PS2 Board Swap Question

Yep, should be a plug-n-play.

One caution.  Make SURE there isn't a flaw like a pinched wire, loose wire, etc. that has actually caused the board failure before putting a new board set in.

good luck and should not be any problem, done it many times, then you just go on the  MTH web sight and look by item number for your sound file of your engine and download thru your tiu and computer serial port now using version 5 you can download off of the mth web sight, mthtrains.com

http://mthtrains.com/

Alan

Good luck

I'd be leery of popping in another board.  Assuming they are 3-volt boards, they should not be failing.  Possible, but improbable, indicating that GRJ's point is well-taken.  Nicks in wire insulation are sometimes very hard to find, and not visible unless you turn a wire over.  Intermittent failures of some board-driven components are also hard to find. 

If they're 5-volt boards, which are similar to 3-volt boards, it could be recurring natural death.

Thanks for all of the replies.

Pretty sure it is a 5 volt and wondering if there is an alternative to replacing it with another 5 volt board set and having that die as well.

Scott, What was the model number?  You do need to be careful occasionally with certain models because it could be a flash board.  For example small smoke with single element use a flash board that alters power to the single element smoke unit.

Otherwise in general terms a board swap is not an issue.  Just load the sound file.

For a 3V to replace 5V just swap the 5V connectors onto the 3V board so the harness connectors fit.  Change speaker to 4 ohm and change battery harness and battery to the 2.4V version vice 8.4V.

Could send me the boards, could be an audio amp failure, or something repairable.  G

George, do all the locomotives with the small smoke unit use the FLASH board?  What about PS/3, is there also a different board for those?  This is the first time I've heard about this, so I'm naturally curious.

Actually G, you repaired this very same engine for me and it worked like a dream for a while. It's an NW-2 model 30-20097-1. I can't remember clearly but believe the failure mode this time was the same as last time. No smoke unit on this engine.

That's a PS/3 engine according to MTH.

SW-1 Switcher Diesel Engine w/Proto-Sound 3.0

Woops, you're right GR the correct number is 30-2296-1.

That one is indeed a 5V system.

John,  Yes.  There is a flash code list MTH has, but small smoke is one of them.  So camelback, some switchers.

Not applicable for PS-3 since you can load the flash code and the sound file.  You use the appropriate flash code for the PS-3 engine and that code is present.  G

Scott, I found it in my records.  We replace with a used PS-2 5V board as yours was dead.

So back to you original question, yes any PS-2 3V will work, just swap connectors so your harness plug in.  You will need to change the speaker to 4 ohm or you will have reduced volume.  What speaker size is in the engine?  Switchers tend to have smaller sized speakers, or flat ones, which tend to be harder to come by in 4 ohms.  Change battery to 2.4V.  AAA may fit better than AA, or go with BCR.   G

Thanks, didn't realize the small smoke unit had to be FLASH.

Matter of maybe too much power to the element.  Probably not as critical as other operating features.  G

You can change the engine ID and it'll stick until you do a factory reset.  If you want it to stick through a factory reset, you need to have a tech set it with the dealer loader.

Scott the board you put in now is a ps2 3 volt board not a ps 2 5 volt board as you stated, and no need to worry the ps2 3 volt boards were much better then the ps 2 5 volt boards.ps 2 3 volt boards hardly ever have a failure, you only need to make sure your battery is charged before using unless you installed a BCR 2.4 volt super capacitor!

Good luck and enjoy your train now.

Alan

P.S. if you installed a BCR only has to charge for 45 seconds to a minute then run as usual