Proto 3 lost its sounds

Did you do the obvious?  On the DCS remote, MENU, SOUNDS, and turn up each of the sound categories?

you might get lucky and try a new 4 ohm speaker maybe that's all that is wrong with it !

you can also send it to a service tech, they can test the engine and boards!

Alan 

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Did you do the obvious?  On the DCS remote, MENU, SOUNDS, and turn up each of the sound categories?

Thanks John. I don't have DCS, but I do have a Z 4000 transformer, and use it to turn up the sounds, and go back to the factory defaults. Arnold

@Alan Mancus posted:

you might get lucky and try a new 4 ohm speaker maybe that's all that is wrong with it !

you can also send it to a service tech, they can test the engine and boards!

Alan 

 

Thanks Alan.

Arnold 

Update: still no sounds after pressing whistle and bell button on Z-4000 requisite number of times to return to factory defaults. Arnold

I suspect a visit to a tech is in order unless you feel comfortable taking it apart and doing some testing.

So it still operates normally, (forward, reverse, lights work, couplers open on command,) just no sounds, correct?

btw, whats the model number?

@Penn-Pacific posted:

So it still operates normally, (forward, reverse, lights work, couplers open on command,) just no sounds, correct?

btw, whats the model number?

Thanks, Penn-Pacific. Yes, it goes forward, neutral, reverse and electrocouplers both work fine.

Owners manual says it's a Premier VO-1000 Diesel Engine, and the engine itself says it's a Great Northern 140. Here's a photo of it:

A beautiful MTH proto 3 locomotive.

I will hunt for the box to see if there is another ID number for it.

Greatly appreciate any and all help. Arnold

Found the box. It's  Item No. 20-20172-1. Here's a picture of the box:

Arnold

Lost sounds on PS3, impossible, can’t happen. You accidently pressed the ENG SND key on the remote.

@SIRT posted:

Lost sounds on PS3, impossible, can’t happen. You accidently pressed the ENG SND key on the remote.

 

I have no remote. Thanks for suggesting that. 

Arnold did you try to adjust the small blue volume control up and down on the underside of the loco with any results?  Hopefully it's an easy no or low cost fix (volume control wipe or loose wire).  Good luck.

FWIW, I have a PS2 Railking Imperial K4 that every now and then and without making adjustments will zero out its volume in some or all of it's respective sound catagories (bell, horn, engine and accent sounds).  Only fix I found was to use the DCS remote and enter the loco's menu sound settings and raise the respective muted volumes above zero.  At first I thought the clickety-clack sound feature caused the problem but not always and some muting occurs randomly.  Since I can't find a true cause eventually I might consider reloading the soundfile, but the as needed DCS remote menu sound adjustments isn't too inconvenient a process.

@Keystone posted:

Arnold did you try to adjust the small blue volume control up and down on the underside of the loco with any results?  Hopefully it's an easy no or low cost fix (volume control wipe or loose wire).  Good luck.

FWIW, I have a PS2 Railking Imperial K4 that every now and then and without making adjustments will zero out its volume in some or all of it's respective sound catagories (bell, horn, engine and accent sounds).  

Yes, I have a PS2 loco that has done as you described a couple times, just an electronic glitch that can happen once in a while.

But yes, I always try the cheapest fix first before sending it to a repair person. It could just be a loose connection to the speaker, (hopefully) 

@Keystone posted:

Arnold did you try to adjust the small blue volume control up and down on the underside of the loco with any results?  Hopefully it's an easy no or low cost fix (volume control wipe or loose wire).  Good luck.

FWIW, I have a PS2 Railking Imperial K4 that every now and then and without making adjustments will zero out its volume in some or all of it's respective sound catagories (bell, horn, engine and accent sounds).  Only fix I found was to use the DCS remote and enter the loco's menu sound settings and raise the respective muted volumes above zero.  At first I thought the clickety-clack sound feature caused the problem but not always and some muting occurs randomly.  Since I can't find a true cause eventually I might consider reloading the soundfile, but the as needed DCS remote menu sound adjustments isn't too inconvenient a process.

Thanks Keystone. Adjusting the little blue volume control underneath the loco did not solve the oroblem.

I guess it could be a loose wire or problem with the speaker. I'm reluctant to try to make this repair because when I took the shell off 2 or 3 years ago, it was a tight fit, there is a lot crammed into a small space, and my concern is I might end up making things worse.

Incidentally, it does make a low volume humming sound. I wonder if that humming could be related to the smoke unit. This engine only made a little smoke when running normally. The smoke appears not to be working now.

So, in summary, it runs fine, electrocouplers work fine, horn and bell do not work, and the sounds do not work except for a low volume hum, and the smoke seems not to work.

Arnold

At the risk of beating a dead horse, I ran it this morning and the smoke unit works (it's always been a light smoker), it runs fine and both electrocouplers work. Just no horn, bell or chuffing sounds. It only makes a low hum, which I think is the smoke unit.

I would love to take it to a layout with DCS and someone who knows how to use the features of DCS, to see if there is some way to activate the sounds. Arnold

Speaker can go bad, you can have a broken speaker wire, or the audio amp had a spike and failed.  That is not a simple repair, and even MTH does not do it.  So if the board failed you are looking at having it replaced.  If under warranty send it back to MTH.  G

Arnold,

It'll get figured out, I'm sure.

At least it's not Proto 1. To reset you would have had to power it up slowly or you would scramble the board.  You'd then have to move transformer handles over and over again while counting something like 20 Clanks and 18 Clinks. If you miscounted you'd get a Clunk and then start to pray that you did not destroy the programing completely. If you didn't, you would then start all over again.

I miss those good old days LOL

Final diagnosis: it turned out to be a bad speaker.