PS2 on conventional DC

In conventional mode, you'll have continuous horn or bell, depending on which way you're running.  The motors are typically 12V, so you could run them on variable DC with polarity reversal for direction control.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

In conventional mode, you'll have continuous horn or bell, depending on which way you're running.  The motors are typically 12V, so you could run them on variable DC with polarity reversal for direction control.

What?

When I test a board on the bench with DC, the bell or horn doesn't play continuously that I remember. 

I also run DC outside in command. I'll have to go try it without the TIU.

Hi,

Before I switched over to DCC I ran MTH PS2 engines on the layout in conventional mode. You need to make sure the switch on the tender is in the correct position. I used MRC power packs straight out of the box and the engines were straight out of the box. There were no problems or continuous bell or anything in this setup. Polarity switching through reverse loops on the layout worked the same as any other engine. I think the sound chuffs played regularly, but you might need a button box to make the bells and whistles play.

One thing I did find strange is in order to get the engine to start I had to pull the lever on the power pack up to high voltage very quickly, then ease the voltage down quickly again and then the engine would start up slowly and then act like a normal DC engine. You would think that if you jacked the voltage up high that the engine would take off immediately, but this is not the case. It starts out slowly. Not too big of a deal once I realized it. 

Yes, if you gut the engines you can wire them to work on straight DC.

I still have the power packs hooked to the layout on a toggle and can still run those PS2 engines or any straight DC engine on the layout but I typically run DCC now.

Engineer-Joe posted:

gunrunnerjohn posted:

In conventional mode, you'll have continuous horn or bell, depending on which way you're running.  The motors are typically 12V, so you could run them on variable DC with polarity reversal for direction control.

What?

When I test a board on the bench with DC, the bell or horn doesn't play continuously that I remember. 

I also run DC outside in command. I'll have to go try it without the TIU.

Well, you're right!  In conventional the PS/2 actually runs polarity sensitive for direction.  You don't have any control of horn or bell obviously, but at least they're not going off.  I don't think I ever tried DC in conventional mode, I just assumed it wouldn't work

Score one for Joe!

DC in command mode works fine, though for PS/2 you have to be aware of polarity on the rails.  PS/3 has automatic sensing for DC and doesn't have a problem with the polarity.

Hmm... I seem to remember when the DCS commander came out, that it was intended to be used with a DC supply voltage (indended audience was supposedly HO scale DCS users.)  And I was warned by someone (can't remember who) that it shouldn't be used to control any early PS2 locos.  In other words, the 3V PS2 was fine, but not the earliest 5V ones.

I'm not sure if this is true, and I may not be remembering correctly.  But if so, you're best off sticking to LATE PS2 / PS3 locos.

I have run 5V DCS on DC, but as I stated, I never thought to test in conventional mode.

I never used DCS commander since I wasn't worried about the bells and whistles. If he's using a straight DC power pack, he can at least run the engine with the basic chuff and smoke without the DCS commander.

I assumed that if the original poster was willing to gut the engine to get it to run on DC then he's not as concerned about the sound since that all goes away if it is gutted.

If considering the DCS commander to control the whistle and bells then it might be worth giving MTH a call on that one.

The DCS Remote Commander works with any PS/2 or PS/3 locomotive.  The one thing necessary is the locomotive has to be reset to Factory Defaults.  You can do that with the DSC-RC for recent PS/3 locomotives, but anything over several years old requires the full DCS system to reset them for operation with the DCS-RC.

NHVRYGray posted:

Looked at previous discussion and never did find an exact answer. 

Will MTH PS2 work, run variable speed with variable voltage and direction with polarity (1) and sound (2) on conventional operated DC. 

If not, suggestions as to how to accomplish this.  I assume the motors  are 18VDC and if need be a rewire, removing all the electronic guts would work?

Thanks

 

I've run Proto-2 (3-volt) and Proto-3 engines on DC. You get engine sounds/chuff, but none of the other sound features. The engine direction is controlled by track polarity like conventional 2-rail locomotives.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

The DCS Remote Commander works with any PS/2 or PS/3 locomotive.  The one thing necessary is the locomotive has to be reset to Factory Defaults.  You can do that with the DSC-RC for recent PS/3 locomotives, but anything over several years old requires the full DCS system to reset them for operation with the DCS-RC.

That's good news. I guess if you knew the engine was unused you could assume it is at factory default, but those PS2 engines are getting older which makes that less likely, and requires one to take it to a dealer or friend with DCS.

Were there battery issues with PS2? I'm guessing I should be careful with putting the PS2 engines back on the tracks so I don't scramble something? I wonder if that applies to conventional. I'll probably gut them someday anyway and replace the electronics with DCC, but I want to make that decision on my own terms, not based on a failure.

My intention is to run with older non command DC locos, as in the way it used to be before command systems.  Sounds like things will be fine.

Thanks

christopher N&W posted:

gunrunnerjohn posted:

The DCS Remote Commander works with any PS/2 or PS/3 locomotive.  The one thing necessary is the locomotive has to be reset to Factory Defaults.  You can do that with the DSC-RC for recent PS/3 locomotives, but anything over several years old requires the full DCS system to reset them for operation with the DCS-RC.

That's good news. I guess if you knew the engine was unused you could assume it is at factory default, but those PS2 engines are getting older which makes that less likely, and requires one to take it to a dealer or friend with DCS.

Were there battery issues with PS2? I'm guessing I should be careful with putting the PS2 engines back on the tracks so I don't scramble something? I wonder if that applies to conventional. I'll probably gut them someday anyway and replace the electronics with DCC, but I want to make that decision on my own terms, not based on a failure.

Batteries don't scramble PS/2, but a shorted batter can cause charging circuit issues.  Early PS/1 had the issues with the bad battery causing issues.

Thanks, John.