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I think one of my MTH engines may have finally bit the dust. It is a Premier PS3 2 rail purchased in 2013. It has been running without problems until one evening I perfomed a "startup" and received that grey screen of death message "Engine Not on Track". Typically, the fix has been to clean the wheels and track and this has usually resolved this problem. This time it did not solve the problem. It did not even start in conventional. I then put the engine on a test track , connected the TIU  and received the message "No engine found". I performed a "Find Engine" command and the engine was located and placed in remote address #11. The engine started in Command mode and everything appeared to be working. I left the engine on the test track over night and the same problem occurred next day when trying to perform "startup". "No engine found". I deleted the engine from the remote and tried to find it once again but this time nothing would work,  and of course the engine no longer appeared in the remote.   I disconnected the TIU and connected the test track to a DC transformer and there was no response even in conventional mode. I removed the shell and all wires appear to be secure. I did not remove the board, but the supcaps felt tight in their positions on the circuit board. Also, there is continuity between the wheels and pickup wire on the the truck. Question: Does this sound like the typical dead board?. I would appreciate any info on what I may have overlooked in troubleshooting or programming.     Thanks, Dave....

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I'm not familiar with running proto-3 with dc current in conventional.

I would however try adding the engine again with the tiu and a small test track . You may want to first  check out the dcs track signal on the test track using a different engine.

A remote reset will clear out any iD conflicts but also delete everything in the remote. If you have a lot of stuff that's  probably not an option.

There's  the recover engine feature under engine set up menu...

good luck

I checked my test track by placing another engine on it.  That engine received the watchdog signal just fine, started and responded as it should.  Still no response on the sd70.  I popped the board off and all  all wires appear connected properly and solder joints on caps are solid.  I think the board may be suspect,  and will probably have it checked to make a determination on this engines future.

Thanks for your responses, 

Dave.

 

 

Willygee,  the pickup screws on this engine are apparently chrome plated, and are conducting V/O meter current.  I have also removed the truck bottom plates, removed and clean each axle and pickup tabs on the axles and in the truck frame.  But still no signal to the engine and the remote cannot find it when trying to add engine. Thanks for the suggestion though.

Dave....

 

GGG....what typically fails at the ps3 board? I have many in operation all behaving well but wondering if there some precautions to employ such as strategically placed TVS at the board pickup leads? I did have one late ps3 engine guilty of "false starts" did the wire harness over caps mods...so far behaving as advertised

To GGG and the others who have responded:  I have other PS2 and PS3 engines that have run just fine, some of them since 2010 or 2011. The odd thing about this particular engine is that it was running fine for at least an hour during my last session before I powered it down for the night.  It sat in the same exact spot for two nights on the mainline till my next train session and failed on startup.  This is why I first suspected dirty track or wheels,  although I keep my track pretty clean through maintenance and just running trains.  I suspect a weakening part or circuit just gave up when receving power through the rails.

Dave.....

Well, since my last post I was able to determine that trackpower was present on the 8 pin connector therefore reaffirming that the PS3 board was not playing.  I was able to find another board taken from a PS3 F7 engine.  Also, thought it was a good time to upgrade everything to DCS version 5 which loaded without any problems.  Anyway,  I installed the board, fired up the engine and that nice old thumping sound of an EMD F7 was heard eminating from the speaker.  To set things right I downloaded the SD70ACE sound file and chain file from the MTH site and installed them successfully.   Had to edit the name and loco number in the remote.  Only one glitch I can see is that the ditch lights  will not respond.  I tried a feature reset which did not help the ditch lights,  but the rear headlight began to work after the reset.

Question: Because this board was from a F7, ( without ditch lights of course), does this fact prevent ditchlights from working on a different type of engine with ditch lights,  even though new chain files were loaded to the board?   Would appreciate any ideas on a possible software solution before popping the shell back off and check for a possible hardware problem.

Dave....

 

 

 

@willygee posted:

GGG....what typically fails at the ps3 board? I have many in operation all behaving well but wondering if there some precautions to employ such as strategically placed TVS at the board pickup leads? I did have one late ps3 engine guilty of "false starts" did the wire harness over caps mods...so far behaving as advertised

Hey Will,  have a brand new ps3 SF F7 which has erratic behavior when a used ps2 /3v steamer is on the track. Steamer works perfectly with GRJ s SBR or batteries.  The F7 sometimes SU when calling for the steamer instead and then gets sent to the inactive list.  Then " no engine on track "

The F7 runs with its counterpart F7 in a lash up . When I remove the ps2 steamer from the layout , the F7 can go back to the active list and performs admirably.

