I'm looking at buying the 20-3173-1, A5 0-4-0 steamer. How can I tell if the battery system is 5v or 3v? Thanks.
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charge port round or small rectangle?
round = 5 volt, battery 9 volt shaped (produced between 2000 and 2003? some RK exceptions later on?)
rectangle=3 volt, battery usually double A (AA) shaped
If the manual is to be believed, 3V
It is definitely a ps 2 3 volt board but if your in doubt and don't believe the paperwork just take the tender cover off and you'll see 3 AAA 1.5 volt NiCad batteries, mth does not sell them anymore but you can buy them on web sights or convert it to a bsr supercap !
Alan
Before buying a PS2 loco, I go to the MTH site and check the manual to see if it’s a 3V or 5V. Probably won’t be able to do that in a few months.
If you see a 5V board based engine you like, adjust the price accordingly for the likelihood of replacing the boards soon. 
Thanks. The pictures in the for sale post does not show the bottom of the tender. I have extra BSR 3 volt battery replacements if that is what it uses.
I thought there might be a model number that would be a good guide as to when the transition occurred. Or a year (this engine is 2006).
Tony H thanks for the link. I forgot about looking for the manual.
Transition is around 2004 other than an out layer or two. 2005 up is 3V territory. G
@GGG posted:Transition is around 2004 other than an out layer or two. 2005 up is 3V territory. G
G, thank you.
@gunrunnerjohn posted:If you see a 5V board based engine you like, adjust the price accordingly for the likelihood of replacing the boards soon.
John, I still have seven PS2 5v engines, 4 steam/3 diesel. I have only 2 steam/1 diesel upgrade kits left. Hopefully, some of those 5v engines last longer than the average.
Some seem to last forever, but others take a dump without warning. I've pulled several 5V locomotives out of storage and they were dead when they went on the rails. They worked fine when they went in the box. I've heard the same story from a number of other folks. I make sure to check and charge any battery before trying to run a 5V board after a long storage. I have some that I used a BCR on, but I don't know if that has any bearing on them dying in storage.
