MTH Decapod 20-3254 3V electronics?

Here is the page showing the features of the short tender(PS2/3v) I1….

https://mthtrains.com/20-3254-1

The long tender version(PS2/5v) is here…

https://mthtrains.com/20-3117-1

The MTH website does use the 5v manual for both engines. There was a proper hard copy manual supplied with the 3v version, but for some reason, MTH did not place it on their website.

Tom

On visual, usually under the tender.

A PS2 - 5 volt board using a 9 volt battery will either not have a charge port or if it does,  the port will be round.

A PS2 - 3 volt - has a 2 pin connector, square in shape.

PS2 - 3 volt is a better arrangement.

Thanks guys. Very informative and timely. Much appreciated!

To refresh my memory, is it the 5-volt we should be concerned about the capacitor's blowing up? Or is the case where 5-volt PS2 engines and a white 9-volt-looking battery are the suspects? It's insane we have to worry about this.

@Paul Kallus posted:

To refresh my memory, is it the 5-volt we should be concerned about the capacitor's blowing up? Or is the case where 5-volt PS2 engines and a white 9-volt-looking battery are the suspects? It's insane we have to worry about this.

Yes & Yes Paul, ….both the battery & the capacitors can be an issue …..as far as it being insane to have to worry about it, remember, when discussing PS2 electronics, we are talking about stuff 20 + years old now. Father Time has caught up to the stuff, ….you can’t go 20 years without your car needing attention, or most household appliances…..

Pat

One other thing I noted in the ‘features’ listings is that the engine with the shorter tender requires a minimum 054 curve whereas the one with the longer tender requires a minimum 072 curve.