PS2 DASH 8 SPEED WAY OFF

I had to send one of mine back when new because the speed was off. I don't think the problem was as extreme as yours, though. I first noticed it because it was fighting its sisters in a M/U consist. Above about 10 SMPH, I could hear the wheels spinning and squealing. I think MTH replaced the tach reader.

RM

It was working fine, and of course now that I just finished weathering it, it wants to act up. I was hoping it was something simple, like I changed a setting or something in the remote because I hate handling these things after they have been weathered.

Maybe when it was upside down in the cradle it got smoke fluid or oil all over the tach tape. I doubt it, but I can always hope for something simple.

How's  the spacing between the reader and timing tape? should be roughly  the thickness of a dime If in the 1/8" it's too big.

I haven't pulled the shell off yet, I was hoping I wouldn't have to but..... guess I have no choice at this point.

I'm guessing this is probably a tach tape issue.  I had a tach reader issue with a PS2 conversion that exhibited the EXACT same symptoms that you are seeing.  I recall it being a pretty easy fix, but the shell is going to have to come off.   

Good luck;  I'm betting it will be running well soon!

If the tach tape is damage the reader may miss counts and increase volt because it thinks the engine is going too slow.  If the gap is too far the same occurs.  Those are the easy steps.  G

I think I MAY HAVE discovered this problem. As you can see from the photo I weathered these units, and heavily weathered the radiator screens in the back with an airbrush. Well guess what's right below and behind those open screens?????? You got it, the motor with the tach tape and reader. After I pulled the housing (it's removable) I can clearly see there is black paint all over the tach tape, went right through the side screens and covered the tach tape.

Now I have to see if I can clean it without destroying it. Of course I use Floquil and Dull-Cote thinned with laquer thinner.... I hope that tape is pretty tough!

Good Luck!

Now, if it does not clean to bright white, go over the white with liquid paper correction fluid, make it smooth.

The White is just as important as the black in the stripes.

If all else fails, Call MTH, get a new tape. I believe they are stick on.

Remove the old one first, the thickness will affect the diameter & it is critical.

OK 1 tach tape is toast! Paint thinner wasn't strong enough to get the paint off, Acetone took the black stripes right off, but Denatured Alcohol did the trick. 2 got cleaned perfectly, but now I need a new tach tape.

Anyone on here have a tach tape in stock for a PS2 Dash 8?

Here's a 1:1 image of the upgrade kit tape, just print it full size on gummed label paper.

John would you happen to know which one of those is the correct size for a PS2 Dash 8 model?

Measure the diameter.  It should be 27 or 30mm.  G

The most common would be the 30mm, as George says, it could be 27.  Pick the one that matches the diameter.  I believe that MTH did these so they always had the same number of stripes for a given size flywheel, and the speed adjustment for gears is done in the software.

OK before I tear off the old and replace it, I'm gonna try to repair the tach tape. I only messed up about 4 stripes total.

For the white..... liquid white out of some type??

For the black.... ??? sharpie, paint?? what works best

Sharpie.  I tried an ink pen once and it didn't dry well.  I can get one in the mail if you need it.  Just tell me what size.  G

27mm, thanks George. We'll see how the Sharpie goes, as the only 4 stripes that are bad are the black ones. All the white came clean and looks good, just the 4 black stripes need a touch up. If that fails, then I'll retape it.

George:-)

I've used my Sharpie on a number of these, it's always worked just fine.  I use a fine tip one and try to make the sides as smooth as I can.  I have not tried to restore the white, I guess white-out would do the trick.

If you print the label, I use the label setting on my laser printer, makes darker and denser lines.

Well the Sharpie worked like a champ. Speed control is back to normal.

HOWEVER, for just the reason I didn't want to remove the shell, I now have a short or something causing the sound volume to drop in and out. I pulled the shell off and don't see anything obvious, like pinched wires etc. I took the tank off, unplugged the speaker and plugged it back in...same thing.

Sound comes on full volume then drops out to almost silent. While running on the test stand it will pop back on full volume for a second or two and then drop back out...

What to check next????

Now that I think about when I was testing the tach tape repair with the shell off, it was running around the loop at 15smph when it just stopped. Lights and sound just went out completely. The breaker didn't kick on my brick but I powered down and back up, and this is when the sound started dropping down and back up. I quit for the night.

George I sent you an email. 

Replied.  Ok, sounds like an audio amp went bad, but why is the issue now.  Any frayed wire strands on the tach reader?  Since this happened with shell off, probably no pinched wires.

The 12 pin is at the front of the board. Controls lights, couplers and sound.  G

Before you start replacing things, I'd suggest you reseat all the connectors and boards.  Also, I've had a number of RailSounds boards with the socketed PLCC chips develop oxidation on the contacts.  The cure is to reseat the PLCC chips, but you'll need a PLCC extraction tool.  The sound coming and going sounds more like poor connections somewhere.

John, What are you talking about?  This is a PS-2 engine not Railsounds.  You have the wrong engine and you didn't get the e-mail.   G

Wrong thread.   To many windows open!

Ok got it.  I am old school one window at a time. G

Well,  This one was a first, and I finally have seen a corrupted sound file.

When I got the boards all the static measurements were fine.  I figured this might be a simple reset.  Powered up and the relay clicked but no response of any feature and the board was not drawing any power after the initial relay click.

Conventional feature reset did nothing.

So I checked the Power Supply separately and did isolate a faulty component which I repaired.  Back to test the processor and no change.

So I took it to the DCS set up and powered up.  DCS found the engine, but the name displayed was all scrambled.  I tried to start it up and no response, everything dark.

So I did a factory reset and BAM.... sounds came back, but I had the chipmunk babble and a screeching sound.  So I shut it down, found Doug's engine from his picture and reloaded the sound file.

This is a large 1.75M file with 35 memory sectors addressed on the board.  Normally it is 21 for 2Meg boards.

File loaded perfectly and engine came alive.  Checked the serial data file and it was intact.  Shut it all down, and than turned it on and reloaded the engine.  Engine was found and went to address 10, name came up fine and engine functions all worked. 

Did a factory reset and have it ready to ship back.  G

That's great news George. Thank you. I sent you an email as well. 

This is how great this forum is, and the guys who help answer all these questions. Great job guys!!

George, just curious as to what faulty component you found on the power board.

Thank you

Forest

That's exactly right! I was real close to turning this powered unit into a NON powered unit. Sending the entire engine to MTH or a LHS was not an option for me, being out of warranty and all.

U-10.  G