PS3 - NS Southern Heritage Issues

Mike,

All I know is you are not alone!

1. If I ramp up the voltage on my Z4000 to rapidly, some of my engines will turn on instead of just giving that relay click sound.

2. I don't run smoke in the house.  I don't have your problem, but on some lashups, the smoke will come on on one engine only even if supposedly shut off.

3.  Chuck Fester told me he has that very problem with only one certain lashup he tried.  If he switches the engines they push against each other.  He put the problem on the back burner to investigate later.

Which locomotives are involved?

Southern was known for having diesels run long-hood forward as a safety measure, and some of that has carried forth into the NS era. I have a NS SD50 that is configured to run long-hood forward even though it has a conventional low/short hood at what most would assume was the front of the locomotive. But the "F" markings are on the opposite end from the cab, and it starts up in that direction. I noticed this quirk before I first test-ran the unit, and it performed as marked.

As for question #1, the unit sounds like it's missing the watchdog signal and coming up in conventional. Does it respond to shut down (and then start-up) commands after powering up in the manner described?

---PCJ

Mark,

I just sent Chuck a text, going to ask him if he has solved the lashup issue yet.  I really dont want my diesels smoking either.

PCJ,

I have a newer NS SD70M-2 PS2 that is running short hood forward and I'm making the NS Southern Heritage ES44AC run in reverse, (they are long hood-to-long hood.)

Yes, after it starts up on its own, it will in fact respond to the shut down feature on the DCS remote.

Mike,

Yes see what Chuck says on that is a good idea. 

PCJ,

When mine start up on their own as I described, they will do a proper shutdown, then startup too.  I have just lived with it as I described.

What is track signal strength on this engine?  There are wire routing issues that may resolve the start up issue.  Smoke problem is different.  You did try a factory reset? G

GGG,

I have not checked the signal strength, I will have to do that.  When you say wire routing issues, are you referring to inside the engine, or track wiring?  I did not try a factory reset, I did consider it though.  

I'm having a lot of trouble with my track and the crossovers I have.  Last night I was messing with them quite a bit and at one point when I powered up everything, my Dash-8 started on its own (because of this, I'm assuming when you mean wire issues, you meant track).  This only happened once though.

No, internal engine wiring can matter for ps3.  Search will explain. But track can cause issues too. G