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I have an original TIU, the one with no fuses and no Rev on the label.  I upgraded it to 4.30 and fired it up.  It appears to work at first.  I can add the engine, start it up, honk the horn, etc.  When I start it moving, it freezes at around 2 MPH and that's the last thing it'll do.  Reset it and you're good until you try to move an engine.  I've tried it with multiple engines, and of course they work fine on other TIU's.

 

One other oddity, it appears it doesn't save the configuration.  I go in and set the variable channels to fixed mode, and turn on DCS for all channels, and then cycle power.  The variable channels come back up in variable mode.

 

I reloaded 4.30 again, and again the load claimed success, same problem.

 

Any hints about what's going on?

 

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The first question would be do you know of anyone else having that same problem with that version of the upgrade and/or with it and that REV TIU?

Sometimes those upgrades have bugs.

I stopped upgrading both of my early REV TIUs, a few years ago,  for fear of what you are experiencing.

Despite all that, I bet Barry B can help out best.

That is a strange one, I don't recall anyone posting about it before? I have seen some folks post about still using the old TIU's, who knows how many have tried the 4.3 upgrade though? Some folks seem reluctant to upgrade. Barry, MTH (or a newer TIU) may be your only hope? 

 

Pretty unlikely it would have upgraded without error, but possibly a corrupt file? Maybe re-downloading the 4.3 upgrade?

Hi John • When it comes to electronics, if it works, leave it alone. My local LHS, wants me to bring in my TIU & Hand Held DSC for a up grade to 4.30. It is on my bucket list but everything is working just fine. I run a lot of Proto Sound 3.O

     What do you think I should do, Hold Them at 4.2 or roll up to 4.3

Thanks - Gary

 

Trainroom Gary MTH DCS Version 4.20

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  • Trainroom Gary MTH DCS Version 4.20

Guns,

    I do not know if your original TIU can actually be up graded, with all the different changes, this is definitely one for George or Barry.  Long ago when I mailed my original back, Mike actually replaced it with a newer TIU unit, because from what I understand, something similar was happening to mine, as they tried to repair and upgrade it. 

PCRR/Dave

Dave, as I said above, I have 2 Rev G's that have successfully updated through every version from the earliest V2 to the very latest.  Neither had any problems whatsoever and still don't.  They received the heavier trace repair a few months after I got them.  So ancient TIUs can be upgraded; now whether his particular TIU has a specific problem is another question.  Components do age and alter characteristics from heat.

 

Gary & Alan, I bet you guys don't still run MSDOS or IBMDOS, or even Windows 3.0.  Why not?  They did the job.  That's the same reason for upgrading.  To maybe get some new feature or eliminate some buglet.   oor maybe just because its there.

Last edited by RJR

John,

 

Your TIU is most likely broken.

 

I've found that when Rev. G's go, they can go in strange ways. For example, I have a Rev. G that has had 2 bad channels (weak to nonexistent signal strength) for several years. Otherwise, it was fine. Yesterday, it learned a new trick. Now, it also cannot be found by the Loader Program when doing a sound file transfer.

 

It's probably time to retire the Rev. G...

 

Like I said, 

I think Barry is probably on target here, it sure seems broken.  FWIW, I have upgraded a number of old Rev. G units with no problems to 4.30, we still use one at our club.  To answer the other question I tried several remotes, and the remote that is with the unit works perfectly with my Rev. L TIU.

 

I also notice this when I look under the covers, doesn't inspire confidence.

 

 

TIU Board Damage

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  • TIU Board Damage

John,

Have you tried banging it hard against the floor (I hear that's good for today's modern electronics)!.

I remember when I was a kid: When watching TV, if it got fuzzy, my dad would bang on the side of the old vacuum tube TV and that would fix it

(back when we had 3 channels and you actually got up to change channels: and 'after' hours, you thought it was cool to look at the test pattern)!

sam

 

ps: you know you're old when you start reminiscing about past events!

Last edited by samparfitt

Just one question though for real, did the TIU work at all before you tried upgrading it in any software version

Maybe where the traces are burnt has caused a resistance drop that's causing incorrect voltages drops, i would try scrapping the burnt areas clean and try one last ditch effort again and see if it will work then!

Just for the heck of it try!

your friend always Alan

Originally Posted by repair technician:

Just one question though for real, did the TIU work at all before you tried upgrading it in any software version

I honestly can't say.  I got it with the instructions to upgrade it to 4.30.  The upgrade went smooth, and when I connected it to the test track, it started up the locomotive and honked the horn, so I made the silly assumption it was working.  Since the track that it was sitting on was just two pieces of Fastrack on my bench, I didn't actually try the motion commands, but I've never heard of this failure where everything but actual motion makes it through the TIU.  I simply had no reason to suspect all was not well.