I was given advice on one of the replies about turning the caps horizontally with the  harness over them.  Not sure what this is supposed to look like .   I can't find photos that are supposed to show the arraignment on the forum search.     Were you able to access photos for this ?

....When I remove the ps2 steamer from the layout , the F7 can go back to the active list and performs admirably.

.....

maybe the signal level of your track is borderline and is drawn down?

What is you track signal strength with both on the rails?

What is the voltage on the rails with both? with the PS2 removed?

Does it matter where the PS2 steamer is on the layout when this happens? Do you have power flow issues on the layout? (lights dim, etc.)

I'm trying to guess what is going wrong and would need more info. What is your power supply? how big (complex) is the layout? how many power feeds per how much track? etc. etc.

I've had this happen and blamed a certain engine until it got worse. Then it appeared to happen with certain engines. It was an issue that the power feed was in the middle of a block and didn't work well. I moved it to the end and added a filter to the other. That filter was later removed when I upgraded to a version L TIU.

It also happened when too many engines were getting power in my engine yard, from a single TIU channel. It seemed like the PS3 engines missed the watchdog the most.

Mike's post is one to take note of here, this is a known issue with the PS/3 boards.  If the power leads run too close to one of the inductors on the board, it will affect the DCS signal as the inductors are unshielded.

I had this happen on my PS2/3 R-36 subway that was repaired awhile back. I placed it on the other track and it started up and ran fine.  (???)

Back again .

Haven't had a chance to go through the info you had yet Mike.    I do remember one of the RK steamers had an issue with poor running.   It would only work right when I had tucked the wire harness under the board in the tender.

maybe the signal level of your track is borderline and is drawn down?

What is you track signal strength with both on the rails?

What is the voltage on the rails with both? with the PS2 removed?

Does it matter where the PS2 steamer is on the layout when this happens? Do you have power flow issues on the layout? (lights dim, etc.)

I'm trying to guess what is going wrong and would need more info. What is your power supply? how big (complex) is the layout? how many power feeds per how much track? etc. etc.





Joe I'll have to check but ,the Signalfor the ps2 / 3v  ( 301305 ) has been between 9 and 10 s whenever I've checked .  I'll have to go back and check when trying to operate the F7 ( don't have the number right now but it's  the plated new one )   .  The F7 strangely  doesn't show a signal strength while it is operating in the lash up.     Voltage is running between 17.9 and 18. 2

If I can get both engines running at the same time , I'll get better info for you .   It doesn't matter where I locate either engine on the track.



There does not appear to be any power flow issues  (  I run both Fixed 1 and Fixed 2 at the same time with all the other 23 engines and 17 switches live ,off of track power ) with perfect operation of any other engine ,ps2 or ps3 , Premier or RK .      The only non LED lights on the entire layout are this 301305's headlight , firebox light and tender backup light.  I sometimes run as many as five trains  ( 3 of which are four car passengers ) on two separate loops.

I'm  using a Z1000 on each fixed in to the Rev L TIU( 6.1 ) and handheld remote.    I've been using the outside double loop which is about 75 feet of Realtrack with 7 power connections from the fixed 1.  Not sure about the wire size, but it was your typical household extension cord. 

Voltage and signal strength have never been an issue with the track.   The readings sometimes vary between different engines .

This Mallet for whatever reason has puzzled me , I guess it is my opportunity for excellence !!!? 🙃

@SIRT posted:

I had this happen on my PS2/3 R-36 subway that was repaired awhile back. I placed it on the other track and it started up and ran fine.  (???)                                              

On the Subway R-36 was it an interference with a ps3 caused by a ps2 steamer?

I ask because my ps2 diesels don't cause a problem 🤔🤕

Hey Will,  have a brand new ps3 SF F7 which has erratic behavior when a used ps2 /3v steamer is on the track. Steamer works perfectly with GRJ s SBR or batteries.  The F7 sometimes SU when calling for the steamer instead and then gets sent to the inactive list.  Then " no engine on track "

The F7 runs with its counterpart F7 in a lash up . When I remove the ps2 steamer from the layout , the F7 can go back to the active list and performs admirably.

I was given advice on one of the replies about turning the caps horizontally with the  harness over them.  Not sure what this is supposed to look like .   I can't find photos that are supposed to show the arraignment on the forum search.     Were you able to access photos for this ?

https://ogrforum.com/...ce-needed-with-photo

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