MTH E-8 won't run

@Ken Wing posted:

The engine never switches into forward from reset after power up.  After interrupting power, I get the two bells of reset. I changed the battery and charged the new one overnight. With the new battery, I reviewed the troubleshooting guide and tried waiting well past the 2.2 second start-up period, and tried various slow movements of the throttle and gaps in time between off and on to no effect.

Ken,

This has come up many, many, many, many times over the last six months, and in fact consistently going back many years.

The earliest original ProtoSound engines (aka ProtoSound 1's) are quite finicky about what you have to do to get them out of reset.  There is probably nothing wrong with your E8 other than that.

I have the Pere Marquette E8's and had to play with them for hours until I came up with a process that works, at least 9 out of every 10 times, but not fully 100% of the time.

The sequence you must follow to get a good startup is much more precise with the earliest models.  This includes not only positioning of the throttle, and its movement, but the model of the transformer you use.

Follow this link for more detail, embedded within a previous poster's related question on Protosound 1:

   Rock island set MT-2127LP | Merlin

This one has very specific detail on the process that works for me:

   Protosounds stuff using a TPC-300, 6-14189, powered by a PH-180, and controlled by a CAB-2 | Mellow Hudson Mike

Be aware that there is also an alternative approach, which for whatever reason is quite different, that was published back in the day, apparently by MTH.  See this link too:

   PS1 Cautionary Note | mort1345

Good luck, and let us know how things turn out.

Mike

I can't thank you enough Mike. I printed out the linked posts.  I tried the "cautionary note" method first.  I put 8 1/2 volts on the track measured by voltmeter, then flipped a toggle so the engine would get juice. I let it sit for a bit, then slowly turned the transformer off and slowly turned it back on.  The engine moved in forward!  I was able to go back and forth with it, and back it into another siding. I'm so pleased to get this loco back to operating condition without paying for an expensive repair.

@Ken Wing posted:

I can't thank you enough Mike. I printed out the linked posts.  I tried the "cautionary note" method first.  I put 8 1/2 volts on the track measured by voltmeter, then flipped a toggle so the engine would get juice. I let it sit for a bit, then slowly turned the transformer off and slowly turned it back on.  The engine moved in forward!  I was able to go back and forth with it, and back it into another siding. I'm so pleased to get this loco back to operating condition without paying for an expensive repair.

You and me both.  I'm glad my several hours of fooling around helped somebody else in addition to me.

These things (early Proto 1's) are ridiculously difficult to deal with.

Mike