PS3 upgrade information.

Gunrunnerjohn, 

Can you still get a ps3 kit for steam with smoke unit. I have a Weaver Models Pacific that I might want it installed in. I want the straight diesel tether from the tender to the engine.

@DL&W Pete posted:

Gunrunnerjohn, 

Can you still get a ps3 kit for steam with smoke unit. I have a Weaver Models Pacific that I might want it installed in. I want the straight diesel tether from the tender to the engine.

Yep, I buy the smoke units separately, obviously they don't come in the kit.  Is this a brass steamer or diecast?  The straight tether is really dependent on how much clearance I have, some lend themselves to it better than others.  Also, typically the straight tether limits the type of curves, so if you have wide curves, you'll be happier with the operation.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Yep, I buy the smoke units separately, obviously they don't come in the kit.  Is this a brass steamer or diecast?  The straight tether is really dependent on how much clearance I have, some lend themselves to it better than others.  Also, typically the straight tether limits the type of curves, so if you have wide curves, you'll be happier with the operation.

It is die cast, this was the run that was for K-line but they went under. So Weaver took the order.

I think I am in the right area now. Just purchased my first steam proto 1 engine and looking to upgrade. I guess I have to go right to ps3. Are these kits available anywhere or did I miss the boat.

They are or will be available again.  I grabbed a few of the steam upgrade kits when they were available, but I'm still waiting on the diesel upgrade kits I ordered.

50-1911 | MTH ELECTRIC TRAINS (mthtrains.com)

click on find it locally and 2 shops have them for sale price is $199.00  plus shipping

Alan

Well I received a response from one. There not selling then only being used for people waiting to do a in house upgrade. Will see if the other vender responds

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

They are or will be available again.  I grabbed a few of the steam upgrade kits when they were available, but I'm still waiting on the diesel upgrade kits I ordered.

Mine shipped last week and will arrive from MTH tomorrow according to tracking.

Is there a PS3 slave board for ABA setups that goes with this stack board setup?

Nope, there exists a PS/3 diesels slave, but it's not sold for retrofits, and I'm not sure we can even get spare boards nowadays.

I have had the slave board go out 2-3 times so I’m looking for either a reliable fix or an upgrade to replace or eliminate it. The last time it went out was a week ago, fortunately I had a spare which now needs to be repaired or replaced. With the money I have already spent repairing this unit I could have upgraded both A units.

I'd just do another full PS/3 upgrade, that's the only "supported" path now.

On both A units?

I have the 20-2563-1 FT ABA set

Yep, on any powered unit, you just upgrade it like it was an independent engine.  Then to run them, you configure an MU and run them together, or they'll run separately.

This confirms my thoughts on upgrading, what about the couplers on the B unit? Currently they are fixed and do not open, is it possible to add proto couplers?

Anything's possible, but typically you want the short dummy couplers to keep them fairly closely coupled.

Not sure I’ve seen any short dummy couplers, any pictures? I believe the existing couplers are dummies not sure if they are short or not.

Kind of a related question on an ABA, if you had a slave board die let's use a 5v slave as an example, could you leave the lead A alone and just upgrade the slave A first or do both have to upgraded at the same time to PS/3?

Trainlover9943, I actually thought about that to help reduce the cost all at one time.

I have had the slave board go out 2-3 times so I’m looking for either a reliable fix or an upgrade to replace or eliminate it. The last time it went out was a week ago, fortunately I had a spare which now needs to be repaired or replaced. With the money I have already spent repairing this unit I could have upgraded both A units. Harlee62

actually you can get ps 2 salve boards repaired so thy won't fail i have done it!

Alan

@Harlee62 posted:

Trainlover9943, I actually thought about that to help reduce the cost all at one time.

My thoughts exactly. Plus if it ain't broke don't fix it.

Alan Mancus I would love to have the sale board fixed so it won’t fail again that would be a big plus since it seems that is the weak link.

