No Engine Found...SOLVED!!!

I'm assuming you've added the engine? Aren't factory new engines defaulted to address "0"?

If it were mine, I'd do a factory reset, re-add the engine and give it another try. Another option would be to try to load a different sound file. Maybe there's something wrong with the file.

Gilly

BTW, hope you feel better...

Gilly,  I've never had to add an engine prior to uploading the initial sound file.

The file is this one, an upgrade file - pr_g5_li_final_3v.mth from engine 20-3068-1.

Oh, thanks for the kind thoughts, man I feel awful but want to get this thing going.

Do you have Red and Black from TIU to test track correct?  Is the Cable from TIU to Computer connected.

With out using loader can the engine be found?  If so, do as Gilly states and do a factory reset and then shut it down.  There is no need for a readd, just connect back up to computer and start again.  Make sure you give it a few seconds after powering up before opening the sound file.   G

Cables are correct George, I'll put the engine on the layout and see if I can find it.

I did a "Recover Engine" and tried the "Add Engine" but nothing came of it.

The battery was reading very low, less than 1/2 volt with a meter n the battery leads so I swapped batteries with the battery from my 2-8-0, same result, no engine found.

I may try with the loader again just to see if this battery has any affect.

The battery will certainly have an effect, you should never try these operations with a weak battery.

When you tried the recover engine, did it find any engines to recover?

Maybe grab another engine and do a track signal test on the piece of track. Engine is dark & silent which is good..... Yep  try  a good battery.  Or.. give it up for today and start fresh tomorrow...

John, no engine found (I had all other engines off the layout).  This is the first upgrade that I've even check the battery for, all the others went fine.

Gregg, I think I'll give up for today   Even with the nausea I've got from the kidney stone operation we're still having chili and cornbread for dinner (the kids are coming over), I hope I can keep things from "coming up" , it has to be the pain meds that's making me this way

I've had a couple of new upgrades act up in a similar manner, after a couple of tries, it all gets sorted out.  Usually, they just fire up and work.  Maybe it's lazy electrons, they don't like being forced to work.

SO this is an engine you just upgraded?  May want to check everything is wired correctly in the engine, center rail to Red, etc...

So even when just trying to add the engine to a remote it is coming up not found?  G

Am I missing something here? I didn't think you could add an engine to the remote until the sound file was loaded onto the board. Engine not found because there is no Engine file to be found yet. If I am wrong on this someone please correct me. What operating system are you using on your computer? Have you used this computer to do other sound files? I think it was reported Windows 8 is not compatible with the current Loader.

Hope you feel better tomorrow.

I don't do it much, but there is a test file installed and I had to do a reset once before a sound file load and the board did add.   G

drink a bunch of filtered water. Not ice cold,your liver is trying to clear out the anesthetic

George, yeah it's a Weaver/Railking/Williams/Samhongsa hybrid 4-6-0 I made using a Weaver 4-6-0 chassis, a Railking 2-8-0 "stretched" boiler, and the brass tender from my Williams/Samhongsa 2-8-2 .

Since I have the shell off my old 2-8-0 I'm going to compare the wiring on both.

Correct, when I try to add the engine it' says Engine Not Found.

Forest, that's what I though too.  I have used this same computer for my 4 other upgrades in the past with no problems.  The 2-8-2 was the last one I did a few months ago.

Fastman, I feel much better today.  I stopped taking the antibiotic the doctor prescribed and, along with drinking more water, made the nausea (and the roadkill taste in my mouth) go away.

I'm going to re-examine my wiring and go get a charger for the battery, if your old stomping grounds are open today G

more later...

Is there another battery charger I can use or modify to use?  I looked on the LHS website and they don't seem to have it in stock and I don't want to wait a week or more to get one.

For a quick charge, I just use my bench supply and adjust the charging current to around 40ma for the 9V batteries, and 60ma for the 3V batteries.

If you want to "roll your own", a CL2 in series with a DC supply will supply 20ma constant current.

John, I was thinking more of all these little wallwarts I have laying around.  I bet I have one that is 3volt 60ma and a jack in my parts bin.  I know I have a variable voltage (1.5 to 12 volt) 300ma charger, but I need to look at the others.

CL2, is that a current driver???  That's something I don't have and if I have to order it I might as well order the MTH battery charger.

For the 3V dual-AA battery, I'd limit the charge current to around 40 milli-amps current for 6-7 hours.  One way to get that is to use a higher voltage power supply and a resistor to limit the current.

Let's say you have a 12V supply handy...

Assume that the terminal voltage is around 2.6 volts for a charged battery.  You'd need a 220 ohm 1/2W (or larger) resistor to use the 12V for charging.  Charge if for a few hours, you should have plenty of juice for the procedure.

I've also  added a engine to the remote without a sound file years ago when the kits first came out... I can't remember which loader... 1.57 1 .83 and win 98.....

 I have used the recent loader with  a few problems Win XP but it eventually loaded.

I found a Motorola SPN 5404A, 5VDC output at 550ma used for charging a old phone, but most of the ones I have are either 9 or 12 VDC out.

I'm working on an upgrade right now, and I successfully loaded the engine to the remote before any sound file was added.  It comes up with a blank name, etc. of course, but it does load and run.  You get the nasty test tones for whistle and bell, but it has motor control, etc.

If you use a 12V one with a resistor as I mentioned, you can charge the battery.  Just don't leave it charging for more than a few hours.

