MTH Pennsy Decopod Item # 30-1176-1 Proto Sound 2.0

The 301176 looks to be a proto 2 with the 5 volt board.

Those 5 volt boards had difficulties .  Gunrunner John and GGG and others would have some ideas .  All I could say now is the battery should be new and fully charged. 🤔       If you go to the MTH  site for the 30-1176 press on the support section to bring up the manual for that Decapod.  You will find info on the battery care on page 14.

If you go to SEARCH in the three lines at the top left menu you will find more info on the 5 volt board issues.

Short of some sort causing a cycle.  If it is the PS-2 5V, chance board died, but worth having it tested.  Need to stop powering it until it is tested. G

Good evening Dallas and G, thank for your responses on this MTH engine.

With the sounds the engine is making when it is powered up, I am thinking to myself there is something seriously wrong inside.

When the engine was running on the layout it ran for approximately 20 to 30 minutes before the failure occurred and the engine ran on my home layout before that.

There where no signs of any issues until the engine stopped dead inside of a tunnel (of course).

We where running the engine with DCS at the time and a Z4000 to power the TIU.

I realize I left this few sentences out on my original post.

I would think this much run time the battery, "if the battery was low", the battery would have charged back up and the engine would have continued to run.

Not sure if I am correct on that assumption or not ???

I did remove the tender shell to take a look and see if there was anything obvious or if I could smell if anything was over heated. I did not find anything visually wrong or smell anything as if it was overheated.

The battery in this tender has the appearance of 2 AA batteries wrapped together.

Less than having a issue with the tach tape coming off the flywheel when the engine was new, this engine has been trouble free till now.

Again thank you for your responses with this issue.

Have a good week !!!

@MarkStrittmatter posted:

Good evening Dallas and G, thank for your responses

The battery in this tender has the appearance of 2 AA batteries wrapped together.

The battery may not be the issue Mark....but.....

Interesting that you mentioned that the battery looked like 2 AA s wrapped together.  The 2 AA battery pack is the type I had in my 3 volt proto sound 2 engines...!!!?!!...................

............interesting because that page 14 that i mentioned in the manual shows a battery that looks like the old white Nicad 8.4 battery used in the 5 volt problem boards. 🤔    Could be a wrong picture.

Ok, Well this is the PS-2 3V and that board is more repairable then the 5V board.  Battery is only sound and light continuity until shutdown.  Does not drive the motor.   Based on the cycling sound you described.  The board is being overloaded on the 5V power supply and the processor is shutting down to protect the board.  But power is present so it cycles.

Time to send to a tech.  May just be the board needing repair, but best to send engine so it is fully check out.  I do this work if no one local.  e-mail in my profile. G

MTH Railking 30-1503 Decapod  had a Proto sounds 2  with a 3 volt board and the 2 AAs.   

Selecting the support panel on the MTH site still shows the owners manual.

Page 18 shows the double AA s.     This 30-1503 was the only Proto sounds 2 engine I found so far with this configuration . I'm sure there must have been earlier ones.🤔

if you look on the MTH website you may see if there any asc tech's in your area see below ! which state are you in ?

M.T.H. Authorized Retailer Search | MTH ELECTRIC TRAINS (mthtrains.com)

Alan

Good afternoon everyone, thanks for everyones input on this issue.

I will send it out to a tech that has done work for me before and have him take a look and get a estimate on a repair.

I thought I would ask here on the forum in case it was something simple like a battery issue.  It appears to be above my pay scale so I will send it out to be repaired.

Take care and stay safe !!!!

Make sure your tech knows how to do board component lever repairs,  that is a lot cheaper then a PS-32 repair upgrade. G