I see some engines with P3. Do these operate with the existing TIU/Remotes or do you need something else. Also, do there couplers mate up with Kadee couplers?
thanks
Steve
Original Post
"HONGZ" stands for HO scale, N scale, G scale, and Z scale.
Post your non-O scale stuff here!
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They will operate with either a TIU, DCS Commander or DCC. Some locos are AC/DC, some only DC, so be sure to check the item description and be sure the DCS/DCC switch is in the proper position, or the board could be damaged.
@Jon G posted:They will operate with either a TIU, DCS Commander or DCC. Some locos are AC/DC, some only DC, so be sure to check the item description and be sure the DCS/DCC switch is in the proper position, or the board could be damaged.
Jon, will the board really be damaged if the switch is in the wrong position? See this excerpt from a user manual:
Not long before Jason left MTH I also confirmed with him that having the switch in the wrong position really won't hurt anything.
Thanks everyone for the responses. Interesting stuff.
Steve
@Papa - regarding couplers, yes they will match up. At least the couple of MTH HO loks I have match up.
Steve
I have some of the last MTH HO locomotives with PS3. I'll look this evening, but I don't think they have a DCS/DCC switch and the manual doesn't mention the switch. They mate fine with Kadee couplers. They do ride a little low compared to the position of Walther's couplers but I run these consists at 70+ smph and they've never come apart yet.
I have run into other issues though: 1) the sound messes up at 73 spmh (the sound slot for this speed is garble and it messes up the sound decoder), 2) some of the last locomotives do not have the engine throttle sounds at all so the engine always sounds the same regardless of speed, 3) be sure to turn off the click-clack auto sound (it doesn't mix with any of the other sounds so you can't use the horn, bell, etc...).
I've also gotten a lot of oil on the tracks which I believe have come from one of the HO locomotives. I suspect the so called sealed gear box is not so sealed. I always have to clean the tracks really good before each run.
Anthony
@H1000 posted:Jon, will the board really be damaged if the switch is in the wrong position? See this excerpt from a user manual:
Not long before Jason left MTH I also confirmed with him that having the switch in the wrong position really won't hurt anything.
From MTH: “If any PS3 engine is left in DCS mode and put on DCC it can damage the board. It doesn't happen immediately, but doesn't take hours either.”
I think the opposite isn’t true, but I remember this caution when working there. BTW, I never touched HO…
Nope, no visible DCS/DCC switch on my HO MTH engines. Here's what my manual says:
"...Simply set your Engine on the rails, apply any one of these power/signal sources, and move out!"
The author specifically asked about HO engines...the excerpt I see comes from an O manual (https://mthtrains.com/sites/de...ction/20dl19404i.pdf).
Not all had the switch, or they did a really good job hiding it. On Railking O gauge models, there is a jumper on the board that is removed for DCC operation.
Do you power the TIU with a DC transformer? Loco manual does not tell me.
thanks
Steve
Steve,
You can power it with a dc transformer but it has to be on Fixed Input 1 or you can use a walwart for the aux input and then use any port on the tiu. I believe the manual does tell you the proper size walwart to use.
The engine manual just tells you to go to the DCS System Manuals which I did not get.
Steve
@Steve "Papa" Eastman posted:The engine manual just tells you to go to the DCS System Manuals which I did not get.
Steve
Try this links should let your download the Manual
@Shawn_Chronister posted:Try this links should let your download the Manual
Thanks. I’m sure I have that “somewhere”.
Steve
@Shawn_Chronister posted:Steve,
You can power it with a dc transformer but it has to be on Fixed Input 1 or you can use a walwart for the aux input and then use any port on the tiu. I believe the manual does tell you the proper size walwart to use.
Ummm, I believe you can only use DC power with the 2 fixed channels. I may have misunderstood your statement?
@Steve "Papa" Eastman posted:Do you power the TIU with a DC transformer? Loco manual does not tell me.
thanks
Steve
You can power the TIU through Fixed 1 with DC. I program all my boards using a DCS Commander and can access the board/loco using my DCS remote.
You can also power the TIU with a Z500 brick via the Aux input. A switch in the TIU disengages the power fed into Fixed 1 to power the TIU when the plug is inserted.
@Shawn_Chronister posted:You can use DC on any of the channels of the TIU but you either have to power fixed 1 first or use the the proper aux power source to power the tiu. What ever you put comes out the other side with signal and you can set the variable channels to fixed if you so choose.
DC doesn't work for the variable channels. However, passive mode might work, though I don't know how the variable channels would react to DC on the outputs.
and
1. The fixed channels pass-thru the DC power from input to output - red-in to red-out, black-in to black-out. The variable channels use transistors switched on/off synchronized to the incoming 60 Hz AC cycle to chop the input voltage to create a lower output voltage. When you set it to fixed (no variable reduction), the TIU must still turn on its transistors on each cycle; there is no relay or whatever to simply pass-thru the input to output. OK. Now the question is what the TIU does if it does not see the input AC cycle and only sees DC. Since it is looking for the AC cycle, will it wait forever and never turn on its transistors? I don't know the answer but I suspect it would do just that and you'd get no output whatsoever.
@Engineer-Joe posted:DC doesn't work for the variable channels. However, passive mode might work, though I don't know how the variable channels would react to DC on the outputs.
and
1. The fixed channels pass-thru the DC power from input to output - red-in to red-out, black-in to black-out. The variable channels use transistors switched on/off synchronized to the incoming 60 Hz AC cycle to chop the input voltage to create a lower output voltage. When you set it to fixed (no variable reduction), the TIU must still turn on its transistors on each cycle; there is no relay or whatever to simply pass-thru the input to output. OK. Now the question is what the TIU does if it does not see the input AC cycle and only sees DC. Since it is looking for the AC cycle, will it wait forever and never turn on its transistors? I don't know the answer but I suspect it would do just that and you'd get no output whatsoever.
This is correct been awhile since I looked over the dc side of things I have removed my statement.
Steve,I use this Kato Power Supply (https://www.trainworld.com/kat...16v-kato-22-083.html) along with a barrel plug adapter (https://www.trainworld.com/mth...-trains-50-1017.html) connected to Fixed Voltage IN1. Eazy peazy.
Anthony
BTW, one of the things the newest TIU will do is run DC on all four channels. That's great for the scales that use DC power.
50-1039 | MTH ELECTRIC TRAINS (mthtrains.com)
- (2) Fixed AC and DC Voltage Output For Command Control Tracks
- (2) Variable AC and DC Voltage Outputs For Conventional and Command Control Tracks
@A. Wells posted:Steve,I use this Kato Power Supply (https://www.trainworld.com/kat...16v-kato-22-083.html) along with a barrel plug adapter (https://www.trainworld.com/mth...-trains-50-1017.html) connected to Fixed Voltage IN1. Eazy peazy.
Anthony
Thanks. I ordered the adapter.
Steve
