MTH PROTO UPGRADE

Don't power it up until you change the 8.4v battery in the tender. The smoke on PS1 is a steady stream (no chuff).

Good to know that. Proto 1 is all new to me and really not to sure what to expect. Are there any other things I should do before putting power to this. I have a cw80 on hand and about 5 feet of test track laid out.

Well PS2 kits haven't been available for years so you'll need to find a PS3 kit, 50-1911. It's not very hard to install, but you'll need to load the proper sound file when you're done. How familiar are you with working with circuit boards and electronics?

Looks like any of the shops I called are holding onto the kit for in-house installs or there sold out. I’m not afraid to take on jobs as long as the instructions are clear and it’s basically either car removal or parts swapping I’m in good shape even soldering I don’t have an issue with but I’m curious to see if it’s even worth upgrading. These kids don’t seem to be really out there readily available anymore and maybe it just pays to buy a newer engine I’m not sure am I sacrificing detail by sticking with an older engine I don’t know I’m on the fence

I've been waiting for ps 3 steam kit for a while my self for customers upgrades and there waiting. you just have to be patient !

that's why i sent you steam kit I saw on mth find locally under there parts system. some people have them want to sell them for higher prices!

Alan

Since there is very little discount on the upgrade kits for anyone, it's not surprising that people would be selling them for more than the standard price.  I know I wouldn't sell any of the ones I have for the standard retail price, no telling when I'll be able to get more to support my customers.

I was quoted 150 plus the kit for the install. But I think want to install it myself. I’ll be patient and see what pops up and go from there.

Thanks for your time

If you're reasonably handy with electronics and basic mechanical things, you should be able to install the PS/3 upgrade in an older MTH locomotive.  The tricks start to enter when you want to put them into other brands, many times there are unforeseen complications.

I've done basically what you want already to a PS2 5V GS6 I got that was missing all the wiring/boards. It's basically the same as installing the kit in a PS1 locomotive. I take the extra time to build a harness with all LED lights so I can run everything off the headlamp circuit. It's not particularly hard (at least for me) just time consuming:

MTH Premier Western Pacific GS64 to Southern Pacific GS6 | O Gauge Railroading On Line Forum (ogaugerr.com)

Your Daylight has a large overhang on the cab effecting harness connection.  So you will have some mods to do.  Certain engines are harder then other and some require mechanical besides electrical work.  Some engine benefit from using different parts not included in the kit, like speaker size, coupler length, harness etc...  Advantage a tech has when doing this. G

Thanks for the input, first thing is first locating a kit. After I kind of see it laid out in front of me I can make a determination if it’s something I really want to tackle. I live in Northern New Jersey and there’s not a lot of train shops perhaps near me that I could just bring the engine to to do the upgrade because by all means if the money was right I would just have it done but we’ll see thanks again for everyone’s input

You can see a lot of what you describe by checking out the manual.

MTH Proto-Sound 3.0 Steam Upgrade Kit Installation Manual

Thanks John that’s a huge help I don’t know why I didn’t think of looking at that sooner.

Sometimes the obvious escapes us, it certainly happens to me plenty of times.

@GGG posted:

Your Daylight has a large overhang on the cab effecting harness connection.  So you will have some mods to do.  Certain engines are harder then other and some require mechanical besides electrical work.  Some engine benefit from using different parts not included in the kit, like speaker size, coupler length, harness etc...  Advantage a tech has when doing this. G

Yup. There is a larger cab overhang on the PS1 version than the PS2 version I converted. When they went to PS2 the locomotive frame was moved closer to the end of the cab to accommodate the 90 degree PS2 tether. I picked up a Premier PS1 GS4 that had been converted to PS2 3V with the upgrade kit a couple years ago. Whoever did it used the 90 degree tether from the upgrade kit. It fit but the tether had to be jammed in the socket. I ended up replacing it with a flat tether and all is well.