Ran a MTH 20-3056-1 yesterday for about 30 minutes after I put in a new battery. No issues. I put it on the track this morning and no sound, just a low hum from the engine. I took the tender apart and did not see any pinched wires or burnt components. I checked the pins and tether. it seems to be ok. This has always been run in conventional. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Bob
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Engine is from 2001. Could be the 5V board finally died. Do you have lights, smoke and motion? If so may be audio amp or bad speaker. If nothing working, Needs to be tested. If nothing working most likely needs a new board. G
Hi GGG,
It had lights, smoke, and motion yesterday. When I first put it on the track, the sounds and lights were working but it would not move. I installed a new charged battery and off it went. Ran fine. This had not been run in years. Today nothing is working. What does a board replacement cost versus upgrade to PS3?
Thanks,
Bob
Let the new battery charge for at least an hour, unless you think something is shorting out.
Hi Gregg,
I charged the new battery for 6 hours. I thought maybe it was a defective new battery, so I put another one in. They both charged for about 8 hours. I have a battery load tester and both were good.
Thanks,
Bob
Pull the tether and re-seat? Wiggle? Bummer!
Hi Gregg,
I tried that...many times hoping it would work. 
I appreciate your responses.
Bob
I would recommend finding an MTH ASC with the PS2 test fixture, they can confirm that the problem is either the board, or something else. I have tried board sets that supposedly were done for, and the boards were OK, with a non-related problem. This doesn't happen often enough, however. The five volt boards that use a 9 volt rechargeable battery frequently do what yours did. I would be hesitant to install another 5 volt board, assuming you can find one, due to this problem in their makeup. Since this is a Premier loco, you have to weigh the cost of a PS3 conversion versus the value of the loco to you. Not an easy choice.
CP BOB posted:Hi GGG,
It had lights, smoke, and motion yesterday. When I first put it on the track, the sounds and lights were working but it would not move. I installed a new charged battery and off it went. Ran fine. This had not been run in years. Today nothing is working. What does a board replacement cost versus upgrade to PS3?
Thanks,
Bob
Bob, You can contact me off line, email in profile. The repair would be a PS-32 with 5V connectors and new speaker. This would give you PS-3 based unit no battery. Certainly worth a repair on a Premier engine like this. G
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