Vision Line Genset UP 2701

Sounds like somewhere inside you've got a crunched ground wire..

I'd check around the speaker first.

Joe

Some of them buzz .. My up es44 does it.. It is fine it won't blow up or anything. 

For some reason some do it and others don't. 

Thanks. Good to know it's not serious, but the 'scrunched grond wire' sounds promising. I'll poke around when I get the courage to open it up.  I'm always fearful it will turn into one of those DIY projects that do more harm than good and I need a pro in the end. 

FWIW Lionels warranty coverage on vision line locos is 2 years from the date of purchase as long as the locomotive is purchased within 3 years from the date of manufacture.

 Lionel will not honor the warranty on anything if not purchased from an authorized dealer.

Having said that, you may want to do a search, unless I'm faint buzzing or humming is not uncommon or abnormal from these engines due to their comlicated electronics i.e. 3 independent smoke units etc.

If your running conventional and the smoke is on the three smoke units are probably taxing the output of the cw 80 when the throttle is low causing your accessories to flicker as well.

I believe pulsating lights on a legacy or vl loco occurs as the loco is checking for a command signal, if no command signal is present it the goes into "conventional mode.

If it runs normally once its powered up, I'd say its fine, if not, these are about as complex as it gets so the $65 an hour for Lionel to do a repair would be a wise investment.

On a side note, don't expect billowing smoke from the three stacks. This is a model of modern environmentally friendly low emmission diesel switcher. Lionel kept the model true to the prototype.

Thanks. Running in Legacy mode. I checked my CW and it's putting out about 18 volts. I'll keep checking around but I agree with you, $65 is a good investment on such an expensive item.

Well, I think I'm just going to run it as is. If something fails, then I'll address it. In the meantime, Im going to enjoy watching it run!  Thanks for your great comments.  Happy Easter!