Factory Reset Locomotive that is not in DCS Remote

If I read this correctly, for some reason at the club, the loco is getting scrambled? If so, I have to ask what is the power supply at this club?

I'd try one horn, and five bell presses and she should sound the horn twice right after indicating a conventional reset condition. I'd make sure there's nothing else on her same rails drawing power when you fire her up.

I'm wondering if there's a board issue? So I want to ask, how does she behave at home? What is the track signal level at the club with this engine once you get her running?

 I have a RTR RK model that seems to be doing this to me. Twice now in a row, the engine wouldn't come up with the remote. Mine sits quietly though. I reset it and then it's fine. I haven't looked further into it yet.

At the club A Lionel Transformer is hooked up to power the track.

when I set up a test track at home after factory resetting her she run fine.

What exact Lionel transformer? I'm just wondering if their set up is messing up this engine.

Is there any Legacy/TMCC stuff on the same power source to the rails at the time you run this engine?

Do they/you run other MTH locos at the club? Do they run OK?

It’s a ZW-L, it’s got the blue letters on the front and the 4 power level indicators on the front.

At the moment there was none and there won’t be when I try again.

i tested a Club PS-2 E-8 it ran fine.

Should be a great power source? I had to ask as many still swear by the CW80. Something at the club must be driving this problem. Maybe even just weaker signal or the way the power is applied. My engine seems to get confused at power up lately.

I do have picky engines that will act up. Most I fixed yet about two remain unsolved (out of 100). One of those was a PS2 board that received many shorts and survives to this day but acts up when it feels like it. That RK is now a third one that just started this issue. The grandkids wrecked their RTR play set engine and I bought another one as a back up. The women in the family said no way, and it sat here in the box for a few years. I finally opened it up this year and to my surprise, the front truck's axles were frozen. The smoke unit's fan went quick too. It gets moisture here when spring comes. I always run the dehumidifier too late. The plywood table top actually grows and can tear apart track joints. So I have found that engines that I run the heck out of, last without issues for many years. Engines that are stored away, give me issues.

The fix can be from something as simple as lubricating the rollers, tying the outside rails, etc. I would put the engine on it's side and make sure the power points are conducting. You may have to pull the shells and check right to the board(s). Does the tether act up on this one? I believe there was a post about adding a fixed ground if you only run a 3/2 engine in 3 rail mode.

 Even though an engine can just be sitting on rails, I have seen it get scrambled as if the power is intermittent. If I run it regularly, it's fine. When it sits too long I have more problems. I tend to believe there's power transfer issues when axles get little use, grounds are sketchy, or even smoke units act up drawing excessive power.

 Sorry for all the extra words I've been busy thinking over this issue and keep adding too much here.

When you get her running, run the engine for at least around 15 minutes at home,  & make sure the smoke unit is off, right before going to the club. I'm thinking that the caps charged may help at the club if that's the issue? If it sat too long and went to the club with the caps empty, maybe something is setting off this issue?

 I'm just guessing here at solutions without the engine to test.

Check the DCC/DCS switch, if it's in DCC, it will not be recognized by the TIU.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Check the DCC/DCS switch, if it's in DCC, it will not be recognized by the TIU.

Homer Simpson says it best: DOH!

Thats what the problem was. At lest I think so.

UPMav#488 posted:

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Check the DCC/DCS switch, if it's in DCC, it will not be recognized by the TIU.

Homer Simpson says it best: DOH!

Thats what the problem was. At lest I think so.

OK! WHO THREW THE SWITCH! 

Sometimes it's good to check the obvious.

BUT..... Mine doesn't have a switch!

The same thing can happen if the DCC/DCS jumper falls off, it has to be on for DCS.

Then how come as soon as I do a reset, it runs fine? Twice now.

Engineer-Joe posted:

Then how come as soon as I do a reset, it runs fine? Twice now.

Obviously, you must be Irish too.  Sounds like me.

Joe, sound like you have an issue with the board.

Good evening, I hope I am not hijacking this thread but curious about the jumper issue John and Joe were discussing.  I have the DCS wifi system and it works great on ten of my MTH  engines but the n&W  J PS-2 20-3365-1 does not want to be recognized.  This is a loco without the DCS switch option and I can't see any jumper missing inside, like John mentions.  It runs fine conventional but is not recognized by the app ( and I have the latest version 3.2.1).  Am I missing anything? Thanks for any hints.  ( I did the conventional reset BTW.)

Only PS_3 have jumpers for DCC or DCS.  PS-2 engine do not have DCC capability.  Since it looks like that is a PS-2 3V engine, it may be a bad power supply board causing loss of DCS capability.  But first I would try engine on small test track by itself.

When you apply power does it start up immediately, or does it stay dark and quiet when DCS Signal present?  If it starts up immediately, the engine is suspect.

If it stays quiet, try a recover engine from the DCS menu.  Must be on TIU #1.  So best to just do this on a test track, by itself.  G

Thanks GGG, Just to clarify, here is where I am:

1) I put the loco on a small loop which is connected to the TIU and output #1.  When I turn on the power to  the TIU, the track sees 18-20 volts, signal strength is 10 (per another loco previously used to test) and the "J" sits there- dark- so I am assuming that means the engine is not suspect?

2 )  I don't have any way to recover the engine since I only have DCS wifi and it can't recognize the engine.  Is there a way  to do a recover engine operation?

thanks.

Have you tried pressing read and seeing if the app finds the locomotive?

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Joe, sound like you have an issue with the board.

