PS-1 Horn Blows - Problem SOLVED!!!

Clean the pick up rollers and wheels really well.  G

The horn is blowing most likely because it is receving a DC signal from somewhere.

 I would check the motor leads at the motor terminal to be sure one of the wires is not touching the motor casing.

Larry,

What transformer are you using?

Barry,  Postwar ZW and MTH Z-4000.  It happens with both transformers.

Thanks Chuck....I will do this now and at the same time clean the wheels and pick-ups that "G" suggested.

I do not have a manual handy, but seem to recall that a constant horn is a low battery warning. I sometimes get it when turning off the power without stopping the engine, but never when just running the engine.

Place  a lighted car on the same track next to the engine.... If the horn stops the engine needs a little bit of a load on the track or installed  in the engine. perhaps a 333 ohm resistor between the center rail pick up and  chassis ground

I would check the motor leads at the motor terminal to be sure one of the wires is not touching the motor casing.

Larry,

Also take the rubber bands off the motor and make sure the wire isn't bare against the motor itself. Had this happen on one PS1 engine and the horn blew just as yours until I found the problem.

G:

Did that and it still blows like ****!!!!  Also checked wires to see if anything was touching the motor....ok there!  Am posting a pic of internal parts....do you see anything I may have missed?  Also...two wires with things that look like they belong somewhere....noted in pic.  Do you know what they are for???

Thanks again,

Larry

Checked and found NO wire against the motor!  Please look at pic posted below.  Do you see anything else I may have missed???

Thanks in advance Joe..

Larry

Maybe this prior post about the same problem will give you some more ideas.

https://ogrforum.com/d...ent/2415514336765651

Mort

Where's the pic and guessing you tried the lighted car.This was know problem with proto-1 when we first started running  with power mastesr & TPCs long before  command control but the engine should run fine  with a PW ZW. Did you try a new battery? any 9 volt alakalinew will work for testing. Don't leave it in the engine.

I believe I "solved" the puzzle??????????????  Just below the smoke unit is the speaker with two wires sodered in place.  While checking for shorts I never thought of 

the speaker but since the soder joint looked too close to the frame...I took a small screw driver (flat head) and pried the soder joint up a tad!  I had the battery on the charger all the time I was fiddling with this engine so I inserted the battery and put the shell back in place.  She ran,  yes she ran and NO HORN......Eureka!!!  Now I don't know if it was the soder joint I moved OR the possibility of a recargeable battery NOT HOLDING its charge.  I will try again tomorrow to see if she still runs without incident. If it works tomorrow...the culprit was the short created by the soder joint.

Thanks to ALL who contributed to assisting me.  What I know about MTH you could put on the head of a pin!  It really comes down to basics as you all noted.  GGG saved me and my customer alot of money by pointing out that I didn't have "fried" boards back a few weeks ago.  Reading instructions on-line told me about resetting the ID when the battery goes bad (which originally occurred) and all your good advice is going to make one NEW train operator very happy.  

FINALLY.....can anyone identify the two wires that I have under the purple slips?

Do they go to anything?  I can't find a place where they belong to be plugged in?  Any help would be further appreciated.

Thanks again to all!!

Larry Williams

75-8293

Way to Go Lar1944. hope it's fixed for good. I'm curious whether this engine has 2 or 3 boards stacked on top of each other? If there are 3 boards this engine may have a number of extra features that most proto-1 don't have. It definity has the eary QSI wiring colors (orange hot)Yep MTH used the same colors in their early engines.

As for the pin connectors..I believe this engine's DCRU will allow the engine to run without the top boards(no sound or couplers) providing the tiny pin jumper are in place on the bottom board.

Nice Job Larry.  This is not a MTH Protosound set up.  This is the QSI set up.  MTH did sell them as upgrades early on.  The 2 pin is for the reverse unit lock out.  Not needed when the QSI Proto Sound is added, since the Proto Sound processor controls the DCRU as Gregg pointed out.  If you ever wanted to remove the top 2 boards the 2 pin goes into the DCRU at L1 and L2.  Then you need to add 2 jumpers on the otherside at R1 to B1 and R to B2.  Letter are along the jumper connector that the top board pins plug into.  Then you have a conventional reverse unit.

This is also a newer DCRU with the 5 or 6 Amp Diodes.  Pictures make all the difference.  G

Your engine has been upgraded at one point to a aftermarket QS-2+ system. The wires on the plug I'm guessing are at one end a on/off switch on the frame. This turned on and off the electronic reverse unit on the original board. The other end with the plug was pluged into 2 of the sockets on the top board. It is not needed now as with the QS2+ system you can lock the reversing function with the horn button.

Chuck, The 2 pins are not connected to the top board but on the bottom DCRU (when no top board is in place).  The Top board is the processor and should not have any jumpers in it other than a coupler board if added.  G