Green flashing light 4559

[pathblazerphoto]

Hi

 

I have a vintage 4559 that is flashing green on the control unit. Anyone know why?

Edited September 27, 2023 by JopieK
Moved to Train Tech / Merged

[SpacePolice89]

The green light is supposed to be on when the control unit receives electricity. Maybe the power supply is uneven in some way? Maybe it's the power cable? Have  you tried different rooms or attaching the gray power bricks to different pieces of rail or building a new track?

Dust can also cause problems with the connectivity.

Try asking in the train section

https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/forum/122-lego-train-tech/

 

[pathblazerphoto]

Hi All

So I recently rebuilt my  4559 train set and I am having issue with the controller/charger. it is flashing a green light when I turn the dial. got it to run once for 2 seconds and thats it. I think its the cable from the track to the joiner( square black Lego piece) that is broken. Anyone got suggestions on how to fix/replace?

[SD100]

You got a multimeter? Check and inspect everything. Clean all the contacts if you haven't. If you do have a multimeter I'd check each point to see where your voltage drops off... If the wire insulation is breaking apart anywhere than that's probably the issue. There are topics on here about replacing it, I just did it and it's a bit finicky not not too hard.

SD

[pathblazerphoto]

45 minutes ago, SD100 said:

You got a multimeter? Check and inspect everything. Clean all the contacts if you haven't. If you do have a multimeter I'd check each point to see where your voltage drops off... If the wire insulation is breaking apart anywhere than that's probably the issue. There are topics on here about replacing it, I just did it and it's a bit finicky not not too hard.

SD

I am busy trying that, found a video on how its done, trying to find 0.2mm cable in South Africa is a bit problematic, the video said 24 gauge which is 0.5mm for us, but it was too large. 

[1963maniac]

Battery Powered Bricks has several videoson how to fix 9v wiring. Here are two of them. Hope this helps.

 

[pathblazerphoto]

30 minutes ago, 1963maniac said:

Battery Powered Bricks has several videoson how to fix 9v wiring. Here are two of them. Hope this helps.

 

gave that a go and it didn't seem to work for me unfortunately. the green light stopped flashing so it was a problem with the contact points cable ( the 2nd video). I am in South Africa and have asked on a few facebook groups if anyone has a spare version of this. otherwise its waiting till I go to Germany again

 

[zephyr1934]

You can still test it before you travel to Germany. Unplug everything except the wall wart and the black controller with the yellow dial. Is the green light steady green? If so, you know the problem is on the output side. If the light is flashing in this case, perhaps the wall wart or it's wire is bad. If so, you should be able to replace that with a nonlego wall wart... of course that is assuming the controller itself is not bad.

 

Next up, if you have a standard 9v cable with black connectors on either end, you can plug the train motor directly to the controller, just be sure to have the motor flipped upside down so it doesn't try to run away. If the motor runs and the light doesn't flash you know for sure you have a bad track connector. If the motor doesn't run, you might also have a bad 9v cable and/or a bad motor.

 

Obviously don't attempt to modify anything you are not prepared to risk destroying. Any of the following could permanently damage your Lego, so proceed at your own risk. You do not have to stick with lego connectors. Probably the cheapest way to get power out of the train controller is to use either a 9v cable or one of the PF jumper cables (they have a 9v female connector on one end). You can then cut that cable up and connect your own wire to the cable, then solder the other end to the track, or if you are not handy with soldering, you can sneak it into one of the metal crimps that hold the metal top to the plastic track. Either way, I suggest that you do so on a curve section since the straights are more expensive. Here's an example using very cheap connectors, but I was only powering LED's and reed switches.

 

[Sunil766]

All of the above should already help a lot in troubleshooting, I just wanted to add that you can also put a 9v light (as used in train sets like 4565) directly on top of the controller. This also rules out the possibility to have a bad cable (!) and or motor when plugging in the motor directly. 

Cheers and good luck