John,

I did some calculations, check this to see if I'm right:

5VDC 550ma output charger 2.4VDC 700mah battery (5-2.4 = 2.6 volts)

R=V/I - 2.6/.06 = 43.3 ohm resistor

P=V*I - 2.6*.06 = .156 watts - 1/4 watt resistor

So a 40ish ohm 1/4 watt resistor should work with this 5vdc charger?  I found the formula online, here's what they said:

BOB !!!!  Pull a good battery from one of your engines and use it.  You can get the engine to load without a battery, you just can't complete it without a battery.  So you can at least find out if you have a bad board. 

Or if your up to it come take a ride through the tunnel and we can check it out.  G

George,

Will do, I need to re-check the wiring before I attempt another load, but I was going to do that before I went to all the other trouble, I already have the battery out of the 2-8-0 to use.

Keep that tunnel clear though!!! (I haven't got an EZPass yet )

OK, solved the problem!

I tried it again with the charged battery, no change, still no load.

Just couldn't understand why, the wiring checked out compared to my 2-8-0.

I had the shell off the tender while checking the wiring so I thought I'd take the boiler shell off the loco.  Didn't see anything so I decided to put the enigne on the track without either the tender shell or the boiler shell on, PRESTO!

The program took 5 minutes to load, no problems.

Apparently the boiler is shorting something out, it can only be the motor leads or the tach reader, it clears the rear connector with good clearance.

I'm surprised it didn't trip the breaker or blow something in the upgrade kit (whew ) but I'll take that as a sign.

Now to see where the short is occurring.

Thanks for the help folks, couldn't have done it without you

Now to see if I guessed right on the tach tape.

I'd use heat-shrink on the motor leads if they're at all close to the shell.  Also, I have had several upgrades where I had to dispense with the standard tach bracket and bond the reader directly to the motor on one of the sides to clear the shell.

I'd still look carefully at the rear connector to see if any of the leads are touching.  Also, sometimes if you press on the top, the front pins cut the insulation on the wires coming from the rear row of pins on the tether connector.

Short of that, just make sure to dress all the wires so there's no possibility of them being pinched by the shell.

It could also be the headlight (no smoke unit installed).  Between heat shrink and electrical tape I should have it covered (literally ).

I may have to grind some off the inside of the boiler, that poor thing has been hacked to pieces making this engine.  I could have made one by now.

Great....Maybe also  line the top of boiler with electrical tape?? or something .

Gregg,

I did just that a few minutes ago, but I haven't put the boiler back on yet.

I changed the tach tape to .057 stripes to slow it down and put the tender shell back on.  The sound file (upgrade file) I chose must not have tender lights as they don't (light).  I'll look at the engine to see if it even had them (didn't look before).

As long as I don't keep removing the boiler the layers of tape should suffice.

I need to find some traction tires for this Weaver chassis (it was imported and they don't carry them anymore), the wheels are 1.417 inches diameter (68" drivers), but I don't see any tires that big on the MTH chart I have.

1.417" = 35.99mm. Could you use an MTH 31mm tire or even a 29mm tire?

'correction' Just checked Last ACS update They reccommend a 27mm tire for a 36.5 mm wheel.

I'm sure the 31mm would work if the width of the groove is right.  I just put them onto one with 1.4" wheels.

I measured the groove width - .095" or 2.42mm, so the 31mm tire (3.5mm wide) (P/N DE0000031) could work if I trim the width.

I'll get some of each size just in case.

I think one the MTH 4-6-0 engines I picked also has these size tires, but they didn't list the tire as a separate item in the parts description.

The engine runs without them, but I doubt it would pull many cars that way.

Thanks guys, I've been looking for these since I bought the chassis from Ed Rappe 2 years ago.

That's probably the big difference, the width is very narrow on those.  Trimming will work, just a bit tedious.

Bob, I have 8 with the correct width.  You don't want to trim tires.  I would do frog snot before trying to trim a tire.  G

Being they have to be stretched to get over the bigger diameter, does the width shrink as a result?  I might not have to do a thing but put them on.

George, you are selling them?  I can contact you offline if so.

Yes,  I bought extras for a Williams Brass repair, and have some for my own J.  Tires don't shrink enough in width and if they do they risk breaking.  I did not like the fit of the MTH on the Williams Brass which is a carry over to early Weaver.  They used a smaller groove width and weaver doesn't carry them any more since they increased the width for the later Brass.   G

All seems to be working fine EXCEPT the rear tender marker lights, nothing.

The engine (20-3068-1) I picked the sound file from "sez" it has "Operating marker lights" (does that mean front AND rear?), but I haven't seen the LMK icon pop up yet.

I tried to take a voltage reading on the plug coming off the 8-pin connector and read only .93 volts.  I pulled the 8-pin plug but didn't see any bent pins on the board.  I plugged in a single LED I had laying around and got no light with that, but I'm not sure if a single LED would even work since the 2 marker LEDs are wired (in series, right G?).

Here's my query...if the sound file DOES NOT have front or rear marker lights, what should the voltage be on the 8-pin plug?  Should it be 0 volts or is the voltage always there and the program turns the LEDs on/off?

I'll try a Feature Reset first and reload the file 2nd if nobody has a good explanation on how these lights are suppose to work. (actually, I'll do the Feature Reset NOW, while I wait!)