My BLI Northern 4-8-4 sound card has stopped working. When there is power on the track it makes a loud rythmic clicking sound. I've sent an email to BLI but I thought I'd ask here also to see what others had to say.
Also, what kind of upgrades in sound have people tried with this locomotive??
Thanks.
Try the factory reset. It may clear it up. Ken
First of all, you are much better off calling BLI rather than emailing them. They are not as good responding to emails as they are answering the phone.
I have a BLI Northern 4-8-4 but it is a Paragon, not a Blue Line.
I do have a couple of BLI Blue Line diesels.
You mentioned that the sound card has stopped working. Does the locomotive respond to other functions such as forward and backward movement?
The Blue Line locos have two decoders: a motor decoder and a sound decoder. It is not uncommon for the sound decoder to stop functioning in certain situations. Since the sound does not work, do the lights? When my sound isn't working on a Blue Line loco, I hear nothing, not even the clicking sound that you are experiencing. And, in that situation, the lights do not work either.
A factory reset may be the solution, or it could be that the sound decoder is defective. Call BLI and describe your problem. They may be able to help you resolve the problem on the phone or they may have you send it in for inspection and possible repair. You should be aware that the two decoders need to be programmed separately.
I have not attempted to upgrade the sound on any of my Blue Line locomotives. Are you considering some sort of upgrade?
Rich
Alton Junction
The locomotive does respond as before (motion,lights). I'm going to attempt a factory reset and we'll see what happens. I was considering the upgrade in the case that the sound decoder is not salvagable ie burnt up or something.
thanks,
gb
If you have motion and lights, the problem is with the sound decoder.
Go to this site and scroll down to the section labeled BlueLine Series FAQ Section.
http://www.broadway-limited.com/faq.aspx
If you have no reason to believe that the sound decoder got damaged somehow, then chances are that you simply need to reset the address of the loco on the sound decoder.
That "loud rythmic clicking sound" that you report troubles me.
Keep us posted.
Factory reset. Locomotive runs, but sound just makes momentary sounds like for a fraction of a second. The rhythmic beeps are gone.
Lights do not work.
I am wondering if the motor decoder is not firmly seated on top of the sound board. The motor decoder sits on top of the sound board and connects to the 8-pin NMRA socket on the sound board. The sound board has its own internal decoder to control the lights and sound functions.
If the locomotive responds to the forward and backward motion commands, then the motor decoder is working fine.
If the sound and lights are not operating properly, then there is a problem with the sound board.
The sound board could be damaged, but if it were working properly in the past and you haven't dropped it, then there is no apparent reason to think that it has suddenly failed. The motor decoder may not be fully seated on top of the sound board, causing it to fail. The other possibility is that the sound decoder has lost its address and needs to be reprogrammed.
Here is a link to the BLI Steam Engine manual. Read through the DCC section and follow the instructions to reprogram the sound decoder, epecially the address. But, first, make sure that the motor decoder is firmly seated on top of the sound board.
http://www.broadway-limited.com/support/manuals/Final%20BlueLine%20Steam%20Manual%207.17.08.pdf
Have you been able to communicate with Customer Service at BLI?
I had the same problem with mine. BLI was helpful in troubleshooting but to no avail. sound decoder is toast, has anyone replaced this decoder with something else and had better luck? I love the loco just am afraid to spend money on replacing with the same decoder....