Completely dead MTH E8 - Looking for advice

That is a 5v board. It is most likely bad. I recommend returning them for a full refund while you can.

The white and green items should be a battery not a BCR.  If it had the old white battery, it was junk to start with with .  If you tried to power it up with the old white battery before replacing it with a new green battery, or at least charging it, bad move.  This gets talked about very often on this forum.  You have been a member long enough that you must have read about this about issue.  

I see you are a service tech, you will know what direction to go to get your engine running.    Sounds like you may be going the PS-3/2 board direction or a fleabay return your money.  Best of luck.

As Marty said, contact EBay about a refund. The item should have worked when you got it and you shouldn't be wasting your valuable time on something that doesn't.

Not to be obvious...

Does this set need the opposite trailing unit hooked up to the power unit to make it work? 

I don't have much experience with MTH diesels, but I do have an FA set. When I put the power A unit on the tracks, it did nothing. It needed the other dummy A unit attached to operate...

Krieglok posted:

Not to be obvious...

Does this set need the opposite trailing unit hooked up to the power unit to make it work? 

I don't have much experience with MTH diesels, but I do have an FA set. When I put the power A unit on the tracks, it did nothing. It needed the other dummy A unit attached to operate...

NO,  the lead A unit does not need the trailing slaved A unit connected for it to run, however the slaved A unit must be connected to the lead A unit to run as a MU'd consist.

Well, let us know how you make out. It could be a fatal flaw or one of many repairable issues.

Tom

I have over 400 transactions on EBAY and only every returned two items in ten years . Return policy is solid, Better than the guys that produce all this stuff to begin with .

Amen, brother! Same here with purchases.

It is hard to loose on eBay anymore with the buyer protections. It may be an inconvenience we don't need when it comes to sending stuff back.

I wish Sam all the luck. 

Tom

I am very happy you have had good luck.  I work on trains and get many calls each week with the same sad story.   Many are good stories.  I do not get those calls.  I have no problem buying inoperative engines if they are declared as such.  The guys I feel bad for are those who expect what they paid for and get screwed. 

On the other hand, nobody should take an engine out of the box and put power to it without knowing the battery condition.  This subject has been talked about many times on this forum.  

I understand fleabay has a better return policy than before.  Hopefully this will hurt the guys who sell junk as the real deal.  I wish everyone luck with this issue.

I am not a hypocrite as I have sold items on ebay.   If I have something for sale on the OGR Forum first and it does not sell after a while I will move it.  I always go OGR forum first.  I have perfect feedback on ebay and stand behind everything I sell.

I know guys who made a great score on fleabay.   Your money, your call if you want to risk it,    I found a K Line Golden State car and it was perfect.  See, I know the feel of a score.

That's understandable and you make an agreeable argument. I have been sold a couple engines that I know were not tested but stated as such. Some people just plain lie about their products. 

I have been lucky so far and have been able to fix the duds. I would rather fix it than return it...more of a challenge.

lastly, subjects on forums have a tendency to be repeated over time. It isn't a bad thing as long as the person searches a subject before posting a question before reopening a subject. There are always new people to the hobby and the forum...they just need some guidance now and then...

Tom

I have had a big number of forum members email me and ask me to look at ebay links.    I have no problem doing this for any forum member.   I do my best to give an honest evaluation of an items listing.   

That's cool. I just happen to use eBay, but I don't love it, especially as a seller. There are a Few EB dealers I have had great experiences with, so I basically stick with them when buying locomotives.

I did stray recently and ended up with a MTH GG1 with a lame pantograph. The seller didn't divulge that fact, but for the price, I really didn't want to make an issue of it. Some dealers just don't care and some just don't know about the product they are selling. They list all the features on the box and assume they all work...

Tom

Tom,

I hear the stories each week and sometimes feel bad for some of the victims.   I have made people upset with me because I flat refuse to get involved with any of those repairs.   My outlook is as follows.  Why should somebody place something for sale and not be truthful about an item then make money.    I am not getting it dumped in my lap.  

Yes, there is certainly a lot of dumping going on at EBay. Unfortunately it seems to be the main source of used stuff that most people use. One the other hand...

I recently sold a brand new Lionel S-2 on eBay. It ran perfectly. The fellow who bought it claimed it ran rough and had grinding gears. He returned it and I checked it. Nothing wrong with it at all. Buyer's remorse or what? I was hit with two shipping charges by the time it came back and I refunded his money.

So, it goes both ways at eBay, unfortunately. 

Tom