Remote won't add engine after BCR installation

There's a bug in the firmware on some early 3v PS-2 boards. Put a battery in it. Get a NiMh battery, then you don't have to worry about Nicads losing capacity due to memory effect. 

Because the battery was weak, the factory reset probably didn't change the engine address. With DCS signal on the track, does the engine power up "dark and silent" or does it power up in conventional mode?

Not being a DCS user the only thing that comes to mind is.

Did you let the BCR charge before trying to address it? I have 6 BCR engines and nothing works until they are charged.

Have you tried the Recover Engine function?

I charged the BCR on a seperate track,using a seperate transformer. When I put it back on the layout,it is dark and silent,since the remote won't read it.I did try the recover engine function,it keeps saying "No active DCS engines on track.I ran the wires from the track to a conventional transformer,only then does it run in conventional mode.What else can I try??

Do you think that perhaps I need to have the engine 'reset' by the dealer,or someone who has a 'reset chip'?  Looks like I will need a battery either way at this point?

You do not charge a BCR like a battery.

I have a spare remote for these type of situations that I can" reset," This will eliminate any ID conflicts and give to a fresh start.

However resetting the remote will delete everything  in the remote. Is it worth trying and no guarantees it will work.

First . Lets make sure the remote and tiu are talking to each other... Does the "read"  (bottom left on the remote)   find the tiu?) You should get something like    TIU 1 found no aiu box connected

Jim, for DCS use, a supercap doesn't have to charge up.

Kenny, If you choose to reset the remote, and I wouldn't, save the contents before to do.  Do you have more than one remote?  How many locos are in your remote(s). 

You might try removing all other locos from the track and doing a read.  If this loco has an ID, it should come up, maybe with another name.  At  that point, don't reset it; just change the ID to a number you are not using for any locos.

Robert,

You might try removing all other locos from the track and doing a read.  If this loco has an ID, it should come up, maybe with another name.

The OP previously stated:

Before it died,I tried a factory reset,which removed it from my roster on the remote.

A READ will only find engines that are already in  the remote. This one was deleted from the remote.

If the reset was effective.  If a battery or supercap is dead, can the loco store the new settings?

I do not have a spare remote,and I have only two other DCS engines besides this one.And yes the remote and the tis are talking to each other.Both of my other engines are working fine with the remote.I do get the reading TIU 1 Found no AIU boxes connected. I just wish at this point I would've not tried to "reset engine",because then it would be in there. How can I give this engine it's own address when the TIU is not recognizing it?I have taken al the other engines off,and it still says"No active DCS engines found"

Kenney,

You previously stated:

Why won't the remote read the engine?

You don't add an engine to a remote by using the READ command. You must use the following:

Menu/System/Engine Setup/Add Engine/Add MTH Engine

Is that what you did?

Also, a few questions:

• What version of DCS is in the TIU and in the remote?
• If using DCS 4.20 or earlier, do you have any lashups in the remote?
• Do you have only 1 TIU or more than one TIU?
• Do you have a second remote?
• Do other PS2 or PS3 engines operate correctly under DCS?

Nope. (factory reset of engine) The engine may get deleted from the remote but the engine remains with it's old ID and setting created when the battery was good.

I am using version 5.0 in both the remote and TIU.Marty Fitz updated them for me.

These are no lashups in the remote.

I have only 1 TIU

I have only 1 remote

Yes,both of my other engines are working fine in DCS mode

And yes,I did try to add the engine under the add MTH engine command.

Did you try the Recover Engine?

Hello,I just tried recover engine,and no engine was recovered.

Well, it was worth a shot.

The only thing it does in DCS mode is give that'Click" sound,everything else is NOTHING. It does run in conventional,I ran in in conventional for more than 2 hours last night.This is why I am writing in,I do not understand what happened. 

In DCS mode,it is like the engine is not even there.Like I said,all I get is the familiar"click" sound,when it first tries powering up.No lights,no sounds,only the click.

Thanks John, it was worth a shot.Thanks Barry and every one else. Keep thinking.I have to run out and do a few things with the wifey!!!,but I'll be back later to see if anyone got it figured out

It's possible you may have a low track signal ,do a track signal test with one of the other engines. Lets us know what it is....

 It seems you only have 2 other dcs engines so resetting the remote is not that big of a deal unless you have an aiu .

If you do a remote  reset, try adding the  problem engine first after the reset..

Did you add the engine?  G

 Track signal is a 10. I have a Proto 3.0 GEVO that is responding great to every command I give it.

I think I will just play it safe,and get a replacement battery for it.Once I can get it back into the remote,then I will try reinstalling the BCR.

If it does not come up then,I will try to reset the remote. If we're still not in business,it's off to the repairman!!!

If anyone has a spare charger for sale,please let me know.I have called around a lot of places,and it seems no one has a charger for sale.The charger I need is#50-1019 .

If I had this charger,none of this would have ever happened.The battery was due for replacement,but I had been running the engine at least once a week for the last two months since I obtained it. 

