Newer MTH engines with PS 3.0 issues

In general, I have not had too many problems with PS3 locos.  I have one diesel that never sees the watchdog signal and one steamer that likes to loosen the drawbar connection at the cab end.  Other than those two, they seem like an improvement over PS2.

Was the repair completed by a MTH Certified Repair Center?  What is a speed module?  Sounds like you need a little help in operating ps3 locomotives.  This locomotive may be exposed to wiring issues.  There may be conditions on your track and wiring that cause problems.  How big is your layout?  The Z1000 may be causing the problems.  Remember- ps3 locomotives when run in conventional, need about 20 seconds at less than 12 volts before they come alive.  This is due to the supercaps in them.  Ditch lites should not cause problems unless wires are pinched inside and they are shorting directly to the metal frame.

bruce

I'm assuming the "speed" module is the tach reader on the motor, that's the only thing that makes sense.

Clearly, I'd simply send this one back.

I have quite a few PS3 diesels and they have all worked well so far. My newest one is probably 2 years old or so. I have one that's probably 4-5 years old that has a ditch light problem. One ditch light went out, I tried to fix it 3 or 4 times without success, and now both ditch lights are out!  

It is way out of warranty and so far hasn't bothered me enough to work on it again or send it to someone that really knows how to fix it.

I have owned eight PS 3.0 locomotives over the past 6 years.  I haven't had any issues with any of them and have been very happy.  I hope that you get yours sorted out  and back on the rails soon.

I have other engines. But this one is my newest one with 3.0. Work was done by a Cert MTH center. Single loop of Gargraves 155ft of track. Buss wire with hook ups about every 3 feet. Yes speed module is the tach. 1st time around the board did fry and was replaced along with the speed tach electronics. When I got it back, ditch lights didnt work properly, but I could live with it. But as of now... been about a week back at the MTH center for another round. 

It seemed like it was in a bind during initial start of pull of freight cars. Im pulling 12 rail king cars at the moment. But i checked the gearing from motors to trucks, and they spin easily by hand. So just have to wait and see what my MTH service center says.

Whew. It was something simple this time. The 2 rail / 3 rail selector switch under rear cap went out. Got replaced and back to working order.

I haven't had a problem with any of my over 10 PS 3.0 engines.  With the addition of their Wi-Fi app, it has been a winner for me.

Had an mth imperial sant fe northern that I got around christmas time.Only ran a few minutes before it started acting up.It would just sit there and make sound and not move.Set it back about a week later got it back.It had a note telling me it had a factory defect.The wireless tether had issues.I for one had liked the old tether never had a problem with those.

seaboardm2 posted:

Had an mth imperial sant fe northern that I got around christmas time.Only ran a few minutes before it started acting up.It would just sit there and make sound and not move.Set it back about a week later got it back.It had a note telling me it had a factory defect.The wireless tether had issues.I for one had liked the old tether never had a problem with those.

I have had one issue with the older tether in a PS2. A cold solder on a connection on the tether according to MTH when it came back. Engine just stopped after making a couple rounds on layout. But it was back in my hands in less then 2 weeks after shipping out and has run trouble free since.

I've had several people give me the switchable engines with the instruction to remove the troublesome 2-rail/3-rail switch and hard wire it.  It's a cheap switch, and it takes all the power for the locomotive through the cheesy contacts.

Have a recently released D&H RS3 that has pitiful smoke output. Set it at MAX but very little air flow it seems. Hate to have to pull the shell off of a brand new piece...

The sounds are terrific however!

That may be one of the units that has the small smoke unit because of the lack of room.  If so, don't expect MTH level smoke out of it, it will have fairly anemic smoke when compared to other MTH offerings.

Note that without seeing it, I can't say if this model has the small smoke unit.  Obviously, the product number would be a help as well.

Thanks John,

Yes, anemic would be a fitting description!

No. 30-20455-1     Really pretty locomotive.  I have a couple of the older RS1s that smoke very well.

If this indeed has the full sized smoke unit, it takes a lot more than 20 drops of fluid to get it running.

How can I tell?    I have a MTH UP Alco PA in HO that smokes but not much..

Well, the HO has a different smoke unit.  the smoke unit on the top is the small O-gauge smoke unit, the one on the bottom is the MTH HO smoke unit.  The next picture is the full sized smoke unit.

Other than looking inside, I don't know how you figure what's in the locomotive. perhaps someone has already had one apart?

This is the full-sized MTH smoke unit used in O-gauge.  They come with short posts as shown, and long posts for diesels.

c.sam posted:

Have a recently released D&H RS3 that has pitiful smoke output. Set it at MAX but very little air flow it seems. Hate to have to pull the shell off of a brand new piece...

The sounds are terrific however!

Hey Sam, my pair of CNJ RS5's with PS3 smoked well right out of their boxes upon startup, in conventional mode, as my DCS was not setup.  I received these new around June of this year.   Hope you get yours straightened out.

Rich

Shawnee, OK

The thing about smoke units, is the wick has to be perfect. I don't know how MTH puts so much wick in there and gets any smoke output? Whenever I take one apart, I find I have to reduce the amount of wick to get good output. MTH must have just the right touch. I've tried repeatedly to replicate what they do. It just doesn't work for me.

