MTH Premier Union Pacific E-8 ABA Proto 3 Beacon Light Does Not Work 20-20186-1

The product page does not show a beacon feature.  Was it added?  PS-2 and PS-3 leds polarity can be swapped so what beacon did you order?  Not sure if this is a feature you need dcs to activate.  Also, if prior owner changed sound file it may not have that feature if it came with it originally.  G

Thanks for getting back to me. I have not tried swapping the polarity, I will try that. I have not tried to re-load the MTH sound file, I can try that. It's a shame that all light features work and can turn on and off from DCS commands. Mars light, number board lights, marker lights, cab light. Just cannot get the beacon to work. Here is the "Beacon" feature found from MTH website user manual.

Have you tried the feature reset? It’s right below the Beacon Light blurb. If you have DCS, go into menu>advanced>feature reset. If that doesn’t work, try factory reset, same way to access it.

Reset feature yes, and factory reset. Both from the DCS remote, and Z4000 transformer, 1Whistle, 5 Bells, got two horn blasts.

I finally got the beacon light to work by swapping the polarity. Now I have another issue.... When I try to power up in DCS mode, I get "engine not on track", it will run fine in conventional mode, everything works, sounds, lights, smoke etc. I deleted the engine on my remote, then tried to add it again, I get "no engine to add" !@#$$!!!! I placed a known, good working engine on my track, deleted the engine, re-added it and no issues. So my remote and TIU are good. I reset the engine in question, and got the two blasts, and tried again to add and nothing. When I was working on the engine, I was real careful on not disturbing the wires or move the Proto board. So I opened the shell, checked for loose wires, looked for any "burnt" signs of board and all is good. Placed the engine on the track with shell off, still would not be found in remote in DCS. I was again able to run in conventional mode with no issues. Any ideas?

Thanks all, for your help.

First guess would be on the engine, there likely is a DCS/DCC switch, and this is the symptom you would get if it is incorrectly set to DCC when trying to use DCS.

page 5 of the manual https://mthtrains.com/sites/de...ction/20dl18319i.pdf

Thanks for the info. I checked the switch and it was in DCS position, for good measure, I moved it back and forth from DCS to DCC, incase it was not all the way in DCS and put it in DCS and on the track, and no change. I think at this point something fried on the Proto 3 board. I see MTH Parts has the Proto 3 replacement board (Not Proto 3 upgrade) in stock for $180.00, so this maybe my next choice. Thanks for the help!

Hi why don't you have an MTH Asc tech test your board on his test fixture! when you power it up does the board draw any current should be around .3 milliamp's if no current draw you blew the board! also the DCS switches are junk maybe test switch with a Digital ohm meter! also I suggest you do a conventional reset bell n whistle, and you'll get 2 whistle Toot's so you'll know the reset took place, then delete engine in your dcs remote and try adding engine! then add engine with DCS remote!

Alan

Good advise. I also have a DCS tech I can take this to. I'll let you know what I find out. I'll work on the engine next week. Thanks again!

Did you try a recover engine with DCS?  May have a ID out of range.  Check the DCS switch to ensure not installed opposite.  Good news is it runs in conventional. G