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Engine Not On Track (ENOT)

VarVarOGR Forum Member

Hi Folks:  back in mid-May, I had a post with the same subject; I was unable to resolve the problem so I decided to let it lie for a while and enjoy working on scenery (plus other things not MR-related; e.g., fishing).  I finally came back to the problem and I believe that I have isolated the issue to a degree, but I am at a loss as to how to fix it.  To recap, I have an MTH proto-2 DMIR Yellowstone that will not work reliably (more specifically, once it is loaded in the system, I can not restart the engine during future operations).  I will now describe what I learned yesterday; hopefully someone can give me a suggestion.

First, let me say that I have good signal strength throughout the layout - mostly 10's with a few 7-8 pop-ups.  I have two major loops; I will confine the discussion to the loop with the Yellowstone - managed by blocks 2 & 3.  I got the Yellowstone loaded into the system in May but could not restart the engine so I let it lie until yesterday.  Yesterday, I put the Yellowstone back on the track, tried to start it, and got the “engine not on track” (ENOT) message. 

As I had done last May, I deleted the engine from the system and then added it again.  It started fine and ran well; I shut it down as well as the layout.  Shutting down the layout for me means shutting down the MTH handheld controller, track transformers, and the TIU.  Note that the TIU is powered from a separate power source, not the track transformers - the separate power source shuts down with the track transformers from one power on/off switch. 

After restoring layout power, I tried to start the DMIR – ENOT again.  I then deleted and re-entered the DMIR engine, executed a factory reset and reloaded engine – it started and ran well.  I shut down the engine and layout; restarted layout and tried to start DMIR – ENOT again.  Delete, re-enter, start and shut down DMIR – this time tried restart without shutting down the layout – restart fine.  Shut down DMIR and MTH controller but left the transformers and the TIU powered; power up controller and DMIR engine restarts fine.  Shut down DMIR engine, leave MTH controller powered but shut down transformers/TIU – upon powering up transformers and TIU the DMIR would not restart (ENOT). 

I have done all of these variations multiple times and the results are very reproducible.  Deleting and re-entering the Yellowstone works every time, so to me, there appears to be something pathological about the entry of this engine in the TIU followed by TIU power down (I doubt the track transformers are the issue).  Not sure how to proceed, so any suggestions would be appreciated (a friend suggested that I reload the engine SW; not sure how to do that).  Regards, Var

PS  I have five other MTH engines that work fine; the Yellowstone is the only bad actor.

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VarVarOGR Forum Member

Barry and David were spot-on.  I replaced the BCR with freshly charged AA Ni-M-H batteries and it worked flawlessly.  I checked the BCR (charged with DC supply, disconnect, then measure voltage) and it works fine.  The BCR was installed by an exhibitor friend who had tools while I was at York.  He connected the BCR to a dangling connector (black and red wires) with the proper sex.  Since that appears to be wrong, I am wondering if I should solder a connector onto the battery package clips - thoughts would be appreciated (including where I can get a connector other than pillaging the "dangling connector" in the tender, which begs the question "what is that connector used for"?).  Thanks, Var

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gunrunnerjohngunrunnerjohnOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

Check the BCR after you charge it with a small bulb.  It should power it for a few seconds at least.  I have run across supercaps that had capacitance well below their ratings, obviously defective.

Of course, what you describe may not be the BCR at all, but rather the charging circuit.  You put a fully charged battery into the locomotive, so even if the charging circuit wasn't working, you'd still have the battery functioning.  I suspect the BCR "may" be OK, and the charging circuit on the board could have a fault.

VarVarOGR Forum Member

Well, I decided to use brute force. Since the "dangling connector was of no value, I clipped it off (put heat shrink tubing on the left behind cut ends), and then soldered the connector to the battery pack. Re-installed the BCR, and, so far, it works just fine. Will keep your suggestions in my pocket in the event it croaks again ��

Engineer-JoeEngineer-JoeOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBER

 The dealer loader has the ability to tell what address is stored in the board. That feature should be available to more users. It can help find problems like this. If you add the engine and it says added to address x (say #23), after cycling the power you could see that the address is not correct. I have seen it revert back to address #1 for example and not enough battery to continue the address change.

 Now with the app, I believe it will show the address in each new engine while it searches the track during refresh (of the engine list)? That could clue you in to a problem if I am correct. Trouble with that is I don't have all my engines in my app. So I don't know what happens when it sees an old engine in the address of the new engine?

 I hope I explained this right? Darn pain killers.... where's Barry?

Barry BroskowitzBarry BroskowitzOGR Forum Member MEMORIALIZED MEMBER

Joe,

So I don't know what happens when it sees an old engine in the address of the new engine?

DCS knows an engine by it's DCS ID# and also by some other additional criteria. I keep meaning to ask MTH what is that criteria, and it keeps slipping my mind.

The process of adding an engine is similar in the remote and the app, and works something like this:

  • DCS looks at all engines that are getting power.
  • It then compares each one that it finds to all of the engines that it already has assigned in the remote/app. It uses the engine's DCS ID# and that other criteria for the purpose of matching.
  • Now comes a difference between the remote and the app:
    • Remote - it adds the first engine that it finds that doesn't match what's in the remote based on the above two criteria. It makes it the active engine. If it finds only an engine tha does match both criteria, it displays the message "Engine in remote."
    • DCS App - it lists all engines that it finds that don't match what's in the remote based on the above two criteria. It presents them as a list from which to add engines. It ignores engine that it finds that match what's in the app.

Note that any engine that DCS sees that was previously added to the remote or the app with a changed DCS ID#,  but the new DCS ID# didn't "stick" due to a low battery, is assumed to be a new engine. 

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