MTH Blue Comet 30-1172-1

hi that is a ps2 3volt MTH engine, did you hear a click in the engine when you power up? if not try a conventional reset 1W 5 B WITH DCS OFF OR JUST power up track with z4000 and hit  the 1 W 5 B SEQUENCE QUICKLY IF IT RESET YOU SHOULD HEAR 2 WHISLTE TOOT'S !

ALAN

Thanks for the reply.

The engine does not power up.  It is absolutely dead, no lights, no nothing so it will not respond to any sequencing from the transformer.

retiredre

Putting it on a battery charger for a length of time doesn't necessarily mean it is charged. The batteries do go bad and won't take a charge, especially after sitting unused for a while. Try changing the battery. If it's the 9 volt type (early Proto 2) you can test it with a standard 9 volt battery. If not try switching batteries with a working engine. A battery tester won't give you a god reading unless the battery is under load.

Check the tether. If the engine has the pickup rollers and the tender has the PS2 board, a loose tether could cause the symptoms that you're seeing.

OK I have substituted the battery with a brand new 9 volt, checked the continuity of the tether wires and still no good results.

How do I know if the board mounted in the locomotive is fried?  Or is it obvious that is the case here?

retiredre

RetiredRE,

  Before I would do anything drastic, I would replace the battery with a BCR, put the engine back on the layout and power it up for about 2 min, then see what happens when you try to run her.  Barry's suggestion about he tend3er wire is a good one, take the wire completely out, look at the pins, if they are all right, put the plug back in the engine, and use the new BCR in the engine to fire the engine up.  If the engine was working properly when you stored it, the engine with the new BCR should fire up and run correctly, if everything is wired up correctly on your DCS layout.

PCRR/Dave

I respectfully disagree with Dave.  If the board has failed, you've wasted $20 on a BCR.  If it didn't work with a "brand new 9 volt," I doubt it's the battery itself.  In addition to Barry's suggestion, I'd check that rollers aren't corroded and that, while in storage, no wires have become loose and no plugs have come loose from the board.

Sorry for the time lapse between posts but the Holidays and personal events precluded my prompt replies.

Since my last post I took my Blue Comet to a MTH authorized service dealer and unfortunately he confirmed that the board(s) were indeed history.  He also told me that MTH no longer supplies replacement boards for my loco.  Too old (2000 catalog).  He suggested having them install a PS3 update kit but I balked at the price for the service.

Do any of you have these boards (PS2) that you might want to sell "reasonably"?

Thanks.

retiredre---You stated the battery is fully charged.  Did you charge it after you tried to fire up the engine?  Is it an old white battery?  Was it tested under a load like Pat mentioned?  If it was an original white battery you should have thrown it out from the get go.  Nobody would run a car with a 16 year old battery.

Your board is most likely dead.  It may have one chance to come alive with a procedure known as a hard reset that was taught to only a few tech guys.  This is not a reset done with a remote.  I only know 3 guys that know this and I will not outline it.  George (GGG) may be your only hope as he also knows what to do with your board.

If it was my engine, I would go with a PS32 board or have someone put in a 3 volt board.

Thanks for the reply.

If you go back to my postings you will see that I have substituted a new 9-volt battery as suggested with no success.  Also, not in my posting, I substituted a BCR with equally disappointing results.  The BCR works fine in my MTH Empire State loco.  BTW I purchased the loco over 4 years ago and it had run up till now with the battery that was in it. 

Can you tell me where I can obtain a PS32 board?  Is there anywhere that I can go to find a procedure to follow for the installation?

Thanks.

You might be able to find someone who has one of these 5-volt boards (the board that uses the "9-volt" (actually, 8.4 volts---if you have used a "standard" 9-volt rechargeable, this would actually be 7.2 volts and will not work) and would be willing to sell it.  But, be aware, that the 5-volt boards are near the end of their lives, so you might be buying a pig in a polk.

Another alternative is to find a PS2 3-volt board, replace the connectors using a procedure described in other threads, replace the battery connector, and replace the speaker.  Third alternative is to get a PS32 board, which is only available from a tech.  Fourth alternative is to get a PS3 upgrade kit, gut the loco and tender, and start a new installation from scratch.  I have done the 4th alternative several times.

Did you put the new battery in after you tried to power up the engine with no luck?

Where is Penna. do you live? I am 2 miles north of Cabela's, if you are within reasonable driving range, I could look at your loco, I am an MTH tech, and I have a test fixture, where I could test the board, it would require removing it from the loco temporarily. If the board would work on the test fixture, then the problem lies elsewhere, usually. My gut instinct is that the board is probably history, but you won't know until you test it. Since this is a Railking loco, you are going to have to weigh a PS3-2 board cost versus the value of the loco repaired. One of the forum members, Gunrunner John is working on a Puff and Chuff that is reasonable in size and ease of installation, but it is down the road a bit, timewise. LMK what you decide. Good Luck. 

Luke, he's in western PA somewhere near Pittsburgh if his zipcode is accurate.

This engine is a PS-2 5V board which is in the engine.  So even with out the tender connected the engine should have started up in conventional with lights and smoke.  Just no sounds or motion with out tender connected.  Unfortunately those boards are prone to failure under the circumstances you stated.  The engine is 16 years old.

It can be repaired, with a new board.   G

Right you are GUNRUNNERJOHN.  I am in West Mifflin, PA about 7-8 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.

TRAINDOCTOR  it would be about an hour's drive from my location to yours.  If you could contact me via my email, laredo22@comcast.net, perhaps we can arrange for me to bring my sick loco to you.

Thanks.

Looks like Luke is more like four hours from you, you need to re-calibrate your map.

https://www.google.com/maps/di...PA/Port+Clinton,+PA/@40.3874398,-79.0786996,8z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x8834eff0ce1e84bb:0xb656ddd567190612!2m2!1d-79.8664375!2d40.3634026!1m5!1m1!1s0x89c5dcce3b02d4fd:0xeb2d94e18ba6b89a!2m2!1d-76.0243793!2d40.5823144!3e0

I based my drive time estimate on his statement that he was 2 miles north of Cabela's without saying which one.   There is a Cabela's in WV that is within 1 hour of where I live.  Obviously that is the wrong Cabela's.  I sincerely apologize for my faux pas.

Obviously I won't be driving that distance .

That's why I posted, I figured you were thinking of a different location.   FYI, most people have a zipcode in their profile, that lets you figure roughly where they are in a state.

RETIRED,

   Send the engine to GGG and have him look it over and make the repairs he deems necessary.  He maybe able to reset your engine and make it run perfectly again, if not he will upgrade the Engine to P3.

PCRR/Dave

I did as you suggested "Pine Creek Railroad".  GGG replaced my dead PS2 5-volt board with a PS2 3-volt one.

My Blue Comet is now fully operational.   I can't say enough about the outstanding service.

I'm glad to hear of your happy ending. It's a story heard here many times about the 5 volt boards and I own quite a few. Can you tell my fingers are crossed? The reason I'm writing is that I wonder if anyone knows why the board goes bad simply sitting in storage. It Seems strange to me for this to happen unless the discharging battery has something to do with it.

Top suspect is the electrolytic capacitors dry out.  They have a limited life, either in storage or in use.

OK Thanks John. Too bad they are not a simple thing to replace. New boards are rather pricy. It took me a while to find this thread since it's not on the DCS thread. Speaking of new boards and getting parts, did Jeff's departure have something to do with the rants here on the forum? 

No, the parts issues have been there for some time.  Last summer, there was a brief period where they shipped pretty quickly, surprised me.  They're back to the old schedule now.