Try this:  I have had good luck with this method:

1.  Delete the locomotive from your remote

2. Use a separate track, like a test track or 37" section of gargraves

3.  Install the BCR

4.  Hook the TIU up to that track alone.  Place the locomotive on the track

5.  power up the TIU to get 18VAC to the track.

6.  listen for the 'watchdog' signal.

7. On the remote go to "read"

What do you see?

If it recognized the locomotive - start it up.

good luck

bruce

Bruce,

I have had good luck with this method:

7. On the remote go to "read"

This isabsolutely incorrect and will not dd an engine to a remote.

One more time: READ does not add an engine to a remote!

SUCCESS!!!!!!!! Thank you SO MUCH BRUCE!!!!

I hooked the TIU up to a separate piece of track,and VIOLA!!!!!  

I am a happy camper !!!!!!!

Thanks to everyone for their input!!!

If you ever have this same problem,now you know what to do!!!!! Thank GOD!!!! And Thanks again Bruce!!!!!

I did push "READ"  and it must have recovered the lost engine from before!!!!!!

Here is my two cents.  When you first made the determination the original battery was bad, did you open the locomotive to check if the two pin plug from the battery was fully seated on the board?  You can have the best battery or BCR in the world but if the plug wandered out of the socket, nothing will work.  Please follow what I outlined and let us know.  The guys have fully outlined all the steps for a board that is seeing a battery.  Carefully look at the wires going from the battery to the receiver that the battery plugs into.  You may have a wire not fully seated.   You seem to know what you are doing very well and I just ask you to check what I mentioned.  Tell us about how you charged your BCR.

Did you read the battery voltage with a load on it?  One more thing, has anyone been inside this engine or was it a fleabay queen?   If you have an MTH tech close to you, he can put it on his board tester to see what is going on.   

Kenny, no chip exists to reset your board.  The reset is done through the remote.  You got the engine running in conventional.  Did it cycle between N-F-N-R-N-F?

I think the test track was the answer.   The read can not add a engine that was deleted from the remote when doing the factory engine reset.

The test track  might also be called a programming track . Only the engine being added to the remote should be receiving power.  . Did you take everything else  off the track while attempting to add the engine?  Not that it matters now and happy to hear the engine is back on line. good stuff.

Marty, FWIW, on two occasions over the past few years I have had a similar issue.  Both times, an engine disappeared when, a few seconds after powering up, a breaker opened due to a derailment elsewhere on the layout.  One PS2 engine had a 10-year old battery and hadn't been run in months, so the battery was dead.  The other was a PS2 with a supercapacitor, that obviously hadn't had an opportunity to fully charge.  The remotes would not recognize the locos, restore wouldn't work, they couldn't be added.  Unfortunately, I don't recall how I got them re-recognized, but as I recall I did not do any resets of loco or remotes.  May have been the same method Kenny used.

My theory is that their memories may have gotten partially garbled when they tried to save settings, but lacked power to do so.

Oman (Keith) above may have been on the right track.

I did push "READ"  and it must have recovered the lost engine from before!!!!!!

If READ found the engine, it was in the remote all along.

Precisely!

First of all,It is probably my shoddy track work  that caused this whole problem.I have Ross Sectional Track,and have not screwed it down minus a few sections in anticipation of a change of residence which has not happened yet.

I got the engine from Tommy Z,who told me it was probably gonna need a battery very soon.

This is the first time I have ever cracked open a shell on a MTH engine,so I am a complete novice at all of this. I have been reading the operating manuals a lot ,trying to become familiar with the remote and the whole operating system.  

I did a read on the battery,and it said 'low',so I ran and ran the engine for several hours,and it did not accept a charge at all. I do not have a charger to plug directly into the train,so this has been my only way of charging it back up.

 I was out on the road for 3 weeks,and had not been able to run the engine at all during that time,so the battery went down on me.I thought it would charge back up from running it,but this time it went down too far I guess.  

Tommy Z told me to check the same wire you are talking about Marty,I asked him if I could send it back to him,and he said"You'll never learn if I do it for you!!''

Putting it on that isolated piece of track did something,that's all I know!!  

Like I said, probably because of my shoddy track work .  

Thanks Again to everyone for your time and help today!!   

I am a fanatic on perfect track work and perfect 10 DCS signal.  I have both.  It seems like you may have other situations going on.  I would suggest you find someone with perfect track work and perfect signal to test your engine and see what you have or do not have going on.

Anything from Tom Z will be good from the get go.  He knows his trains.

Glad you got it working, but your terminology is off, and frankly what your saying should not have worked.  Which is the point Barry and others were trying to make.  Any one else who stumbles on this will get confused.  If you do a factory reset, the engine is deleted from your remote.  Remote will state that, and the engine address goes to default.

If that really happened, there is no way a READ works.  A Read is looking for engines in your remote.  The proper way is to re add the engine.  G

If the battery isn't good or not connected, the Factory Reset won't typically take.  I've done a factory reset and noticed that it didn't actually do the reset or delete the engine.  I suspect that's what may have happened.

I still think the factory reset removed the engine from the remote, but due to the low battery, the engine address did not go to default. I have no explanation for how he got it back.