Runaway 384E

Michael

Sounds somewhat similar to what I just went through with my 384. See post https://ogrforum.com/t...-respond-to-commands

Steve

This is caused by the PS2 engine "dropping out of" DCS into conventional mode.  Since you probably have your transformer set around 18v track voltage for DCS, the engine "takes off" like a conventional engine with 18v of throttle.

The next time this happens, just reach for the transformer handle and throttle down, that will prevent your run-away.

As for what causes the locomotive to drop out of command, apparently there can be several reasons having to do with signal strength, how dirty your track is, etc. etc.  

It does happen to me, but not with enough frequency or consistency to facilitate trouble shooting.  I just power down, then restart everything and carry on.

One possibility is that the tach reader is not sending a signal to the circuit board, so the board sees no signal, and runs the loco at full throttle, 18v in your case. One way to check is to run it in conventional mode, and see if it chuffs, puffs smoke and has speed control. If not, the first thing I would do is replace the tach board and make sure the flywheel striping is intact. Replacement stripes are available from MTH or your friendly MTH tech. 

Boiler47,

   Micheal these men have given you good advise as to the cause, my recommendation is to purchase a couple sets of Etekcity programmable Remote control outlet switches, each set comes with 5 programmable remote control switches and 2 hand held remote control units, to run your complete DCS layout with.  I have the remotes positioned around the layout for instant shut down/start up, when something like this happens on the DCS layout.  A great safety set up, especially for multi-level DCS/Legacy layouts.

PCRR/Dave

Thank you all for your responses to my question.  I probably did not make my setup clear for running my train.  I do not have DCS.  I run a single loop of track powered by a Z1000 transformer.  I did take hojack's advice and cleaned my track.  After cleaning the track I ran the engine for a short time and did not have the runaway problem anymore.  If I have time this weekend I will run it again but for a longer period of time.  Also on this particular engine I had to have it repaired because the circuit board went bad.  Not sure if this would have any bearing on the runaway issue.  Thank you all for your comments.

Michael