All great info guys. PS1 engines were great when they were new and they still are. Bob is very correct in what he stated about the battery. Chris is correct regarding the green battery. A good point is just throw any white battery out. PS1 or PS2, if it has a white battery, throw it out.
Yesterday I had a local guy who is involved with a module club bring me a PS1 SD-60 that was in a very bad way. He stated he went to start it up after sitting for a long time and everything went very bad on an attempt to power up. He called me on the phone three days ago and asked me what to do before he started up the locomotive that had been sitting. I told him put in a new battery and do the feature 18 reset. When he brought the locomotive to me I asked him if he did what I outlined and he stated the battery looked good and he continued to power up. I took his battery that he stated LOOKED GOOD and put the meter on it. It had .5 volts. Not 5 volts but .5. I informed him he was on his own.
People, my point is PS1 is great but do things right. I am not as smart as the man I mentioned because I can not look at a battery and possess the ability to state the battery is good because it looked good. I need a meter.
Dotty could not believe he did this as she was with me when I told him what to do before powering the locomotive. People, many PS1 boards exist for repairs but I consider it pure stupidity to ruin any electronics out of being cheap. Guys, the cost of a battery is not going to put anyone in the poor house.
One more thing for operators of PS1 equipment. Be advised these boards are still available from MTH. From time to time someone will post that these boards are out of stock and that is not true. The chips are also available.
Bob Taylor, repair people love guys like yourself who know what to do. Enjoy your engines and have fun.