I just say it once, TVS's are not needed in any engine. End of discussion.
At least on accessories, the solenoids can generate large spikes that may not play well with our digital electronics.
I had DZ-2500 switch machines that were near solenoid-powered accessories (on the same accessory bus) consistently fail. After I put TVSs and RC filters on the accessories, not a single DZ-2500 has failed.
Possibly coincidence, but Dennis Zander (the designer of the DZ-2500) thought the protection was a good idea.
I understood the TVS is recommended for those mixing post war transformers and accessories with modern engines. I know I have 3 post war zw's powering four separate loops each. I have completely fried the electronics in one modern engine during a derailment. I don't know the exact cause or if a TVS would have saved it or not. But I believe their are enough of us conventional operators on the forum mixing classics with modern electronics it doesn't hurt to mention it when the subject is brought up as it was in the post below.
Originally Posted by Missabe:
Yes,
I purchased PS-3, 4-8-4 Locomotive and had a simple derailment. The front trucks derailed and the pilot pressure spring shorted and burned up.
I'm thinking this short could be prevented with thin plastic washer between the trucks and the housing.
Besides having a circuit breaker on the transformer, that should of taken care of the problem. Why can't a circuit breaker be installed on engines to prevent costly board failure etc.
Jim,
I purchased a previous release of the MTH dealer appreciation Santa Fe passenger 5 car set in February of this year, one of the letter boards fell off the a car went I removed it from the box, this set was new not used. It was partially glued to the ribbed side of the plastic car, I scraped off the old glue from the letter board, also plastic, and applied Gorilla Super glue to attach the letter board to the ribbed side of the car. If you have an exacto knife, small flat screwdriver, or pocket knife you should be able to remove this number board and position it correctly with no touch up painting.
I purchased a previous release of the MTH dealer appreciation Santa Fe passenger 5 car set in February of this year, one of the letter boards fell off the a car went I removed it from the box, this set was new not used. It was partially glued to the ribbed side of the plastic car, I scraped off the old glue from the letter board, also plastic, and applied Gorilla Super glue to attach the letter board to the ribbed side of the car. If you have an exacto knife, small flat screwdriver, or pocket knife you should be able to remove this number board and position it correctly with no touch up painting.
I have fixed every problem myself but the average Train guy may not have the skills or the knowledge. I feel sorry for that guy as he'll be sending a lot of the MTH stuff back to MTH for repair.
I have no local dealer within a 50 mile radius of the house. Dealers are more spread out on the West Coast as trains are not nearly as popular in the West Coast area. With good weather year round we are not stuck in the house three or more months a year. Add to that my location outside of the greater Los Angeles/Inland Empire area. There are lots of stores missing from our area. If it wasn't for the recent real estate boom we would have substantial fewer than we have now. But no hobby shops of note for trains. All my stuff comes over the Internet. UPS, FEDEX, and the USPS are all good friends of mine.
LDBennett
My own experience with MTH is that the failure rate on new locomotives has been substantially lower than any other manufacturer, with one exception. That is the auto mechanism for raising and lowering pantographs. Failure rate on that part is around 50% for me and every other owner I've talked to. It's either badly engineered, badly made, or both. Other than pantographs, I've had one engine in the past ten years that's had to go back for warranty repair.
