MTH Railking ES44ACs Starting Up Without Being Addressed

Sounds like they are missing the watchdog signal.  I believe this was one of the improvements included in DCS v6.00.  Which version of DCS are you running on your TIU?

I have a couple of PS3 engines(members of MU's) that do almost the same thing ..except they don't smoke and volume stays as it was as a MU member. The MU will respond F/N/R but commands such as volume,mute etc will not work. I just cycle the TIU off wait 15 seconds TIU on and all is well. I do have a premiere SD90mac ps2 that also misses the watchdog(this one goes full vol and smoke on, "check track in my dcs remote display" but only on a siding that needs a separate feed.

MrMoe50 posted:

Sounds like they are missing the watchdog signal.  I believe this was one of the improvements included in DCS v6.00.  Which version of DCS are you running on your TIU?

What does the watchdog signal do? I believe I’m on 4.2.0. I’ve tried updating it in the past but I think I was missing a cable to finish the upgrade, it’s been a while.

The TIU sends out a watchdog signal whenever the output of a TIU channel changes from zero to any higher voltage. This signal only lasts for a brief period of time, however, this is generally long enough for a PS2 PS3 engine's electronics to recognize the watchdog signal and cause the engine to come up in DCS stealth mode, dark and silent. When the WD is missed your engine comes up in conventional neutral.

I also run 4.20 as it is very multi unit stable. I have 4 MU's..1  6engine,2  5 engine and 1  2 engine. PS2(3 volt) and PS3 work very well together.

If the locos start up in conventional mode immediately, it is usually due to the supercaps being dead-flat.  Turning the power off, then back on should allow it to start up normally.  If the locos start when power is applied in DCS, then wire routing under the caps is interfering with the DCS coils on the PS3 board (they should be over the caps).  If the address is not saved, one of the supercaps is bad.

willygee posted:

The TIU sends out a watchdog signal whenever the output of a TIU channel changes from zero to any higher voltage. This signal only lasts for a brief period of time, however, this is generally long enough for a PS2 PS3 engine's electronics to recognize the watchdog signal and cause the engine to come up in DCS stealth mode, dark and silent. When the WD is missed your engine comes up in conventional neutral.

Thanks for the explanation Willygee. I guess my next question is if my other engines respond to this signal and come up in stealth mode, why are these newer engines missing the signal?

A conventional reset sometimes helps. 1W, 5B

Here is post i created to minimize the missed signal..it has served me well.

https://ogrforum.com/...ce-needed-with-photo

Jon G posted:

If the locos start up in conventional mode immediately, it is usually due to the supercaps being dead-flat.  Turning the power off, then back on should allow it to start up normally.  If the locos start when power is applied in DCS, then wire routing under the caps is interfering with the DCS coils on the PS3 board (they should be over the caps).  If the address is not saved, one of the supercaps is bad.

Sound advice Jon..have you seen many cap failures at MTH ?

Zach K posted:

willygee posted:

The TIU sends out a watchdog signal whenever the output of a TIU channel changes from zero to any higher voltage. This signal only lasts for a brief period of time, however, this is generally long enough for a PS2 PS3 engine's electronics to recognize the watchdog signal and cause the engine to come up in DCS stealth mode, dark and silent. When the WD is missed your engine comes up in conventional neutral.

Thanks for the explanation Willygee. I guess my next question is if my other engines respond to this signal and come up in stealth mode, why are these newer engines missing the signal?

Older engines using ps2 3v use a 2.4 volt rechargeable battery pack vs caps. I suspect they retain there digital settings better than an unhealthy cap set. Also the board layout is different..less prone to interference.

I believe I’m on 4.2.0.

DCS 5.0 had improvements to the reliability of the watchdog signal, as well as corrections for some rather ugly bugs.

willygee posted:

Jon G posted:

If the locos start up in conventional mode immediately, it is usually due to the supercaps being dead-flat.  Turning the power off, then back on should allow it to start up normally.  If the locos start when power is applied in DCS, then wire routing under the caps is interfering with the DCS coils on the PS3 board (they should be over the caps).  If the address is not saved, one of the supercaps is bad.

Sound advice Jon..have you seen many cap failures at MTH ?

No, very, very rare.

I got all the cables I need and am downloading DCS 5.0 right now. Looks like I can't jump straight to 6.1 so I'll give an update on how the engines react once I have everything up to date.

Where did you read that you cannot go directly to 6.1 from 4.2?

Going to 5.0 might not solve your problem, if it is caused by the version of DCS on your TIU. This is taken from the MTH page which is why I suggested 6.1.

Version 6.00 Fixes

• Improved "Quiet Packet" Performance To Help Ensure Locomotives Are In DCS Mode When Track Power Is Applied
• Improved Record/Playback Performance When Switches and Accessories Are Included
• General Performance and Stability Enhancements

MrMoe50 posted:

Where did you read that you cannot go directly to 6.1 from 4.2?

Going to 5.0 might not solve your problem, if it is caused by the version of DCS on your TIU. This is taken from the MTH page which is why I suggested 6.1.

Version 6.00 Fixes

• Improved "Quiet Packet" Performance To Help Ensure Locomotives Are In DCS Mode When Track Power Is Applied
• Improved Record/Playback Performance When Switches and Accessories Are Included
• General Performance and Stability Enhancements

I read on MTH’s website that the memory mapping is different going from 4.2 to 6.1 and jumping directing to 6.1 could brick the TIU.

Just tested everything out with the 6.1 update, all engines are now silent and don’t start up when applying track power! Mind boggling this issue boiled down to just being a software bug! Thanks for the help everyone!

Happy to hear your problem is resolved.

Gary