna plug, that plug has one wire approx. 6" long that connects to the two antenna wires going to the handrails.  I have continuity from each hand rail to the plug.  I did have to scrape paint off of the handrails to check continuity.  I ran a jumper from the boiler to the chassis, I had no continuity anywhere (that's good).  I am wondering if the paint on the handrails would have any effect on signal acquisition?  After all the thing runs perfectly with the boiler off.  The fact that it runs perfectly without the boiler tells me that it doesn't have a board problem, right?  I have to run to Walmart when I return I'm going to re-assemble and see what happens.  Ha! My wife said; "just run it without the boiler."  

Paint has no effect on the signal, that isn't the problem.  You need to check the continuity from the antenna plug on the MB to the R2LC pin #23, that's the other half of the path for the antenna.  Also, the reason for checking from the antenna all the way to the board was to check for any bad or loose pin in the antenna plug.

There is a method to my madness, even though it sometimes doesn't seem so.

John, he did that check I mentioned earlier.  He seems to have the bases covered.  I will be curious how he makes out when it is together.  

Something is certainly amiss.

John, he is an easy guy to work with as he understands what he is doing.   Those motherboards are never an issue.  I say let him put it together then check continuity from handrails to the drivers.  Could have been a pinched wire.  We have all seen that enough times.

Well, bad news, before I installed the boiler I put it back on the layout...wow, perfection!  I then plugged everything back up and replaced the boiler.  The perfection was gone, it wasn't running right.  So I took the boiler back off and disconnected the handrail antenna.  I ran a separate antennae out the front (look at pic).  It runs great now.  So, what would y'all suggest?

Clint,

I had this issue with a GS-2.  As I recall it was an intermittent  bad connection under the antenna wire heat shrink at the hand rail.  Pretty easy fix, but hard to find.  Good luck!

Bruce

Bruce, that sounds like it.

Well actually I can see the heat shrink is pulled back where it connects to the handrail.  That could be the problem I will attack that next because I sure can't leave that wire coming through the front of the boiler.

With it back together and on the track, you can measure resistance between handrail and outer track, probably a ground now.  If not, then as suspected the wire connection to the antenna is bad.  Some times they are just a crimp sleeve as soldering on to nickel is not easy. G

Soldering to nickel is easy, but the handrails are normally stainless steel, that's hard to solder to.