LGB factory sound fault help??

[andyspencer]

Hi all, I've got an LGB loco that I'm working on thats playing up on the sound. The loco was found to have an LGB onboard decoder which was a dead short across both wheels. This has been replaced and the loco now runs. The issue I've got is that I can't manually operate any sound function from the DCC remote. The running sounds operate correctly against loco speed, and the reed switch also operates the correct sounds. Has anybody else come across this issue of no manual intervention on sound features and found a solution to it?

 

[Zerogee]

Just a long shot, but something to check.....
If the loco has a digital sound board that is separate from the driving decoder, and the driving decoder has been replaced - is it possible that the sound board hasn't been set to the same DCC address as the new driving decoder?
The new driving decoder may still be on default address 3, but the sound unit may not be.... that could make the sound operate in its automatic functions, but you wouldn't have any manual control over it.
Or it might be something else entirely!

Jon.

 

[andyspencer]

The new decoder is set to address 3, but as the old unit is shorted, I can't check it's address. It looks as if the loco has never been used, but that doesn't mean the address wasn't changed first. Is there any special ways of changing both addresses or do I just do it as I would normally for a none sound loco ?

 

[Neil Robinson]

The new decoder is set to address 3, but as the old unit is shorted, I can't check it's address. It looks as if the loco has never been used, but that doesn't mean the address wasn't changed first. Is there any special ways of changing both addresses or do I just do it as I would normally for a none sound loco ?

Could it be a serial/parallel issue?

 

[Zerogee]

The new decoder is set to address 3, but as the old unit is shorted, I can't check it's address. It looks as if the loco has never been used, but that doesn't mean the address wasn't changed first. Is there any special ways of changing both addresses or do I just do it as I would normally for a none sound loco ?

I should have really asked this question first before confusing the issue, does it have a separate driving decoder and sound board/module, or an all-in-one sound decoder? What vintage of LGB are we talking about (in fact, what is the actual model)?

Jon.

 

[andyspencer]

The loco is a GE4/4 III, manufactured around 2004. It has three boards, a decoder, a pantograph controller and a sound board. I have tested it on a Massoth central station and tried both serial and parallel commands. The pantgraphs all work correctly in either serial or parallel, and as mentioned before the running noises all work as they should along with the reed switch activation functions.

 

[Zerogee]

Hmmm.... as it's all factory-installed gear, I would have thought that changing the address in the usual way should, in theory, reset both driving and sound boards to the same address. You say that it's still on default 3 - it might be worth changing the address of the whole loco on your programming track, and just see if that brings both boards back into synch with each other? If it doesn't work, you're no worse off than now.....

Jon.

 

[PhilP]

IF the sound board is DCC, then you should be able to put track-power to it, on its' own.. You should be able to treat it as a discrete unit for testing. - Though it may be serial.

If you post a picture of it, we can try to find the connections, more information, and see if we can work out what is going on..

If the original decoder has fried:
It could be that what ever is passed to the sound board was also fried?? - The front end of the sound board may have had it??

 

[andyspencer]

 

[andyspencer]

I'd just attempted to change the loco address on the massoth, it would only allow me to change it with the power switch set to 2, so sound unit isolated. I've just dug out the old MTS 55015 and programming head. Using this I've changed the address back to 3 with the sound on, and performed a factory reset on CV55. Still no change to the fault though...

 

[Zerogee]

I'd just attempted to change the loco address on the massoth, it would only allow me to change it with the power switch set to 2, so sound unit isolated. I've just dug out the old MTS 55015 and programming head. Using this I've changed the address back to 3 with the sound on, and performed a factory reset on CV55. Still no change to the fault though...

Mm, OK, sorry that wasn't any help! I don't have any other bright ideas I'm afraid, so will have to hand this off to other more experienced and knowledgeable forumites...... hope you can find the solution!

Jon.

 

[PhilP]

Andy,
You *have* tried setting the Navigator to serial for this address/loco??

Older LGB sound boards were serial only..

 

[andyspencer]

Phil,

Yep tried the nav in both P and serial. The pans work correctly in either mode. I've since tried the suspect sound board in another loco with the same setup and got the same fault so its looking like the board may well be faulty...

 

[PhilP]

Phil,

Yep tried the nav in both P and serial. The pans work correctly in either mode. I've since tried the suspect sound board in another loco with the same setup and got the same fault so its looking like the board may well be faulty...

Now pity I didn't know that earlier...

Guess where I have been today? - could have picked up an XLS as a replacement..