TMCC engine just clicks

[Anonymous]

I bought a nice Lionel set for Christmas (SP Overnight Freight) and I'm having some doubts about the integrity of the TMCC. I have a small Fastrack loop still on the carpet, but sometimes the engine and the control just will not work. They often just hangup. The engine will sit and make clicking noises - like some radio interference. Sometimes I will have to reset (unplug) the whole system and it will work fine, other times I will spend 10 minutes resetting, moving the engine, checking all connections, etc before I can get it to work. I understand from reading this forum that electrical connections and grounds are the foundation of making these trains run properly. I only have three wires and a bunch of fastrack connections, which I have reconnected infinitely. Aside from that, is there some quirk, poor design quality, or insider know-how that I need to know about to relieve these headaches.

[Anonymous]

For the TMCC signal to propogate, the three prong wall wart transformer for the comand base has to be plugged into a properly grounded three prong outlet. You can not remove the grounding plug on the transformer and plugging the transformer into a power strip with a surge suppressor can interfere with the signal generation. The third prong is being used to establish a "ground plane" for the radio signal to bounce off of. Without this reference plane, the signal will be weak or non existant and command equipped loco's will behave erratically.. Other t hings that could contribute to problems are weak batteries in the CAB-1 and issues with the antenna in the loco. There is a TMCC troubleshooting guide on the Lionel website under Customer Service/Owner Manuals/TMCC/

http://www.lionel.com/products/productnavigator/InstructionManuals/70-0000-000.pdf

[ChiefEagles]

I keep hearing about running power through a surge protector causes problems. I know of another TMCC and mine that runs through a surge protector [a good quality one] and never have had problems. Confusing to me. [?]

[tschmidt]

I am with ChiefEagles on this one. I use a good quality surge protector and have no problems with the TMCC.
Tom

[Anonymous]

I have no surge suppressor in use, just straight into the wall outlet which is standard three prong and I have checked the house circuit with a tester and it is wired and grounged properly.
The batteries in the CAB are new, as is the whole system. Anyway, I will check out the troubleshooting guide. The problem is intermittent. On Christmas morning I woke up the kids by running the whistle and bell from my bed while I pretended to be asleep. I was 60 ft away with walls in between. Sometimes it works great, other times ---AARRRRGG!!!!

[Anonymous]

It depends on the suppressor or power strip. Check to see if the ground is being run through properly. I've taken apart a few el-cheapo outlet strips and was alarmed by the way some of these were put together.

[Anonymous]

I run tmcc engines but always leave my power-master in conventional mode with only 14 volts to my track. I have had few problems by reducing the current from 18 volts. I am not a great engineer and my many derailments may have been why my locomotive computers were malfunctioning prior?

Few problems since...

[ChiefEagles]

Another check is to get a three pronged plug and wire one wire to the equipment ground [the round shaped prong and not the flat bladed ones]. Then run that wire to the outside rail of the layout. Plug it into your outlet. Think this was in Nov 2004 CTT. Cured one guy's problems earlier this month. Needs a good ground plane to make signal work. Hint, when it cuts up, put our hand over the engine. This helps, then you are not getting the good ground. I have found with DCS, portable phones will mess up signals from remote to TIU. Something is screwing with the signal.