Problem w/ Volume Level - New MTH Climax w/ PS2

You need to provide the MTH product number. If this is a PS2 model it isn't new. The last time the Climax was made in PS2 was more than 10 years ago. That model had a 3 volt PS2 board.

If the engine was the previous model PS2, with a 5 volt board, it's more than 16 years old.

Many MTH 5 volt models were prone to speaker failure which resulted in a lower volume and some static when playing back cab chatter voices. If this is your problem, then a speaker replacement is required to correct it. Be aware that the speaker is smaller than the "standard" MTH speaker and that working inside the tender of the Climax is rather cramped.

Barry, "rather cramped" is an understatement!

vthokies2007-2011 posted:

I received a brand new Climax with PS 2.0, and as I started it up with DCS the volume was very low. I went to turn it up and it would not go any higher. I then did a feature reset on the whole engine. I started the engine up again and then went to increase the volume and no change. I ran the engine in conventional mode and went to turn on the engine and the sound started at a higher volume, but then a split-second later it went down to the lower volume level. I went to adjust the volume via the manual adjustment knob and it would not change levels at all, nor would it even turn the sound off. Any help or direction would be greatly appreciated! 

Have a PS-2 engine and Saturday it started loud and after a few seconds volume dropped. Left it to charge for 3 hours and the volume was up for a bit then dropped. (It is a 3V? Has 2 shrink wrapped batteries) Pulled out a new BCR and installed it, sounds back to normal. Guessing in Proto 2 the battery charge level has something to do with volume?

The charging circuit can load down the voltage and drop the volume.  You'll notice with a BCR (supercap) when you first power on, the volume is low.  Same with PS/3 that has the supercap.  If the battery was defective, it could be loading the charging circuit and causing the same effect.

It is Item Number 20-3220-1. New as in it does not even have 3 scale miles on it. I wanted to post here before I even opened the tender up, as it is a very small and delicate engine. 

It's not of new manufacture, it was released in 2006.  Those old batteries are likely to be past their useful life, I recommend replacement.

Very weak or dead batteries in PS-2 3V will do that. The processor is lowering volume because of insufficient voltage being sensed as the battery is killing the 5V power supply.  Charge the battery independently, or replace it.  G

Being an 11 year old locomotive, I'd replace the battery, it's past it's prime.

Thank you all for your help. I am going to charge the battery out of the engine and try it. In the meantime, I am going to order a BCR, which I feel is the better way to go in the long run. 

Would this issue with the battery cause a smoke unit issue? I hade a PS2 N&W J and N&W A both have the smoke unit go non responsive and the volume on both is low and won’t respond to commands to raise or lower volume from DCS remote or Wi-Fi app. Thanks in advance

Ethurl1 posted:

Would this issue with the battery cause a smoke unit issue? I hade a PS2 N&W J and N&W A both have the smoke unit go non responsive and the volume on both is low and won’t respond to commands to raise or lower volume from DCS remote or Wi-Fi app. Thanks in advance

Start a new topic ERIC, if no one has a good answer in a day or so. This is definitely something that gets discussed. 

Not the battery, at least that's way down the list.  I'd be looking at the smoke fan motor, if it draws too much current, it obviously disables the smoke and will load down the 5V supply.