Can you convert an MTH PS2 steam engine to PS3 with a wireless drawbar?

Anything's possible, but you would have to do a bunch of mechanical work to truly use the MTH "wireless" drawbar.  The mounting for both the locomotive and tender drawbar is different for the PS/3 drawbar.

The second part is that Steam upgrades are PS-32 not pure PS-3.  To do a pure PS-3 would require a donor engine that was PS-3 to get the parts that are different.  Boards, harnesses, LEDs and Tach.  G

A simpler fix is simply replace the right angle tether with one with a straight connector or straighten the right angle connector. This is actually a more secure connection that is easier to implement.

https://ogrforum.com/...ting-older-mth-steam

https://ogrforum.com/...r-replacement-result

https://ogrforum.com/...ghtening-mth-tethers

Pete

@GGG posted:

The second part is that Steam upgrades are PS-32 not pure PS-3.  To do a pure PS-3 would require a donor engine that was PS-3 to get the parts that are different.  Boards, harnesses, LEDs and Tach.  G

That would not be an issue with the 10-pin wireless drawbar, but mounting it would still be a mechanical task.

The biggest mechanical problems are the frame for the locomotive and the frame for the tender.  

The loco frame is a modified casting from the PS2 days with an added pocket for the drawbar swing.  You could mill this in or cut it by hand but it is tough.  

The tender frame is is stamped steel with an extra depression for the drawbar mount.  Three options are:

• Stamp the original frame.  (highly unlikely)
• Cut a pice out of a PS3 donor and weld it in.
• Find a complete PS3 donor frame that fits your tender.

There are other various holes that would need drilled and tapped.  And, as mentioned above, you would need a PS3 donor board, boiler board, tach reader, wiring harness etc.

I have done this one time.  It was extremely labor intensive.

I also did this and it took me several tries to perfect it.  Dave is right and I would listen to his experience.

Edit, Dave and John are right! Sorry Sir.

A 3 day music festival just ended that took me six days to do. Well a few months but who cares...

You might be in luck.  I just found out that drive blocks (engine frames) and drawbar mounts for tenders will be available in the VERY near future.  

Interesting news Dave, that would be cool.  I know that I looked at this idea and discarded it as way too labor intensive!

It begs the question, why would anyone want to do this? It was a poor design from the get go. Very difficult to couple the engine to the tender and then wants to disconnect unless some sort of support is added. A few folks have sold their MTH engines or won’t even buy them due to hassle dealing with them. Weaver, K-Line, and 3rd Rail use straight wired tethers exclusively with few problems.

Pete

Agree with above, straight tethers save lives,….and allows cool add ons like deck plates,…😁

Pat

Alec,
First let me state that I do not have the repair skills of my friend Gunrunner  John, George (GGG) or Dave. I also agree with Norton, in that it is not something that you want to do. Leave it alone if it is working. DO NOT "upgrade" it to PS3. Although the so called "anaconda" (wire between the engine and tender) is ugly, it is a solid connection between the engine and tender and a proven design with a low failure rate.  The wireless drawer bar in PS3 steam engines can be problematic. It is not worth it to spend money to hide the PS2 wire when it is a proven design. In the future, I believe that we will look back and state that MTH steam engines with PS2 3 volt boards were the golden age of MTH. Just my two cents.

Erol