I have an MTH Premier GP40 with Proto-Sound 2 (my only PS/2 engine) product # 20-2754-1 which claims to come from the 2007 Vol1 catalog. If I remember correctly, I've owned it since approx 2009 but regardless of the purchase date, the engine (and the battery within) is probably about 13 years old.
Turning it on yesterday I noticed the engine sounds began to play normally at first, but after about 3 or 4 seconds, the volume suddenly lowered itself to less than half of the usual levels. I let the engine sit in neutral for 30 seconds or so and then shifted into forward (I run conventional by the way) only to have the engine completely shut down when power was interrupted to the track. I've seen similar occurrences on my PS/1 engines (although without the volume lowering) which indicates the battery is weak and requires charging. To solve this I typically leave the engine in neutral for about 15 minutes to charge up the battery and then away it goes.
For the PS/2 engine, however, that did not work. Leaving the engine in neutral to charge in neutral for 15 or even 20 minutes did not raise the volume back up to normal levels, nor did it let me shift into forward drive. So I decided to let the engine sit for longer. After about an hour, i suddenly heard the volume of the engine kick back up to the usual louder levels, so I assumed that might indicate the battery was charged again. And it appears it was, because the engine shifted into forwards and back to neutral with no interruptions. The next morning it was still working properly, but I am concerned about the problem cropping up again.
So this brings me to my question:
1 - Is that typical behavior for when a PS/2 battery it low on power? Or is the battery itself dying and in need or replacement? I found it very odd that it took a full hour to charge the battery instead of the usual 15 min or so that it takes the PS/1 engines. Also, I had run the engine just a few days prior with no issues so it was not sitting for an incredibly long time without power, which is also odd.
2 - How do you even get at the battery to replace it if necessary? Unlike my PS/1 engines that have the battery in a very accessible location, the battery for this engine is buried under the board and wires of the internal components. Is there some trick to getting it out? or do i really have to un-screw the brackets holding both the board and smoke unit to the frame before getting access it?
3 - I've looked a bit into the issue here on the forums and have seen many people recommending to replace batteries with Supercapacitors or the BCR2 device (which is just a SuparCap packaged and ready for Proto-Sound applications as far as I know). Is this a good option if the battery is actually dead, or even close to dead? What are the pros and cons of having a BCR2 instead of the standard battery?
Thanks in advance!
