# Chuff not working



## Jasper M (May 20, 2021)

Hi everyone! I had some problems with a LGB mogul. The train itself is over 25 years old. (I'm not sure exactly how old). The chuff on the train won't work. All it does is hiss and it whistles when it goes over a magnet in the track. I though I would first replace the 9v battery inside the tender. (I'm pretty sure there is one in there). But to do that I would need to take the top off of the tender. How do you do that? If that didn't work I would work on the cord between the tender and locomotive.Thanks!







This is the locomotive with the chuff not working


----------



## Daveyj199 (Mar 25, 2020)

Hi Jasper,
The solution depends on the model number...check the sticker on the bottom - is it a 2019S ? There is a 9 Volt battery tucked under the coal load cover on the tender. If its dead it may affect the sound - possibly killing it or causing degradation. On some Moguls the tender coal load piece might come off by prying on one side with a skinny knife. For the last one I worked on I had to unscrew the coal load cover from within the tender - look for philips head screws on the bottom around the perimeter of the tender bottom. Remove all of those and the tender upper shell should come loose. There will likely be a sound board placed vertically between two plastic risers next to the speaker. A common failure point on these is also the wiring connector between the locomotive and the tender that carries the track voltage into the tender to drive the chuff. Or there could be a sensor from the axles of the tender that drives the chuff. 

Dave


----------



## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

When this loco hisses, it is NOT the battery. No battery, no hiss!!!!
Problem most likely is the cable to the engine which has the 3 wires for the chuff sensor on the engine rear axle. this 6 pin cable has 6 pins configured for:

2 for track power, one for rear light (coal models only), 
3 for the chuff (power, ground, chuff pulse). Looking from the rear of the engine the 3 chuff pins are on the right side of the cable.


----------



## LGB333$$$$ (Oct 11, 2017)

Jasper M said:


> Hi everyone! I had some problems with a LGB mogul. The train itself is over 25 years old. (I'm not sure exactly how old). The chuff on the train won't work. All it does is hiss and it whistles when it goes over a magnet in the track. I though I would first replace the 9v battery inside the tender. (I'm pretty sure there is one in there). But to do that I would need to take the top off of the tender. How do you do that? If that didn't work I would work on the cord between the tender and locomotive.Thanks!
> View attachment 61679
> This is the locomotive with the chuff not working


Jasper - The LGB 21181 was not produced by LGB with a factory sound system. So someone has installed a sound system in it and to assist you with the trouble shooting, we need to know its brand & model. It's likely a Phoenix Sound 2k2 or PB11. These units use rechargeable batteries so there's no battery replacement needed until the rechargeable unit no longer will hold a charge. When a Phoneix Sound unit is installed into an LGB Mogul, it's placed in the tender and there's no connection from the locomotive that affects its operation.......it gets its power from the two sets of track power pickup wheels on the tender. I just repaired a customer's HLW tender with a Phoenix 2k2 sound unit installed and the wires had come loose from the screw-in terminals and it no longer produced chuffs. After I reconnected the wires, the chuffs resumed. On the Phoenix installs, a small magnet is placed on the axle where the chuff sensor is installed. Check to see if the magnet is still in place. Sometimes they fall off or are dislodged from their positon, i.e., moves further down the axle and no longer aligns with the sensor. 

You remove the cover from all LGB Moguls by removing the four screws on the four corners on the bottom of the tender.


----------



## Jasper M (May 20, 2021)

I just fixed the sound. It was a rusty sound control dial I fixed. Thanks for the tips!


----------



## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

The cable between the LGB mogul and tender ties track power between the engine and tender. Only the 5 wire mogul/tender combo has no tender power pickup as they used the 2-4-0 series tender.


----------

