New to MTH PS3 DCC

Only thing I can answer is DCS vs Conventional. In DCS the volume is set with the remote (or app), in Conventional there is one master setting (the adjustable potentiometer) on the engine. These are two different settings, but each one will remain as set.

What kind of DCC system are you going to use?

I use soundtraxx, wow sound, and TMCC/Legacy on my layout, and except for different key numbers, operating the two are the same.

DCC settings have to be set up the first time you use them, but they stay that way until you change settings, just like Legacy.

Have you read the post about operating 3 rail trains with dcc? If you haven't, it has some great information about running Legacy and dcc on the same layout.

Which post do you speak of?  I know there is a big one that was mine, but it was with a conventional locomotive upgraded with a LokSound decoder.

But I'm had the two locomotives for a bit now and had a chance to play with them.  Using the NCE command system I have found that they do not operate as MTH says.  Like volume.  The manual says you have to push F6 twice to change the volume level, and you can do that 10 times to get the 10 different levels.  I push F6 and the volume just increases to max.  Push it again to stop unless it got to max already (Which only takes it a second or two to do.).  Next push and the volume to lowers until you push the button or the volume cuts out.  There is no stepping through the volumes, and it changes so fast it's really hard to get the two locomotives I have to match.

And then the smoke unit comes on when the locomotive starts playing sounds either from F3 or by turning the throttle up after a track power cycle.  As long as the track how power, the locomotive remembers the smoke setting, but once I turn it off for the night and come back the next day, the smoke unit is back on.  The same for the cab chatter setting.  But it remembers the lighting settings between track power cycles.

Other thing is the built-in keep alive is only good for sound, it doesn't keep the motors running.  I hit a bad spot of track and the loco comes to a dead stop.  Lights and sounds keep going for a while before cutting out, but the motors stop.  The spot is small enough that a keep alive for motors would get over it just fine, but these locomotives just stop dead.

I was referring to the entire thread about running in 3 rail. I had some posts in there too about the airwire system and soundtraxx decoders. 

But to the more pressing issues, namely not doing what MTH says it should, did you move the selector switch from dcs to dcc?

I too have had engines cut out in certain spots as well. I don't have a keep-alive, but I have found out keeping the rollers clean is far more critical than it was in conventional or tmcc. Ditto for track. I find myself cleaning rollers every few operating sessions, with engines that barely needed attention before I upgraded them.

Also, are you running the NCE and the tmcc at the same time? The two signals could be interfering with each other.

Could the NCE be faulty? How do the engines run in conventional mode?

Finally, what type of transformer/tmcc command base/ power distribution system do you have, and how is it connected?

I have a ZW-C powered by Lionel 180w Powerhouses.  The output of the ZW goes to the input of the 10amp booster and NCE command base.  My Legacy command base is connected to the U post on the A handle.  I have tried the MTH locomotives with and without the Legacy base plugged in.  The engines run as I would expect conventionally.  I have not done a 55-55-55 reset on them yet as I would expect it not needed on brand new never run locomotives.  My one other DCC locomotive I upgraded with a LokSound decoder operates just as I would expect it, so I don't think there is any issue with the DCC command base.  These quirks are not deal breakers, I still think these are wonderful engines, and I'm glad I can buy new DCC O gauge locomotives.  It's just a pity they don't function the way the manual says, that's all.

Have you tried disconnecting the Legacy command base from the U-post and then running your MTH engines in DCC?

I'm guessing the U-posts are all connected together, so the signal will go to everything, even if it's on another track. There might be an issue with the tmcc and the mth engines only.

As I stated:

sinclair posted:

I have tried the MTH locomotives with and without the Legacy base plugged in.

Which electrically is the same as disconnecting the U post.  If I get adventurous I might just throw a loop of track on the floor and connect the DCC to that.  Will have to find another transformer.