1. Bring item over kitchen counter
2. Hold 1.5” above counter covered with wife’s best dish towel
3. Hold firmly with 2 hands
4. Close eyes, release
5. Test engine - if no go
6. Call Jason at MTH and send t in.  They do out of warranty and are pretty open on schedule.

i had a TIU issue and thumpt it.  I also sometime need to wake things up after a long sleep. Sounds like you have tried many ideas.  Good luck.  

I think if a 1.5" drop fixes it, it won't stay fixed long.

Lou, As you guessed, i hit "read" about ten times with no result.  App does not cooperate with this loco.

on Bryant 's suggestion, I am hoping joe tries it and reports results....

what is an engine recover anyway? I did the conventional reset but that must not be it.

hokie71 posted:

Lou, As you guessed, i hit "read" about ten times with no result.  App does not cooperate with this loco.

on Bryant 's suggestion, I am hoping joe tries it and reports results....

what is an engine recover anyway? I did the conventional reset but that must not be it

I have had this happen on PS2 engines with a dead battery. Does it play full shut down sounds when you kill the power to the track with it running?

https://mthtrains.com/20-3365-1e

Joe, yes it runs fine in conventional mode. Until I bought the dcs wifi, no idea it potentially had an issue. It has one of the GRJ super caps in it and does all the shut down stuff.

Hey, now that I consider this, maybe I have a warranty claim?

There have been posts here of people who have engines that won't run on DCS. Something on the board fails I think?

Is there anyone you could take the engine to nearby that could test it on their system?

Recover engine is  a feature to reset an out of range ID number.  I am not an APP expert, but there must be a way to do it.  Normally it is in the system menu under engine.   Did this engine work before in DCS?  G

Engineer-Joe posted:

There have been posts here of people who have engines that won't run on DCS. Something on the board fails I think?

Is there anyone you could take the engine to nearby that could test it on their system?

If you have not solved it, I agree with Engineer Joe.  There has to be a LHS or group, club or friend that runs DCS.  They could put yours on, and if no read or progress, you will know where you stand.

Thanks for the good suggestions. GGG, I did find the engine recover feature in the app and I was not successful in finding or recovering the engine using that feature either.  It continues to run fine in conventional.  I did not have DCS before i bought the wifi / tiu combo- I have never owned one of the handhelds- I was was one of those conventional guys.  Bottom line is this J could have had this issue since I bought it several years ago at York. This may not be app related?

Joe and Bryant, I have a local hobby shop that has some MTH capabilities so I plan to take it there for a test on their system and see if their DCS works with it.  I will post what I find out.

Thanks for the help.

Just returned from the LHS and their DCS system did not recognize my J either.  They did the same inspection for something loose that I did and then sent an email to their technical contact at MTH to see what they should do.  the story continues....

hokie71 posted:

Just returned from the LHS and their DCS system did not recognize my J either.  They did the same inspection for something loose that I did and then sent an email to their technical contact at MTH to see what they should do.  the story continues....

Are they going to handle it for you if it is component related?  You now have the enemy cornered👍

Bryant Dunivan 111417 posted:

hokie71 posted:

Just returned from the LHS and their DCS system did not recognize my J either.  They did the same inspection for something loose that I did and then sent an email to their technical contact at MTH to see what they should do.  the story continues....

Are they going to handle it for you if it is component related?  You now have the enemy cornered👍

If not, I'd recommend sending it to GGG here on the forum. He's fixed a few of mine now. 

This is one of those conundrums possibly developing. We all want to support our LHS.... But....I have a ton more faith in GGG too. It will be interesting to see what advice they get from the home office in Columbia, md. Then decision time for me!

If this is a PS-2 3V, they should swap the Power Supply board.  If that does not fix it, they can try a Sound File reload, but I think the Processor board is bad, at that point your really into a PS-32 repair, since no more processor boards.  Or, run it conventionally.  G

GGG posted:

If this is a PS-2 3V, they should swap the Power Supply board.  If that does not fix it, they can try a Sound File reload, but I think the Processor board is bad, at that point your really into a PS-32 repair, since no more processor boards.  Or, run it conventionally.  G

I was a little confused getting down this far into the situation.  The OP stated the engine number and description at the beginning of this thread.    Also pointed out as PS-3.  I looked up the description and cab number on MTH site (30-1601-1 4-8-4 Imperial FEF Northern Steam Engine w/Proto-Sound 3.0)   just to be sure.  No refence to PS2 on this item.  Should only have1 PS3 board unless it has been modified.  I know GGG and others li8sted above as qualified are more than capable of putting this one to bed.  Time to put this beautiful engine with it's DCS features on the layout and have fun.  Not getting any younger.

Greg, is this a PS-3 system or has it been downgraded to PS-2?   If not, probably a bad board.  

Bryant, the last several responses referred to my engine, a ps2. Sorry if I confused the thread.

hokie71 posted:

Bryant, the last several responses referred to my engine, a ps2. Sorry if I confused the thread.

It makes a big difference to you.  With PS3 you are working with current technology.  I am interested to see how this folds.  I would be surprised if it is not the board.  If your LHS is a qualified service center, just leave it (depending on your $$ resources).  Is this also still covered under warranty (1-year)?

If, and when, you find out the cause and solution, PLEASE amend the topic to solved and put down what it was.  Someone like you in a year or 2 can do a search and see what you did.  It helps when you are lost and trying to solve a problem.  Too often we see 5 pages on a problem and the solution was never posted.  Kind of like going to the library and ripping out the last page of the books in the Mystery and Suspense section.  Cruel.