 

I think there'll be a different procedure from now on...

 

YO guys,

This was my TIU.

I've been using it for many moons. 

I decided to try running my TMCC through the TIU and the TIU stopped working after that.  I have one of the MTH cables to connect the two units together.

When power was applied to the TIU, the red LED would blink 16 times.

When using the remote, it said 'engine not on track'.

It's been a few weeks so I don't remember if it also said 'TIU not found'.

.

.

.

I looked up my notes and it said: 'TIU 1 not found'

sam

Last edited by samparfitt

When power was applied to the TIU, the red LED would blink 16 times.

When using the remote, it said 'engine not on track'.

It's been a few weeks so I don't remember if it also said 'TIU not found'.

sam

 

Is this the same TIU gunrunner  is working with ?   Did a software reload eliminate the 16 blinks?  (not that it matters now)

Yes the software did eliminate the blinks.

 

Also, I forgot, a month ago, I 'fixed' the TIU.

See below for the thread info:

 

Diode replacement:
(I don't claim to be an electronics wiz)
Diagnostics:
1. VAR 1 input was throwing the circuit breaker (CB) on my 180 watt Lionel 'brick'(power supply).
2. insured the input power supply was in phase with other power supplies.
3. removed output wire on VAR 1 and still threw the CB.
4. Tried another input power supply to VAR 1 and still threw the CB.
5. Called MTH tech and he said it was probably the surge suppressor.
The surge suppressor is a diode (part #BB-0000033 at $3.60 each: got two since cheap and min order of 10 bucks).
The VAR 1 diode is the far corner one by the VAR 1 output plugs (each output has a diode).
Replacement:
1. removed the 6 screws on the bottom to release the top of the case (insure power is off).
2. Removed the suspect diode and put my volt meter on R and checked the suspect diode and the needle pegged to the right whereas the new diode stayed to the left.
3. Bent the new diode wires to align with the holes and cut off the excess wire.
4. Used some fine needle nose pliers to hold one wire (and also act as a heat sink) and soldered one side (did the same to the other side).
5. Tested and all is 'good in the world' again.

Note: I put the diode in with the marking on one end of the diode facing left (same as the other good diodes).
Interesting: diodes only allow 'juice' to flow one way but the new diode would not allow voltage (tested via the volt meter on R) to flow either way! The damaged one pegged the needle to the right in both directions.

 

========

Here's the complete thread that I started:

 

https://ogrforum.com/t...01#40849086879667801

 

 

This is the one I have, however I didn't get the word that it was confused before the upgrade.  I could find it and upgrade it fine, and it actually now starts up the locomotive, just gets lost when it tries to do any motion command.  The fact that it loses the configuration on a reset is troubling, and probably a killer all by itself.

 

There was a discussion about the multiple blinks before here, and I believe Barry said that sometimes the software upgrade would reset them.  I can't find the thread now, so I'm not sure exactly was said.  FWIW, after the upgrade, it blinks once on power-up, and of course the remotes can find the TIU no sweat.  However, as soon as I try to do a motion command to a locomotive, the TIU locks up and then no remote can find it.

Sam, the "diode" you replaced is a TVS protection device, basically a couple of Zener diodes back-to-back.  Until you reach the breakdown voltage, they are an open circuit, when you reach the breakdown voltage, they clamp the spike to the rating of the TVS.  A good one should read an open circuit in both directions, and a shorted one is... well a shorted one!

 

I'll be sending this one back, I don't see anything else I can do to revive it.  I suspect a microprocessor failure do the the problem it has remembering it's configuration.

 

Alan,

you probably have the wrong TIU number , it needs to be TIU 1, you can reset the tiu threw the remote and then try it, it should blink 1 time!ok

You cannot correct a TIU that blinks more than 5 times or less than once any way except, possibly, through a software reload, since it can't be accessed via the remote.

 

This and a whole lot more is all in MTH’s “The DCS O Gauge Companion 2nd Edition", available for purchase as an eBook or a printed book at MTH's web store!

Last edited by Barry Broskowitz
Originally Posted by Barry Broskowitz:

John,

sometimes the software upgrade would reset them.

Your recollection is correct.

Thanks, I was pretty sure that was stated, and it appears it actually did the job this time.  Too bad that wasn't the only issue.

 

 

 
Originally Posted by samparfitt:

I think we've beat this dead horse to death!

Time for me to get a new TIU or complete set.

sam

Sam, the remote is fine, other than some of the buttons need a strong push.   It's upgraded to 4.30, so it'll work when you have a TIU that isn't toasted.   It's always handy to have an extra remote anyway.

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