MTH Premier GS-4

If its' the one with the "wireless" tether check it to see if it is tight. When they come loose strange things happen. Erratic performance, mars light and smoke not working, etc.

I have the 2001 bnsf dap with proto sound 2

I believe that has a 5V board with the plug in cord. Unless there is a problem with the cord, possibly the 5V board may have reached the end of its' useful life. 

It was bought new and unused in 2006 and it always ran jerky and smoothes out at 30mph

I'd start by checking the drive train mechanics.  Is this the same one that runs slow, hard to believe you have two of these.

 

Why two threads for the same issue?

no its not the same one. this one is the premier gs-4 in bnsf livery and the one that runs slow is railking in sp daylight livery. I checked the drive train and the gearing runs smoothly. Could it be the side rides are too long or short?

It could be the eccentric crank on one of the drivers is either slipping or not in the correct position .   Are all the 1/2 moons on the drivers in the same position? try turning the fly-wheel by hand at the work bench., anything at all binding? You'll know if you find a spot that takes a little more effort to turn.

yes and it the motor moves freely with no binding

I doubt the drive rods are the wrong size, but something might be binding.  Normally, you can find that like Gregg says, just keep turning the flywheel and see if you feel any binding.

 

All of the half moons on the drive wheels are even and their is no binding when i turn the motor. I applied power to the engine and when i run the engine when it is not on the track, it runs smoothly. When i put it on the track it runs jerky until it 30mph

Half moons is tinplate for counterweights?  What a kick!

 Running out of options.... lube the  pin on the center rail roller picks ups. a little lube goes a long way.  What are you using to run this engine? full dcs?   Has the battery ever been changed?     2001??

its full dcs and the battery has never been charged

 Replace the  battery for starters.  If's it a white one throw it away.

I think you should thoroughly clean the pick-up rollers inside and out and re-oil them.  Clean the track and the engine's wheels.

.....

Dennis

I have that same BNSF DAP GS4, and mine runs exactly as yours. I have had it apart and tried everything. I cant find a thing wrong with it but it runs like crap until 15-20 smph on the remote. I dont switch with it, so I just run it at the club with 12 passenger cars and live with it like that. I gave up trying to figure out how to smooth it out at slow speeds

Perhaps a corrupt sound file.  If the computer and  downloading sounds file equipment  (cables tiu) is handy I'd certainly try a different file as a last resort. I don't think I could live with that.

Mine is similar, but I believe it is a problem with the sound set and not mechanical.  You can download an updated sound set from the mth web site.  I was not able to upload it to the locomotive, so I can't say for sure if this is the problem, however.

I would also concurr with attempting to re-load the sound file, or at least try a different one but for the same engine.

I need to get a USB/Seriel adapter and download the software to do that. I've been thinking about it anyway because my DCS is still version 3.01 and it dont have a lot of the features that the lastest version has...obviously!

It must be a corrupt sound files, my engine rolls and spins freely by hand. It already got upgraded to a fatboy speaker w/ enclosure, and a BCR. It runs and pulls great at speed, just has horrible slow speed performance.

reinstalling the sound file fixed the issue. Link for sound file http://www.mthtrains.com/content/20-80003a

Excellent.  I'm glad you solved the problem. I couldn't stand it if I had an engine that performed like that.

.....

Dennis

This is the second corrupt sound file I've heard about in recent weeks, GGG posted about another one several weeks back.

 

 

That corrupt sound file George reported was in a board I sent him. Now it seems I may have another one in my GS-4.

 

Am I doing something to cause this? It's got me wondering because it's happened on the 2 engines that I have put the most run time on...

was it easy to install the fatboy speaker and what is a bcr?

Two corrupt files is very odd, I've never run across one.

A sound file affected the loco's operation? They are not separate functions? And they ask me why I prefer L's system: things like that. Oy.

The PS/2 sound file also has the engine operating parameters.  Note that with the L system, there is no ability to load new sounds and features, one of the strengths of the MTH system.

 

Yes it was an easy swap to the Fatboy, drilled and tapped 2 holes and that was the hardest part. There is lots of room in the tender, and I am even considering swapping the fatboy to dual fatboys with an enclosure. The BCR is a battery replacement.

I was finally able to re-load the sound file in my MTH DAP GS4, thanks to the help of Matt Jackson, and that solved the issue of poor performance at slow speed in mine as well.