PS2 DIESEL STOPPED & NOW HAS A DIRECT SHORT

Does it smell burnt? were you running the smoke unit? I had a PS2 loco come in for repair that some how every light bulb in the engine and bot couplers were just fried when i went to take the boards out they were melted together and half of the plugs were fused to the board. I have no idea how he managed to melt the PS2 boards but that loco was destroyed. I would bet the direct short is not the boards but some other issue like a pinched wire or something. You'll have to crack her open

Check the feeds from the pickup rollers. There's a sleeve that runs up through the frame for the wires, but sometimes the frame cuts the insulation on the wire and it shorts on the frame. Had to modify an engine's hot feeds because of that -- also a six-axle diesel with multiple pickup rollers. Other possibility is a shifted roller hitting the truck block.

I had a PS-2 diesel just stop dead in it's tracks similar to what yours did.  When I got that sickening burning plastic smell I knew it wasn't good. I never really found the cause of it but the boards were fried!  Hope this is not the case in your engine but of all the PS-2 engines I have that is the only one that gave me a problem like that.  Good luck with it.  

That's a 3V PS/2 board set, so it's at least possible to repair them if they have died.  I agree with Matt's comment, I'd first look at the wiring to see if something just shorted the track feeds.

 

For the board to kick out the transformer breaker, it has to be either AC input short or the PV short.  Your model is scale so maybe something to do with the 2R 3R wiring or switch.

 

PV is feed to motor, heater, and all lights.  So a short on the purple wire feeding those, or the Motor leads could be the cause.

 

Last is a direct short that hit the board.  I have only seen that on 5V boards, never 3V boards.  But 3V boards do get damaged enough from some of those shorts that they don't work.

 

First step is to open and inspect, than remove the 7 pin connector from the board.  Put the engine on the track and power up.  If the short remains it is the engine AC wiring.  If goes away, you can put 7 pin back in and remove all the other plugs and power up.  If short remains the board is bad, or the 7 pin wiring.   G  

Thanks for all the advice guys. I'll crack her open and see what I can find. I don't have a sense of smell so obviously I couldn't smell anything, but it wasnt hot when I picked it up.

Go with the advice of GGG.  I have had 3 Diesels, PS2, do the same thing.  The problem was a power short on the top side of both trucks where the common and hot leads are.  There is very little room for separation, and for some reason the short was there.  One solution, the one I used, is to disconnect the common lead and reconnect it to the truck side frame using the screw that connects the side frame to the cross support.  Try it.

Glad to hear you found the problem. For future reference, another place to look for a short is the power wire to the motor where it lays against the motor housing. As the truck turns over time, it can rub the insulation off the wire. It only has to be a little speck, but it's enough to cause a short. I found this out down at MTH when I was trying to locate the source by checking all the OTHER more common causes.

Don