A-B-A conversion

Nope. If you've got two powered A units in the set you'll have to PS3 each unit.

@Lou1985 posted:

Nope. If you've got two powered A units in the set you'll have to PS3 each unit.

What do you do if you want to run smoke from all 3 units?

Be careful of what you wish for. My diesels smoke like crazy.

@Ron H posted:

Be careful of what you wish for. My diesels smoke like crazy.

I have a Rdg set of F3's.  In front of a coal drag the should look exactly like that!  Although I would have to be able to turn it off so I could see across the room 😁

@jhz563 posted:

I am sure this has been asked and answered but just to be sure...

Is there any type of slave board for ps3 conversions?  I have a proto one A B A set of diesels that I am pretty sure the lead unit popped a capacitor.   I would love to get them going again but not for cost of  3 conversions.

If you don't mind running conventional, why not just repair the lead unit?

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

If you don't mind running conventional, why not just repair the lead unit?

I am debating in my head about it.  I don't mind running conventional, but I strongly prefer dcs.  I picked these up for a really nice price and they worked when delivered.  I heard a nasty pop sound from the lead unit one day and clearly it lost its mind.  The sound is super garbled and it won't go through a normal power up process or move. 

I have some other Reading equipment including the  NS heritage diesel ( first new engine I had bought in years)  and I would like to be able to run in lashup/mu with them all together either on a coal drag or manifest freight.  Frankly it died a few weeks after I got it, and I have been kicking myself for taking a chance on the proto 1 electronics. 

I have it in my head that I am going to get some of my shelf queens back on the rails this year.  This A-B-A set is probably my largest paperweight at the moment.  Maybe I could just get the lead or trailing unit converted first and do the others later.

Ironically though I have other projects that are purely conventional that I am trying to knock out as well.  It never ends I suppose.

(Sweet layout video btw!)

I am confused is this PS-1 or PS-2?  MTH did not make ABA with any power or smoke in the dummy B in PS-2 as far as I know.  PS-1 did have powered B units.

THe LEAD A can be repaired with a PS-32 board which works with the PS-2 Slave.  The B is a dummy pass thru.  It is also possible the Lead board is repairable at the component level.

PS-3 slave was a different set up and early production.  MTH moved to individual Powered Units later.   Your alternative is to PS-3 diesel upgrade the powered A units and run as MU, or have a tech do the PS-32 repair to your lead unit.  G

It's PS -1.  Right now the units are sitting in a corner, and a little dust covered.  I believe the B unit is powered, but now I need to look.  Adding smoke to all 3 is just a wish list item, definitely not a must have for me.

I am sorry this is all coming off rather incoherent.  I am really not sure what I want to do with these units.

I would definitely prefer proto 2 or 3 capability over proto 1 as that would gain being able to MU with other mth units, but I don't want to break the back in the process, or totally waste my money on the original purchase.  I will look over these over to be able to give a better description before adding to this thread again.

Thanks, Jhz563

I'm going to throw my 2-cents worth into the mix. I have(partially had) an E8 ABA PS1 set.  At first, I was just going to buy PS3 upgrade kits, then I was going to have someone upgrade them for me.  And then I thought about the price and time involved, so I decided to just buy the cheapest MTH E8 with PS3 and switch out the guts.  It doesn't take care of your powered B-unit issue but I decided having an unpowered B-unit is fine as long as it has sound and lights...which has led me to working on shunting sound from the PS3 boards.

A

@jhz563 - I believe the tether from the A-Unit supplies only sound and power to the B-Unit...but I don't know the particulars of your set.  You can pick it up, feel the weight and look for gears on the trucks as a quick check. A

Well I had time to sneak downstairs and take a peak at these units.   I bought them second hand and have no paperwork unfortunately.   They are definitely ps1 as I said.  It turns out the B unit is a total pass-through,  not even a speaker as far as I can tell without disassembly.   

So, while all options are on the table, it seems to me that a dcs upgrade would go one of two ways.   Option 1, try to find someone to do a ps32 upgrade, making one A unit the lead, the second the slave, and keep the B unit a pass-through.  Option 2 would be to upgrade each A unit to ps3, then take the tether connections of the B unit altogether. 

Option 2 sounds more realistic.   I am not super strong in electronics so assuming conversion kits are even available I will have to sub this out. 

Given what I have read about the latest the latest kits. I wonder if it is worth waiting to see what MTH controls company 2.0 offers up.  After all I waited this long!

Pictures make everything better

@jhz563 posted:

I have a Rdg set of F3's.  In front of a coal drag the should look exactly like that!  Although I would have to be able to turn it off so I could see across the room 😁

I can turn them off on the fly from my remote. I can take two passes.

If you do not want to spend the $ on new boards the cheapest and easiest thing to do is to bypass the boards and wire the power pickups direct to the motors and run your trains with a DC power pack. You get some bulbs that would handle the volts for your headlights or LED bulbs that will work on about 14 volts. You could also just get reverse units to run on AC power. If you want the full control then go for the new boards and spend the $

@jhz563 - Ray at Ray's Electric Trainworks (http://www.rayman4449.com/) does PS3 upgrades but at a price.  As I recall, he will update the boards with the correct sound and other settings for that particular train.

I don't believe these have smoke units either. I don't remember any Premier PS1 F3 engines having smoke.

since what you have definitely ps 1 all the wire harnesses would have to be replaced,  if you need help let me know I have ps 3 kits also might have other options if you want to talk about it . send me an email if interested 1

Alan

Your only option is the PS-3 upgrade of both power units.  A "good" tech and I mean really good.  Can do a PS-32 upgrade with slave, but the cost saving is not much.  MTH no longer sells the slave kit, so it is a scratch build.  I have the parts and can do it, but it is much more labor intensive; and you deal with harnesses between all 3 units.

PS-3 is simpler in form and no harness. Run as MU.  Getting smoke in the early units if they do not have it is not an easy deal.  There is no room between the motors, so it again is a custom design with bracket work.  I actually have the F-3 smoke funnel mth had for the later units.

Now you could put the smoke in the B unit, and retain the 4 pin connector between it and the LEAD A and run smoke out of it.  Lot easier.

I can do upgrade if you desire.  G

@GGG posted:

Your only option is the PS-3 upgrade of both power units.  A "good" tech and I mean really good.  Can do a PS-32 upgrade with slave, but the cost saving is not much.  MTH no longer sells the slave kit, so it is a scratch build.  I have the parts and can do it, but it is much more labor intensive; and you deal with harnesses between all 3 units.

PS-3 is simpler in form and no harness. Run as MU.  Getting smoke in the early units if they do not have it is not an easy deal.  There is no room between the motors, so it again is a custom design with bracket work.  I actually have the F-3 smoke funnel mth had for the later units.

Now you could put the smoke in the B unit, and retain the 4 pin connector between it and the LEAD A and run smoke out of it.  Lot easier.

I can do upgrade if you desire.  G

sending you an email.