Protosound 2 upgrade

1. If your unit doesn't have a CV board, you use the kit provided light bulb as your headlight.

2. No you can just tie the wires together as mentioned in the instructions

3.  No you don't have to add them, but if you want to drill you tender shell, you could.  You should try to get a lens for the reverse light if you go this route.

4.  Doesn't your motor look like the Mabuchi?  You use the cylindrical one in the kit.

 

G

My 2-8-8-2 Protosound 2 loco just went up in smoke.  At first I thought is was the smoke unit.  A corner on the CV melted.  It is in the center of the loco and not the tender.  The engine runs but no headlight or smoke.  I still have sound from the tender.  A red and black wires from the pickup.  Is this what you are discussing.  I need the Part # and a price. MTH parts line, keeps asking for a part number and parts list does not list a CV board.

I love lights, so I pick a sound file that supports the markers and backup light in the tender and install them.

 

What I do for the backup light is replace the bulb with a current limiting resistor and a flat-faced 3mm LED drilled into the marker light depression.  It doesn't need a lens and looks great.  If the spot is larger, I use a 5mm flat-faced LED.  I usually light the cab as well.  Some of the RK locomotives have class lights built into the casting.  If I have those, I normally light them up.  If there is no place for the class lights on the front, I usually leave them out.

 

Not related.  Need engine number and a picture would help.  This could be a MUX board not CV board.  For PS 2 normally no CV board, they were used in the Premier PS-1 engines.  Also smoke is powered from the PS-2 board, not a CV board.  But a MUX board would also control the smoke because the fan power is via the MUX board.

I would turn smoke off if you run it as the heating elements can be on but the fan isn't running and this can burn up the wick and heating elements.  G

For what it may be worth, this is just a general comment for anyone considering doing an upgrade. Cleartracks 1109 may be an engine he loves and upgrading engines you love is OK. But consider this, engine in its current state is worth maybe $100. I say maybe because those early conventional MTH engines are just not in demand. The kit costs $150-180. Doing the work yourself you now have $280 into an engine that you probably could not sell for the price of the kit alone. Pay someone another $100 and now it is way overboard.

When making decisions on doing an upgrade and assuming it is not the engine you are in love with, sell it and either buy a factory PS2 engine used for $200-$250 or take a PS1 premier and invest the kit price in it.

There is a glut of engines on the market. Every decision is not a financial one but upgrading from those early MTH engines by trading up is not hard to do.

Hugh,

I do appreciate your insight into my pocket book, but this is an engine I simply would not sell. I enjoy it a lot and putting Proto 2 in it is simply icing on the cake. In my opinion, the entertainment I've gotten from the engine has offset the costs of the engine some years ago and the kit.

   I have also considered trading up to a more recent model, but I simply do not see railking berks that often with Proto 2 in them. Why not keep this engine I've had for the better part of 12 years, and just have some fun with it and make it command control as well? That to me makes it worth the cost, since it is an engine I would never sell. There isn't much cash value, but there is a lot of value to me, simply because I've had it for so long and It runs just as well as any of my engines.

  This also gives me an opportunity to get rid of MTH's wailing duck whistle from those early models. 

I've looked over everything multiple times and I feel really comfortable with it. It all feels very familiar to what I do every day, I've just never really done it underneath a die cast boiler and tender, if you know what I mean.

Like I said, if it's not an MTH locomotive, or sometimes even if it is, you may have to do surgery to get the tether to fit.  I had to hog out a lot of metal and modify the connector PCB to fit the upgrade kit into the MTH General.  I also had to discard the standard tach mount and roll my own for the tach sensor.

G

 

G

The engine is a RailKing USRASteam Engine 2-8-8-2,(30-1453-1)no parts list.  I use (30-1156-1 for parts .

I attached pictures of the Board in the previous post.  I don't know if it worked.  I can't open the attachment.  3 hrs trying,  If no one can open attachment.  Someone, please let me know.

That board is TOAST!  Forget about fixing that one!

 

I cleaned up the photos and posted them directly.

 

 

That doesn't look like a PS/2 board of any type.That appears to be some sort of I/O board.

 

This is a 3V PS/2 board set.

 

That is the MUX receiver board in the engine.  There is a similar transmit one in the tender.  It allows 2 light to be controlled via one signal.  Also generates some of the power needed in the engine for the smoke unit an lights.

 

I would make sure the smoke unit is fine and no crushed or damaged wires in the engine. Especially for lights.  The mux boards don't normally go.  The part number is AG-0000059.  G

It looks like it received a major overload!

 

I've never tried to microwave an engine before but, I now know what that board would look like.

Well done?

Cleartracks01, how'd the install go...any issues?