Dead PS3 C&O Allegheny

Dave,

Since you can not even get the locomotive into neutral, a reset is not possible.

What the problem COULD be is this:  Numerous steam engines with drawbars have had the pins either separate from the connector (engine side) or wires separate from the pins going into the connector.  I have seen this numerous times.  The tether inside the engine must be separated at the connector and ALL pins checked for proper fit.

Unless you are an MTH technician, or have familiarity with this I would NOT recommend you do this.  If you mess up and short one of the six wires, you could induce a direct AC power short to the boards.  

I would recommend you get this locomotive to a technician and tell him what the symptoms are.

bruce

Dave, the product number is very useful when you're asking for assistance, it helps us help you.  I'll "guess" this is the 30-1612-1 from the 2013 Volume 2 Catalog.

Have you checked both ends of the drawbar?  This is the top suspect, sometimes the plug comes loose inside the locomotive, that will render the unit inert.  Also, make sure the plug is fully seated on the tender.

So it really comes down to if you want to go further inside, or have a tech do it. A simple check at the board for power and ground is where to start. However poking around inside these engines now, with the tiny wires, is very important not to short anything while in there. Sometimes in the past, you could just send the board to someone for a basic test. It is more difficult now as the steamers have a boiler board and a main board in the tender. Both have to be checked in that case.

Can you plug the locomotive and the tender into a different steam loco and tender that is PS3 to test the drawbar end on each unit?  Then you need not open the loco to get a better sense of the issue.

DO NOT SWAP TENDERS!  While this will frequently work, it will sometimes release the magic smoke!  You need to know what you're dealing with before you do those kinds of steps.  No reason to kill two locomotives, one is bad enough!

First step is as I described, make sure all the drawbar connectors are secure, that's the top suspect here.

You could take the draw bar off both ends. Of the engine and use a Vom and check. Continuity from one drawbar end to the other after checking out worth ohm meter.  Visually inspect connectors on drawbar sometimes people bend the plastic housing over the pins and block so you can't fully seat the tether into the drawbar and its mate!

The drawbars are not normally bad, I'm thinking it's just the connector pulled out on one end.  The locomotive end is a chronic offender as they route the wire down and when the drawbar swivels, frequently it pulls the connector out from the top.

Thanks for the ideas.  I did remove the drawbar by removing the screw but it appeared all the connections were ok. However I was not at home and did not have my VM to test it.  I would never plug in a different tender.  I will have to bring it home after Thanksgiving and give it a good look.  Thanks again and I will let you know whatever progress I make.  The loco's owner had a stroke and he gets other people to move engines for him besides me and I am not sure they always handle things well.  Hopefully it won't have to go off to a real tech. 

gunrunnerjohn posted:

The drawbars are not normally bad, I'm thinking it's just the connector pulled out on one end.  The locomotive end is a chronic offender as they route the wire down and when the drawbar swivels, frequently it pulls the connector out from the top.

Sure they are.  Plenty of time cracker solder joints on the pins, also damaged traces.'

Hardest part about this is that usually these problems can be intermittent which really makes it hard.  G

Not normally bad George, I didn't say never.  Out of all the PS/2 and PS/3 with drawbars, I've only had two bad drawbars, and one was obvious abuse.  I've had a bunch of times where the plugs in the locomotive were loose, that's where I look first.