MTH/advantages of 3v vs. 5v?

The 3V boards are available.

Lou,

I know the new boards are 3v but are there any advantages to changing from a 5v board?

The 3 volt boards have 2 meg for sound files as opposed to 1 meg. Also, the speakers for use with the 3 volt board don't fail like the one's for the 5 volt board.

MTH was forced to go with a 3 volt processor on their PS2 boards (as they were on the TIU motherboards) because parts on the 5 volt board were becoming unavailable. Further, when they they were available, they were becoming more expensive.

Jeff,  What do you consider a full rebuild?  My understanding is some of the smaller processors and microchips are not available via MTH.  Are you sourcing from an electronic distributor.  G

"Also, the speakers for use with the 3 volt board don't fail like the one's for the 5 volt board."

Hey Barry: Could you expand a little on the speaker failure? How/Why do they fail on the 5 volt boards?

Thanks,

doc

Doc,

Could you expand a little on the speaker failure? How/Why do they fail on the 5 volt boards?

Metal flakes off the magnet and gets into the speaker cone. The sounds become "staticky" and volume drops off. However, the speakers rarely go mute completely.

The 5 volt replacement speakers from MTH do not have this problem.

Many many thanks Barry ...

So would you consider this a 5 volt board issue or a speaker issue?

We all appreciate your expertise.

doc

Doc,

5 volt board issue or a speaker issue

I consider this to be a speaker issue.

Thanks Barry!!

Do you have a working 5V engine that you are considering upgrading to 3V?  If so, wait to see how the PS3 upgrade kit plays out. It may be a long wait. From earlier threads, my understanding is the PS2-3V upgrade kit will be replaced by the PS3 upgrade kit this calendar year. If someone has more information on this please post!

Most, if not all, of the aforementioned advantages of the 3V board (vs. 5V) apply to PS3…including even more memory than PS2-3V, elimination of the battery, and newer parts which extends availability of replacement components for repair. There are some PS3 upgrade issues that need clarification such as effort to replace bulbs with LEDs, switching from a wired to wireless tether in a steamer, etc..

The ohm-rating of the speaker must be replaced in going from 5V to 3V.  There have been threads on particular engines (it may be just one for all I know) where this is a bother because a drop-in replacement speaker is not available thereby requiring chassis grinding and the like.  The same issue may apply to PS3 too.

So in my opinion, we are in a gray area.  If at some future point you will upgrade to PS3 anyway (possibily because PS2-3V repair becomes costly or impossible as with PS2-5V repair), then going through the upgrade process just once might be appealing. 

Where did you hear PS-3 upgrade kits this year?  Jeff implied making the diesel kits in PS-2 this month, possibly more Steam kit in a few months.

I would think that until all product is produced in PS-3, that PS-3 upgrade kits WON'T be available.

Additionally the number of discrete PS-3 boards is starting to multiply like rabbits.  G

Stan,

The ohm-rating of the speaker must be replaced in going from 5V to 3V

Actually, you can leave the 5 volt (16 ohm) speaker in place when replacing a 5 volt PS2 board with a 3 volt PS2 board without harming anything. The only caveat will be that the maximum sound level will be quite a bit reduced.

Excellent point. Given the drama in replacing the speaker in certain engines, “upgrading” to lower available volume is an attractive tradeoff.

On the topic of audio, does MTH necessarily provide a corresponding downloadable PS2-3V soundset with improved sound (using the additional memory) for any given PS2-5V engine?  If not, then the additional memory feature of PS2-3V seems of demoted value if upgrading a specific engine from PS2-5V.  I'd think this would apply to the extra memory in PS3 too.  For example, I can’t imagine MTH would provide a downloadable PS3 soundset upgrade that uses the extra memory for a unique PS2 engine like, say, the Coors Silver Bullet.

Barry with all due respect, and I mean that sincerely,the 16 ohm speaker used,at least all the ones I have in my 20 or so engines are very very poor even aside from the flaking issue. Volume level is not the issue but rather frequency response is. You will never push much quality sound out of something like that.  Yes it is true it can be used without damaging the amplifier but by all means do yourself a favor and replace it.  If you go to all the trouble and expense of converting,at least invest in a decent speaker.

Dale H

Dale,

I didn't say that one should  keep the speaker, only that one could without risking damage to the electronics.

I guess I need to ask Dave where he heard it, I think that install will be much more involved since the lights are all LED also, plus the steam will need a swivel joint for draw bar attached to tender.  Plus they will have to start converting or building sound files.

I can say I heard from service the answer "don't know, can't address the rumors on the Forum".

Don't think the speaker issue is as bad as you mention.  There are some shortfalls in the smaller size ones.

Having said all this I worked on a PS-2 5V engine that was owned by the original purchaser, never repaired, and it had a factor install 4ohm speaker.  No damage to the PS-2 5V board.  The speaker was bad though, so go fiqure.  G

The speaker was more than likely damaged by he board putting too high a sound level into a 4 ohm speaker when it was expecting it to be a 16 ohm speaker.

The instructions in my PS2 upgrade kit said to replace the speaker with the new one, so I did.