MTH Proto 2 no sounds

Odds are you have a bad speaker. If it's a 3-volt board, the speaker is a 2" 4-ohm 3-watt, which are pretty easy to find on eBay. MTH sells them and they're about $7.00 each plus shipping.

I unhooked the speaker and ran a battery to it and it sounded so I am not sure that is the problem.

is it a 5v or 3v system.  5v uses a 9v battery 3v uses the blue double A style.  No sounds but otherwise normal operation could be a speaker, broken wire on the volume pot, or worst case it could be the audio amp on the processor board has shorted out.  The best way to tell for certain is to have a tech test the board set and determine where the problem is.  If it is the audio amp it can be replaced.

I tried to hook up another speaker from another proto 2 loco and the connectors are the opposite cant put two female connectors together.

Yellow should go to positive... you can damage the board if wired backwards.

an easy way to see if the speaker is good is take a 9 volt battery,  using alligator clips , attach to the battery, clip one of the clips to one of the speaker contacts. touch the other clip to the other contact on the speaker. Make sure the speaker is unplugged from the circuit.  you should hear a crackle of the speaker.  If you do the speaker is probably ok.  What ps2 version is it, 3v or 5 v ?

Its a 3 volt and I tried the battery clicking and it does with it unplugged.

then I would suggest having the boards tested and repaired by an ASC tech.  There are a bunch of us on here.  how are all the other functions... speed control ok?

Everything works good.

Thank you. Joe

what was the problem?

Dont know yet.

maybe as simple as a loose connection.. glad your back and running

Bill, While the convention is yel to positive and white to negative, reversing won't blow the board since the speaker has no ground.

If speaker is fine the issue can be the audio amp on the board.  I can replace those.  E-mail in profile.  G

Can most MTH service techs replace this. I guess its not a simple thing to do.

Not sure...  I know GGG can.. and I can as well... I don't know who else does,  I have had personal dealings with GGG so thats how I know....it is up to the individual technician.

George, I didn't know that.. I just recall from the upgrade instructions that it says you can damage the board if you didn't wire it correctly. 

I now notice the couplers arent fireing but the smoke operates, I wonder if its the complete board?

If they touch the speaker frame.  I have seen engine from the factory wired opposite.  Not many but a few.  It is just a wire coil.   G

You did a factory or feature reset, does that override the volume pot being turned to off accidently?

Lima brings up a good point:

IF you are running conventionally, turn the pot to mid range and try again, In Conventional, the pot controls the volume, not the board settings.

I say mid range because It would not be the first time I found a pot wired backwards.

So full clockwise might be OFF instead of loud !

Also verify the wires to the pot are not broken or pinched.

Also, the Horn / Bell reset is a feature reset, not a Factory Reset.

A Factory reset can fix things a Feature reset will miss, but not a lot of things.

To get a Factory reset you need someone with a DCS system.

If you are in New England I'm offering to do a reset for you on my layout.

Or the LHS here can do it.

Good Luck

Thanks guys. I tried the volume in both directions and still didnt do anything.

If you send just the board, the board can be tested and repaired. Does this use the 8.4V battery?  If so it is an older PS-2 5V board and they can go bad.  The sound can be repaired, but if the coupler fet went bad that is not an easy fix.

Are you sure the 12 pin connector is installed all the way.  This board is in upside down, and maybe it came out part way.  That would account for the loss of sound and coupler.   G

I had pushed in all the connectors to the board. This board is right side connectors up and it three volt. If the coupler fet was bad that wouldnr be a problem unless it would short something else out later. What is the cost for these kind of repairs? Would it be better for me to get a new board and have someone download other drivers? Thanks Joe

Ok, The 3V is repairable,  I do a lot of these.  Repair will be much less than the board replacement.  You can contact me via my profile e-mail.

As far as replacement board, this requires a special flash code to operate the pantographs.  So that would require ordering a board from MTH.  THey MSRP for $120 for the processor board.  Power supply board should be good, but in either case both are repairable.  G