Help GS4 Bantam Loco sound to PS2 ungrade.

The wires in the tender ar cur back to the tether sleave, still room enough to splice on extensions. I will map out the wires in the loco and compare them to the PS2 diagram in the instructions. I haven't bought the kit yet but will the weekend. I bought and watched the Jim Berrett vidoe on PS2 ungrades and I notice that the smoke unit I have has wires to the fan and seperate wires to the smoke board and it looks like they already have the bridge for parrelle, does this sound right? Far as the battery, I will see if I can "stuff" it in the boiler.

I looked at the box the set came in and it was maked 30-4039-0.

Having the main board in the engine might be an advantage if it'll fit. The tether  back to the tender would only have to look after the battery (2 pins)) speaker (2 pins) coupler (2 pins) Back up light light , 1 pin only because it can share one of the coupler pins,(purple) There are a couple of  short cuts, I never hooked up the vol pot  or smoke unit switch, Dcs in command over rides  these  conventional  setting.  The upgrade manual shows how to by- pass the volume pot, (just join 2 of the 3 wire but you have to get the right wires.

Of couse you're going to need the upgrade schematic and a continuity meter to create your own wiring or double check  the wiring  on the tether pins.

Trouble with these darn upgrade kits is... You usually only get one chance to get it right or it can become very expensive.  That's why we have guys like G who do this stuff every day and know what the heck they're doing.

If I remember correctly you won't get the battery in the engine.  So it will also need to be in the tender.  I checked the wire diagrams and you will have to add a speaker wire and the battery connections to the current PCB in the engine.  Some small differences in speaker power effect how the Locosounds is wired versus PS-2.

I down loaded the instructions already (ordered the kit last night) so I have the diagrams, still need to map the current engines circuits. G, why do I need to add speaker and battery connections to the new board if they come with it already? I also looked at the P2 version of this engine and the battery is in the tender so, how long can the battery leads be from the board?

There's not an absolute limit to the length of the battery leads, though MTH says not to lengthen them in the kit instructions.  I don't see any issue having the battery in the tender, and several MTH locomotives indeed have the battery in the tender and the electronics in the locomotive.

PS-2 5V systems with a 9V battery powering a 5V regulator YES.  PS-2 3V systems with a 2.4V battery still powering a 5V regulator, not so much.  G

Thanks G and John. Charging the battery in the camera now. I will take plenty of before and afters.

G, do  you have any opinion of the BRC I've been reading about? It sounds good but does it work as well as they say?

The BCR works fine, many folks recommend them here.  I have a couple of locomotives with them, but the $5 batteries are so cheap that I haven't gone for them 100%.

OK, these are the before pics. Now I just need to map the wires and then I will compare to the kits wire diagram (and G's post, thanks very much), I'll draw in cad and post the pdf later.

I can't wait for the kit to arrive, very excited about this. In the 7th pic You can see a metal band around the wires off the motor, is this a noise supressor? Do I need this for the P2 conversion? I've been looking at the PCB in the P2 kit instructions, are all 10 pins wired? if so this elliminates most of my problems and open up for more lighting in the tender even adding the battery.  If I remove the PCB from the kit harrness leaving the wires long enought to sodler into I should be able to add the bachup light, proto coupler and tender marker lights (I will be moveing the volume pot to the engine, there is a switch port with nothing in it I will need to open up with my dremal) along with battery. See any issue with this?

I think BCRs are not necessary for the PS-2 3V boards, but it certainly makes it more convienent in this install since it is a much smaller device and possibly could fit in the engine eliminating the need for the charge port and battery in tender.

Also since LocoSounds don't have electrocouplers I noticed those wires are missing, you will need to add them.  You will have an ability to add the backup light if you want.  The bead is not necessary around the motor leads, but could stay also.  G

Just because I'm curious, what does the bead on the motor leads suppose to do?

Noise suppression on one motor engines, that may be a cause of erratic Chuff.  G

OK thanks, learned something new.