Gunrunnerjohn,

I hope I’m posting this in the correct forum. I saw an old post where you helped a member with the same problem.  I have a PS1 engine that doesn’t run (it just makes a horrible sound like radio static) and I want to upgrade a it to PS3. I need to know where to cut the traces on the circuit board of my smoke unit, but my board isn’t shown in the PS3 upgrade instructions, nor is it the board pictured in the post I read earlier.  I have a PS1 RailKing Allegheny, the box shows 20-1117LP, but the catalog # is 30-1117LP.  I've attached pictures of the smoke unit and engine. I've been away from the hobby for quite some time and I'm in the process of making room for a layout so I won't be doing the upgrade immediately, I'm just trying to get the process established in my mind before attempting the upgrade.  After reading some of the preceding posts, hopefully I’ll still be able to get a PS3 upgrade kit when I’m ready to do the job. Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

Thank You,

Steve

You're in luck.  Since you don't need any of the PCB stuff for PS/3, just remove that bottom board and pitch all of it.

On the top board, remove the stack funnel, and just cut any traces leaving from the two resistor pads on each side.  Remove all the wires.  If you plan on using the existing headlight socket, it has to be totally floated, both wires, no frame connection.

If ou post a picture of the top of this board after you've removed the funnel, I'll indicate the traces to cut and what to jumper.

Thanks a lot John! I’ll get back to it in a day or so and post the picture without the stack. Thanks again.

Steve

Hi John,

Here’s the photo of the board minus the funnel, as requested.

I’m not good at electronics, so I’ve attached the following picture in the hope that you can tell me what it is.
I found the brown cylindrical “thing” (I told you I wasn’t good with electronics) on the right side of the photo laying in the shell of the Allegheny when I took it apart. Could this be the reason that the engine stopped working? It looks like it’s a perfect fit for the spot labeled C1 on the board. I still want to do the upgrade regardless of what it is, I’m just curious. Also, regarding the headlight, I was going to use the existing bracket, but won’t the grommet and wire harness that’s supplied with the upgrade kit be enough to isolate the headlight?  Thanks again John.

John, one more question. Would it be ok to use the bottom board as a mounting bracket for the smoke unit if I remove the components from the board?

You don't have to remove the components, just all the wires.  The components obviously aren't in the way now, so why make extra work?

For the smoke unit, remove all the wires and cut the trace at the red line.  You can actually cut it anywhere along the trace, that one just has to be gone.  You will then have to connect the two places with the yellow circles together and connect each of those to the PS/3 smoke heater wires, (red connector).  Polarity doesn't matter here as there's no ground and they're resistors.  The smoke fan wires (green connector) are polarity sensitive, you want the fan to spin clockwise looking from the top.

Thanks for the help, John. I really appreciate it. I think the PS3 installation instructions should get me the rest of the way. Thanks again!

@Marty Fitzhenry posted:

One thing I did not touch on is you can replace any bad PS2 3 volt boards when needed with the upgrade board set and your locomotive will now be PS3.  This is not just for 5 volt replacement.  Just order the AE-1003v36 top adapter board plug it into the bottom board and you are good to go.  

Do I understand this statement correctly that the new PS3 top board can plug into an older PS2 bottom board? or is it just that a different top board is needed to match the PS2 harnesses for plug and play?

If it's the first, then can I get a deal on a dozen or so?

I'm assuming you have to be talking about the PS32 board set, right?  Most certainly that top board is not in any compatible in form or function with any of the PS/2 board pieces.

The Stacker board on top of the PS32 board set has the same connectors as a PS/2 board and is intended to be used as a replacement for dead PS/2 board of either the 3V or 5V logic when used with it's companion PS/3 bottom board.

I have a dead Railking Decapod that had PS2.  It died on dirty track.  Would upgrading to PS3 be a fix?

Thanks!

Dale

You can have a PS32 board installed to replace the dead PS/2 board, it's the cheapest alternative if the board is truly dead.