# Lionel 153IR --can it be fixed?



## KarenORichmond (Nov 14, 2011)

At a train event a couple of weeks ago, someone told me that it was just a photoeye that could be purchased at Radio Shack in it. Here it is opened up, but not sure what I am looking for here. Yes, I am sure it is the sensor. It gets power but nothing you do makes it trigger.


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## Bluecometk (Dec 30, 2011)

I think the sensing board is in the cabinet part of the unit. If unscrewed from the base it will pull out. I have quite a few and have had some issues but my issues always turned out to be those three resisters in the right upper corner of your pictured unit .You can just get a glimpse of them under the green wire of the connector. It seems that older units have three and newer units have one large resister in their place. These are just my observances.

Just my 2 cents hope this helps.


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## KarenORichmond (Nov 14, 2011)

But the resisters wouldn't be causing a sensor problem right?


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

If you had two, it may be possible to switch parts to see if they work.


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## KarenORichmond (Nov 14, 2011)

I actually have 3 total


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## Bluecometk (Dec 30, 2011)

When those resisters would go bad the unit didn’t do anything at all. As a note the resisters where usually burned or discolored. I have had an issue with the connector that goes to the signal eye. It did not make a good connection even though it snapped inplace.
I have also noted that they don't like the voltage signal from very old transformers like the Z type, but that could just be my transformer.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Anything can be fixed, but it's really just finding out what is actually wrong.  While someone says it was the sensor, that doesn't mean it really is.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Trouble shoot is a treasure hunt. One step at a time to finally isolate the cause. If you switch a board and it works. You cut it down by 50 %. Since it is in two parts. What you show is not that important. A switch, capacitors, resistors and two potentiometers. The resistor are easy to check refer to the color code and see if the meter agrees. The other board must have the chips. If they are programmed like a chip in the reverse unit then you are out of luck. You can't fix it only replace it. 

The electronics is a whole other hobby for me. This will eat up time, lots of it. The first question is can you afford the time. It may never be fixed. It is not as simple as a bad bulb. In fact you may find it faster to build your own. The information is out there . I just haven't had the time. 

My two cents.


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## KarenORichmond (Nov 14, 2011)

T-Man said:


> Trouble shoot is a treasure hunt. One step at a time to finally isolate the cause. If you switch a board and it works. You cut it down by 50 %. Since it is in two parts. What you show is not that important. A switch, capacitors, resistors and two potentiometers. The resistor are easy to check refer to the color code and see if the meter agrees. The other board must have the chips. If they are programmed like a chip in the reverse unit then you are out of luck. You can't fix it only replace it.
> 
> The electronics is a whole other hobby for me. This will eat up time, lots of it. The first question is can you afford the time. It may never be fixed. It is not as simple as a bad bulb. In fact you may find it faster to build your own. The information is out there . I just haven't had the time.
> 
> My two cents.


The background on this is that I picked it up on ebay and when hooked up it had power, but never could get it to "trip the sensor" so I contacted the seller, he refunded and said to just keep it. I think he had picked up the stuff he was selling at an estate sale or whatever. The ones on ebay that I was then seeing were going over $40-45. I searched online and found a new one for the same $35 I had paid and same shipping.....so as I said I mentioned it at a train show thing and was told it was simply a photoeye available at Radio Shack, but when I opened it, I wasn't exactly sure what I was looking at/for. If it is a complicated fix then no big deal and it can become scenery somewhere. If not too hard to fix, then I would go for it. May try putting it back together and see if maybe something was loose or something


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

The person that suggested it was the photo-sensor was very likely just hazarding a guess, as the failure could be any number of things.

As T-Man says, troubleshooting is simply the process of elimination. You divide and conquer, keep eliminating possibilities until only one remains or you solve the problem.


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## KarenORichmond (Nov 14, 2011)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> The person that suggested it was the photo-sensor was very likely just hazarding a guess, as the failure could be any number of things.
> 
> As T-Man says, troubleshooting is simply the process of elimination. You divide and conquer, keep eliminating possibilities until only one remains or you solve the problem.


At the time I thought he might have had to replace one before and from listening to my problem figured that was what was wrong.


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## servoguy (Jul 10, 2010)

Karen, if you will remove the circuit card from the metal plate and take a good picture of the back side of the board, and take a few pictures of the front of the board with the wires moved out of the way, I can reverse engineer the circuit for you. It looks very simple. Once I back engineer the circuit, I can tell you how it is supposed to work, and you can test it with a meter and see if it is working correctly. 

The black box is a relay with a normally open and normally closed contact. The resistors and big capacitor are probably part of a low voltage power supply, probably 5 volts because the relay has a 5 volt coil. There must be a bridge rectifier and a 3 terminal regulator also.


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## KarenORichmond (Nov 14, 2011)

Great! Thanks!


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## servoguy (Jul 10, 2010)

Can you also give me pictures of the other part?


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## KarenORichmond (Nov 14, 2011)

I did the top part of it, do you want the bottom of it too?


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## servoguy (Jul 10, 2010)

I need all of it.


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## KarenORichmond (Nov 14, 2011)

Ok... of course the real trick is going to be getting this together again!


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## servoguy (Jul 10, 2010)

Can you give me some pictures of the top of this card with the wires out of the way?


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## KarenORichmond (Nov 14, 2011)

How is this?


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## servoguy (Jul 10, 2010)

I see something black under the wires to the right of the switch. Does it have a number on it? Also, can you read the numbers off of the other electronics part that has 3 terminals and a screw hole? Top of the picture. This part looks like a 3 terminal voltage regulator. Somewhere there is a diode or diode bridge to rectify the AC input from the transformer and convert it to DC.


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## servoguy (Jul 10, 2010)

Also, can you take another picture of the back side of the circuit board. The glare is obscuring some of the traces.


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## servoguy (Jul 10, 2010)

Can you get a little closer to the circuit board without getting a blurry picture?


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## KarenORichmond (Nov 14, 2011)

servoguy said:


> I see something black under the wires to the right of the switch. Does it have a number on it? Also, can you read the numbers off of the other electronics part that has 3 terminals and a screw hole? Top of the picture. This part looks like a 3 terminal voltage regulator. Somewhere there is a diode or diode bridge to rectify the AC input from the transformer and convert it to DC.


That is a screw hole under the wires. No number on the part at the top. I have no idea what a diode or diode brdige is.


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## KarenORichmond (Nov 14, 2011)

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try these


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I see a epoxy coated chip, doubtless the logic chip that provides the "brains" for the operation. Hopefully, that's not the failing part.


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