 So with that, I imagine that they are pushing the max amount inside. If one part isn't perfect, it blocks the air flow partially. I've had new engines that had to burn in to get better. I've had engines that have dried out and a perfect smoker became a poor smoker. Although I hate to have fluid dripping around inside the engine, now I have to side with too much fluid over not enough.

 When there's too much, it has to burn off to allow the smoke unit to perform at max I believe. That's better than a charred wick or element. When certain engines with the smoke unit too close to the board leaks out fluid, that can cause other issues. So those engines need to be filled carefully. I think the unit should be inside a bubble! with an overflow hose that is. … and something to allow the heat to come out.... and like the Lionel, have a sensor for low fluid, that needs to be set in perfect distance to the element... and.....

As far as MTH PS3 equipped engines, I prefer them now. I think there were growing pains like the wires too close to the board, the coated screws, etc. The stock boards themselves, seem to be very good for me.

I have an older (3-4 years) RK Scale RS3 in Interstate livery. It has the small one resistor smoke unit. I would imagine yours is the same thing. Mine does not smoke like the other MTH engines either, but it does smoke some. There is a newer sound file for mine that I have it, but haven't loaded yet. GRJ informed me of that here a while back. I don't know exactly when the new file was issued, but if your RS3 is new I would think it would have the latest? But then again, it might be worth checking?

I think it's actually a new chain file that fixes low smoke from some models with the small smoke unit.  It's quite possible it didn't find it's way into any new production.

I don't know that his RS3 has the small smoke unit, I was just guessing based on the performance.  Unless something is seriously broken, usually the MTH diesels smoke too much, not too little.

I guess they could have changed the smoke unit? I was just thinking it would be unlikely they would change it ($$$), but you never know? Since CSam has RS1s and someone else above has RS5s that smoke well and are all somewhat similar, I think, maybe they did make some changes that didn't take much $$$ to do?

I am guessing the new chain file would be in the upgraded sound file? I downloaded it when you told me about it, but haven't looked at it. It's in the MTH folder awaiting upgrading.  

When you download a PS/3 "sound" file, it comes in a ZIP file.  Inside the ZIP file are two files, the chain files (another ZIP file), and the .MTH file (the actual sound file).  Unpack this ZIP file into your upload folder where you normally put sound file to upload to the engines.   You use the second ZIP file without unpacking it and upload using the FLASH button.  The sound file gets loaded in the normal manner with the Upload Sound File button.

Thanks, I got it. Good info to know. I've never loaded a chain file before, that I recall anyway, I've just loaded the sound files. 

I didn't even think about asking for a hard wire to 3 rail.  My engine smokes some, but you can smell it  more than you can see it. I added 15 drops. Seems like more output faster it's ran, but I'm running mine less than  1/2 throttle. Wish there was some kind of level indicator.  But being up on shelf, and close to a few smoke alarms, I just turned it off. Be nice at times to really see it put out some smoke though. I've got earplugs...

 Here's what a MTH diesel looks like with the smoke adjusting to the engine revs. I wish I had the camera focused better but you'll get the idea.

I like it because it shows the heat coming out of the smoke unit as the revs go up.

Joe - Thant's a terrific demonstration, Thanks

RTR12 - I've had several older RK Scale RS3's and none of them had smoke, only the two RS1's that I have now - NH and Southern. Both of them are pretty finicky however, sometimes they smoke profusely but others will almost quit.  :-(

This D&H is the first RS3 I'd seen advertised with smoke..

MTH engines with PS 3.0 issues

I have noticed headlight and or marker lights go out at random.

I have to select each engine and press HDLT to light headlamp again.

Noticed this using ALL to start all engines. Some other feature settings drop out or get confused as well. 

c.sam posted:

Joe - Thant's a terrific demonstration, Thanks

RTR12 - I've had several older RK Scale RS3's and none of them had smoke, only the two RS1's that I have now - NH and Southern. Both of them are pretty finicky however, sometimes they smoke profusely but others will almost quit.  :-(

This D&H is the first RS3 I'd seen advertised with smoke..

I was questioning whether mine had smoke or not when I got it, forget the details (been a while) but there were conflicting descriptions. I added smoke fluid thinking it had one and it leaked out the bottom of the engine. I was then thinking hmmm...maybe it didn't have one? I asked here and several folks said the same as you did that they did not previously have smoke units. So I took it apart to to see. I found the smoke funnel and gaskets out of alignment (reason for fluid leak), but it did at least have the single element smoke unit. 

As I recall the wick and everything looked OK, but I replaced them anyway while I was in there. It smokes, but has never smoked like the other MTH diesels I have, like the ES44ACs, SD70s etc.. The RS3 is the only older model Diesel I have, the rest are all more modern ('80s to current) so I don't have anything to compare to.

The single element smoke unit won't smoke ANYTHING like MTH standard full sized smoke units.  Don't expect much more than you're seeing.

I won't, it doesn't smoke a lot, but it does smoke and I'm ok with that. There's also a brighter side, you can run it for quite a while and not get smoked out of the basement (or have the wife yelling at me about the smoke )!  I'm still going to try the upgraded sound and chain files though, just to see if that makes a difference.