Need help - Rewired Proto2 steam engine

Brian, That's a toughie.  Try putting the engine on some loose track with an Ohmmeter connected between the center rail and an outside rail.  Start disconnecting 1 wire at a time and keep watching the meter. 

Try it with the boiler off. That will eliminate the probability of a pinched wire.

Also the 10 pin plug board in the engine can easily short out to the boiler. Worth a check.

Otherwise recheck all your wiring. As unlikely as it may seem, you may have connected something to the wrong place. Been there, done that!

 

Rod

I am going to take the shell off another ps2 steamer and see how it's wired. I must have connected a wire in the wrong spot. Would a blown ps2 board cause a transformer short?

It could be a board but I would do what Rod said and take the boiler shell off and try it.  Most pinched wires come when putting the shell on

You might want to put this on the MTH DCS control forum for additional help.

It's not likely to be a board.

It sounds like a direct short between a hot roller wire and ground.

Examine carefully where the hot and ground wires connect to the 7 pin plug at the board.

Aso check carefully how you have connected the common hot wires from the rollers to the hot wire running to the 10 pin plug.

If you have  used color coded wire it should be easy enough to find.

If not, it will take some investigation.

Good luck and let us know what you find.

What happens if you put power to the engine with the tender disconnected?

If no short, then the trouble is in the tender.

If it shorts the problem is in the engine and your boards should be just fine.

 

Rod

 

Rod

The boiler shell has been off. I didn't connect the top yet. It's sitting on a shelf. :-[

Good call rod. It shorts only when connected to the tender. No short if the tender or boiler are on the track separated.

Bingo!

Check your 10 pin plug wiring.

 

Rod

The tender likely does not have a power roller, so it may still be the source of the short.

As suggested, check the 7 pin plug wiring.

 

Rod

Sorry this is my 1st rebuild. Which is the 7pin and which is the 10pin

The ground and roller hot wires are completely separate.

The 10 pin is the tether cord plug that connects the tender and engine.

The 7 pin plug is at the board in the tender and handles the power supply and ground for the PS-2 board electronics.

Hot is red usually and ground is black.

Do you have the PS-2 wiring diagram?

It is readily available on the protosound2 website. You can download the installation manual for the steam or diesel upgrade kit. Wiring diagrams are in the manuals.

Let me know if you have any trouble getting the manual. I can email it to you.

 

Rod

Thanks. I'm going to work on it again tomorrow.

 

In the picture the left side of the board on the left shows the 7 pin plug.

Pins 4 and 5 are ground. One should have the black wire from the tether cord, and the other likely a black ground wire to the tender floor plate.

Pins 6 and 7 are hot. The hot red wire from the tether cord should be connected to pin 6 in all likelihood.

If the wiring checks out, test for continuity between pins 5 and 6. It should be open.

 

Rod

Thanks Rod!

Take the 7 pin connector out of the board and leave all the others connected.  Plug the 10 pin thether into the engine.  If the short still exist the problem is in the engine wiring.  Since you said you had the engine an the tender on the track separately and no short, I am not sure that problem is in the engine, otherwise the engine will reflect an AC short on its own.

 

You also did not say whether this is a PS-2 5V or 3V.  Yes a blown PS-2 board can cause a short on the transformer, especially a PS-2 5V board.  What type of board is this?  G

I was looking for a wiring diagram that shows exactly which points are correct for the boiler harness but can't seem to find one. I have seen the PS2 upgrade pdf file but that does not show exactly which points are for which wires.

I have now rewired the roller to the right spot. When i apply power to the track the tender makes alot of clicking noises. I cannot get the engine to start up but i can get it to move forward and backwards with the handheld. 

 

Any ideas?

At this point I would swap the suspect PS-2 boards into a known good PS-2 engine and see if they run it OK.

 

Rod

Maybe this is what you need.

 

The red wire is of course from the contact rollers,  yellow/white is for the motor, purple is smoke unit, black should be ground.  Blue should be headlight.  Hope this helps

Would a blown audio amp prevent the engine from starting up?

Brian,

Would a blown audio amp prevent the engine from starting up?

been there, done that, got the T-shirt.

I was able to get the engine to sort of turn on. no sounds, the headlight and reverse light work. the pic that is attached to this post has me pointing to the part that is clicking/thumping. 

 

any ideas what to try next? 

Thanks G. I'll take more pics tomorrow morning.

I Have taken pics of the boards. Hopefully they will show something that helps diagnose the issue. 

Rod, Is it possible to replace only the left one that has the 7pin connector, or would i have to just buy a new pro to 2 3v board. 

Here's one problem, you have a pin broken off!

 

Yep. That broke off when I separated them this morning to take pics.

I see a very small blister on u6.

Hard to tell from the pictures, need a little clearer shot.

I have never seen a U-6 go.  Does it have 14 pins (U-6) or 16 pins (U-5 audio amp).  They are next to each other.

 

Scrape the blister.  If it comes off it just may be flux/varnish.  If it stays then it may be damaged.  G

Thanks G. I'll check it out in a bit and also take better pics using my slr camera. I am almost positive the problem is in ae000000-11 and not the actual long ps2 board ae000000-10

G - I scraped it and it is now clean showing no damage. I think the proto  2 board is fine. Can you fix the power board - the one with the broken pins.

I'd send him both boards.

Yes, but as John says best to send both.  Also in the black plastic holder.  Otherwise they separate in shipping and you wind up with more bent/broken pins.  My e-mail is in my profile so you can contact me for address, etc..  G

Hi G - email sent