mth dcs system problems

If the red indicator light is not on, check if you have power to either the FIXED #1 channel or the AUX Power jack.  One of the LED's should always be on if there's power on the TIU.

My input has been in#1 and out #1 and the red light is on and there is power to the track. When I use input#2 no red-light but power to the track. Either way the remote can't find the engines

No surprise there, you MUST power either the Aux Power or Fixed #1 in order to power the TIU.  Those are the only two ways to power the TIU electronics.  Fixed #1 and Fixed #2 send power directly from the input to the output, but without the TIU electronics powered, you don't have any DCS capability.

2 TIU's with no red lights because of shorts sat in a closet for a couple of years. WHAT!!!, 4 auto fuses inside? 2 brand new TIU's.

I have power into the fixed inputs.  Input # 2 the red light comes on. In input #1 no red light  Both outputs are correct and there is power to the track  The problem is that the remote is not communicating to the tub as best as I can tell I don't know what else to do.. The remote has new batteries.

Try tethering it with a 4 wire phone cord.

@Bob is cool! posted:

I have power into the fixed inputs.  Input # 2 the red light comes on. In input #1 no red light  Both outputs are correct and there is power to the track  The problem is that the remote is not communicating to the tub as best as I can tell I don't know what else to do.. The remote has new batteries.

If you don't have any power going into the aux power jack, and also no power connected to the FIXED #1 channel, any properly functioning TIU will have no internal LED's on.

If you want help, you need to be SPECIFIC as to what is connected where, and that includes ALL the connections to the TIU.

I can assure you that connecting track power to FIXED #1 should power the TIU electronics.  Also, connecting power ONLY to FIXED #2 will NOT power the TIU electronics.  If it operates any other way, it's broken.  You never mention the aux power jack, that changes the behavior.

I thought I was specific   I said that I had power to fixed input 1 but no red light and had power to the track  When I used fixed input input 2 I had red light and power to the track. I haven't used the aux input for anything.  What is input 2 for then ? When I'm connected to input 1, I'm not getting the remote to activate engines

Bottom line, …..the only way to power up the TIU to talk to locomotives, is either through fixed 1 or a stand alone power source plugged into the TIU. If you are not getting the red LED to light up with power applied to fixed 1 input, then there’s a problem.

Pat

I'm not home right now  when I get home I'll go over everything again

I've reconnected to input 1. The red light does come on
there is  20v to the track from the brick .All the engines do is a click sound . Remote can't find them

Did you check and see if DCS is enabled in the settings in the remote?

@John H posted:

Try tethering it with a 4 wire phone cord.

Here's a pic of my remote dcs panel should I press the on soft key, leave as is or what

Pic

Yes, hit the On soft key with cursor pointing at Fixed One. Then move the thumbwheel to Fixed Two and do the same. I use all 4 channels. In that case. Just hit the AON Softkey.

You mentioned you are hearing a click when you power up. The fact that your hearing a click and the engine remains silent. It would seem you have the DCS signal present on the layout. The engine is just waiting for it’s command to start. You could try tethering the remote. But if you do a Read. You should come up with a Found TIU that shows remote is communicating with the TIU.

You mentioned My Engines. How many are on the layout ?  Are they all Proto 2’s ?  It is possible they have a battery issue and have simply forgot their I.D. if they have been sitting for some time.

If you just press AON, it turns DCS on for all four channels.

20as14017i.pdf (mthtrains.com)

I did what you said. It says can;t find tiu and out of range. I'm standing right near it. I have only one engine on the track

As mentioned a couple of times, try connecting a 4 wire phone cord (this is the old coiled wire that went between a handset and telephone base) between your remote and the TIU.

I did that with no luck but I'll try it again

nothing.

Power on your TIU. The red light should blink and then stay on. Count the blinks. Yours should be 1 blink if you never edited it. Which indicates it’s TIU One. Now go to your remote. Go to System, TIU Setup, then ADD TIU.  It should give you a choice of 2 through 5 if your TIU comes up as One. In other words. One shouldn’t be an option on the list.  I don’t know why it would change but if it did. The remote is looking for a TIU you don’t have.

  Actually you  should be able just go to edit TIU and it should only list TIU 1 as the only one in the remote you can edit. You just need to verify both the remote and TIU are on the same number so they can communicate.

ok. sounds interesting. I'm done for tonite. I'll get it on tom. thanks so much for hanging in to help me

I think Iv'e matched the remote address and tiu are the same but no luck

If you press the Read button on the Remote. Does your remote find TIU Address 1 ?  Does at least Searching Track come up on the screen ?    If no luck try again. Tethering the remote this time. The remote has to see the TIU or you will never find an engine.

Iv'e never had so many problems with this dcs system before don't know what caused this breakdown, but it's very frustrating. I appreciate all the help you guys have offered. So I just reset the remote  I changed the tiu to 2 and the remote to 2  When I push read I get a tiu error

I obviously don't know what I'm doing wrong

When I did that the remote said tiu error

sounds like your remote is not talking to your tiu sounds like a TIU problem sometimes this issue can't be repaired! epecially if connecting your phone cord and tiu n remote still won't connect!

Alan

If the TIU was damaged via a voltage surge from a derailment or other issue, if may not be able to communicate with your remote.

If you had 2 TIU you could try your remote with the other TIU as far as communicating.  Read for the TIU address or selecting TIU and reading software version.  Do this with the outputs disconnected.  Determine if this is a remote problem, or a TIU.  Most likely is the TIU.

Or send to a Tech to test and repair.  G

I did have a derailment  I do think there is some kind of damage.I'm going to Hemmings this Fri I'll take it there to see its done for  I've already ordered the new tiu coming soon