MTH PS3 Locomotives Fried?

 anytime you get a track short and don't turn off the voltage immediately you can blow the boards , especially  the ps3 and 3/2 boards! there is one thing you can try first! run the engine I question one at a time in conventional and see if it will work without tiu in the line. you can also try a factory reset 1W and 5  five Bell with 1/2 second intervals if you get 2 whistle toots the engine reset and then can try it again with dcs ! if it's non responsive in conventional the boards are probably damaged and an asc tech can check what the cost would be approximately to repair!

Alan

Before you give up on them, try do a factory reset with nothing else on the track.

Hard to do if they aren’t in the remote. 

What happens if you remove the TIU from the circuit and power up?  The locos should come up in conventional.  I have had too many track shorts over the last almost 20 years that I've been running DCS, and haven't had one blow a board yet.

Is there voltage on the track?  A short could have blown fuses in the TIU.  There are no fuses in the locos, and besides, a track short will not cause excessive amperage through locos that are in parallel with the short.

First step I would imagine is to put them on a test track with no command base and just see if they start up in conventional mode.  If they won't start in conventional mode, then you start looking for stuff disconnected or cooked.

1W and 5 B for reset, not the opposite.  G

Thanks everyone for the advice.  So, the track/TIU are not the issue as my other 2 PS3 loco's still run fine.  The problem has to be with the locos as they won't even respond in conventional on my test track (which works fine). 

If I take the shells off and nothing looks disconnected, I'm guessing it would have to be the PS3 boards.

Best option IMHO, is to let one of the techs here do a proper diagnosis on them, i.e. bench test them with the right tools they have. You need to know what is really broken, then decide what route to take next.  I know 3 guys here in this thread that can do that for you and there are others as well.

My 2cts or so...

Just reading this post makes me disappointed these new toy trains aren't more "goof-proof".  I will later this year get out my one PS3 and many long-stored PS2 diesels and hoping I can just enjoy them.  I am no electrical engineer, I just want to run my trains. My 2 cents.

Rich

trestleking posted:

Just reading this post makes me disappointed these new toy trains aren't more "goof-proof".  I will later this year get out my one PS3 and many long-stored PS2 diesels and hoping I can just enjoy them.  I am no electrical engineer, I just want to run my trains. My 2 cents.

Rich

Accidents happen, sometimes it costs money to fix them.  Improvements will happen over time as the technology matures. It's a good thing we didn't give up on PS1, though my personal experience has been negative, otherwise we wouldn't be here with PS3.  Since the electronics in these devices are so sensitive, it has been recommended MANY times to add TVS and fast blow fuses to all layout power feeds, good advice.  Perhaps it may have saved them ?

To your point though, thinking about all the new Chinese product advances, phones, DVD players, car touch screens etc. I can only imagine what their R&D budgets are compared to Mike Wolfs'. To MTH's credit, if I had to keep running my 1976 Lionel NH with very minimal detail and no horn, well I probably wouldn't be in this hobby again. Back then it cost 250$, quite a lot in those days.  I still have it and enjoy it for what it is, although I just added a horn unit.

Ok, I'm off the soapbox now, cheers

I add TVS diodes across the PS3 board input inside the locomotive. The closer the protection device is to the electronics we want to protect the better.

The TVS diode is between the two gray wire nuts in this MTH PS# SW1500:

geysergazer posted:

I add TVS diodes across the PS3 board input inside the locomotive. The closer the protection device is to the electronics we want to protect the better.

The TVS diode is between the two gray wire nuts in this MTH PS# SW1500:

         

 

Amazing to me that the manufacturers aren't including this simple protection in standard design of all engines. Seems like a simple, low-cost additional insurance against failures. 

"Amazing to me that the manufacturers aren't including this simple protection in standard design of all engines. Seems like a simple, low-cost additional insurance against failures. "

Yep, agree 100%

Wish I had a Sunday ticket to the Hampton VA show and address this with them while they are there. Maybe someone can reach out to Mike at York on this very issue ?

I am still having difficulty with multiple PS/3 locomotive dying while PS/2 stuff still runs in the same environment.  There has to be more to the story.

Do they have a 2 Rail 3 rail switch is it in the 3Rail position, do they have a DCS/DCC switch is it in the DCS position.  If you apply power on a test track no TIU what does the amp meter read, still no response?

If not possible a PS blew on the PS-3 board.  Weird they all took a hit.  Can send boards to evaluate, may be recoverable.  G