Here is a JPEG and a PDF of the wiring for my engine.

You're way ahead here, but as to the BCR, the 3V version you need is about the size of the traditional connector used to hook up a 9V battery, it could save you lots of space.

Got the PS2 kit Saturday, started Sunday and finished Monday night (at least got it to the test track to charge battery and see if it melted down). Here are few pic of it so far. Tender didn't have light, so I drilled out the blanks and added them. I wanted the volume pot in the cab so I dremaled the left switch port out.

So, after biulding a new bourd mount and rewiring the entire harness now on the Test track charging the battery. Got tones for the whistle and bell, sounds promising. Upgraded the TIU/Remote to 4.2, next to load a sound set, test and WIRE MANAGMENT. The next upgrade is going in the tender as it was intended.

I've seen some of your work stations, here's mine.

I wonder if I should do my 080 switcher with PS2.  so you just ordered the kit from MTH, how long to get it?  because I have heard they were out of them. 

Chris

Chris, I bought my kit from ModelTrainStuff.com but GGG here also has some. As far as MTH being out, they never had any for sale except to sevice techs. If you have room for the board in the tender that's the way to go, I stuffed this one in a Bantum but it just fit and I had to do a lot of custom work to make it work (new mount for board, rewire EVERY wire.....). I have this one working fine just tweeking the wire managment.

This certainly isn't true, I have purchased four kits this year from MTH, and I'm not a service tech!  In addition, if you join the MTH RR Club, you get club pricing on the kits, $150 instead of $180.

I was just relaying what the people at Traintekllc.com told me when I called them. I have been trying to buy kits from them for almost 2 years and they never have any.

I have been trying to buy kits from them for almost 2 years and they never have any.

Time to join the MTH Railroader club and purchase them directly from MTH, for less money.

As Barry says, they were clearly not telling you the truth, since I have personally purchased them in the last few months.

OK, I have been checking their web site like weekly all year. You have to be a member to order stuff off their web sit? John, what level of membership do you have and does that make a difference?

I have the basic membership, $25/yr.  Since I get a $30 break on the price of the kits, this seems to be a no-brainer.  The website at MTH has been in a state of flux for a long time, and it's apparently still screwed up.  I call the MTH Club administrator Kristi and order the kits directly.

AFAIK, you don't have to be a member, but since you're already money ahead with the first kit, why not?

Thank You John! That is good information, I was wondering if that membership was yearly and you also answered that.

I saw that model train stuff has them in stock for diesels, I dont see them for steam though.  maybe Ill join the club also.

Chris

If you join the club and buy two upgrade kits within a year, you're way ahead of ModelTrainStuff in price.

So I went to the MTH site, they have the basic membership and everything else is 2012. When do they change to 2013?

Forget the site, call them directly.  As I mentioned previously, the web site is screwed up.

This will be the last post update to this upgrade. Engine runs great, finding the correct sound file was a pain in the ..... as this was a Bantam and the wheel size made finding the proper file very limited. I did install the marker lights in the tender but there is no sound file that supports this. I believe I will add an after market lighting kit and power roller pickups. It's been a fun challenge, now I'll do a cruise commander/RS4 in a lionel GP-38 - ordered the kit today.

You can just power the marker lights from the headlight feed, there's enough power to easily power a couple of LED markers.  I was under the impression that the markers were enabled in most sound files, apparently not.

Headlight feed, good Idea! I thought they would be on as they are part of the kit, who knew.

If you use the actual upgrade files, I believe most light options are enabled.  However, if you opt for other 3V sound files that are not identified as upgrade files, they have varying capabilities, most likely dependent on the original intended target.

I did use the 3V upgrade file for every Bantam they had, nothing. tried a couple non upgrade files  and no lights AND they didn't seam to run properly (no coupler controls, wierd sounds all the time and spastic chuffing with clickity clack sounds mixed together). I like the sound file specific to this engine so I will tie the headlight to the markers and be happy it runs well.