I'm getting poor signal with a brand new tiu rev L . 22 uh choke installed where manual say's it should be on constant voltage power supply ac input to power supply in engine. I've done other engines just like this with no problem any idea's would be appreciated . i tried another engine and signal was perfect 10's !
Alan Mancus
Replies sorted oldest to newest
Wire routing issue? Poor power pick-up? etc.
Can you test the board set wired directly? (take the engine's pick-up points out of the equation.) & Test with smoke off?
@Alan Mancus posted:I'm getting poor signal with a brand new tiu rev L . 220 uh choke installed where manual say's it should be on constant voltage power supply ac input to power supply in engine. I've done other engines just like this with no problem any idea's would be appreciated . i tried another engine and signal was perfect 10's !
Where does it say you install a 220uh choke? First off, I've never heard of any instructions specifying a 220uh choke. Are you talking the 22uh choke in series with the CV supply in the locomotive? Did you try simply disconnecting the CV supply to see if this has anything to do with your issue? I've had several "new" boards from MTH that have lousy signal from the get-go, they're not consistent.
yes John choke in series with constant voltage supply to input side as stated in ps3 steam kit
Alan
Did you try disconnecting the CV board to see if that even has anything to do with the issue?
I'd disconnect the CV board as gunrunnerjohn mentioned, and if still a issue I'd remove all the connectors on the Ps3 board except the power and test again - the board will talk just fine without anything else connected. If the issue goes away add 1 connector at a time till you discover which one it is then narrow down from there.
Jim
How can a connector to the PS-32 board for lights, motor, fan effect signal strength? I would think cv board. Maybe choke got shorted. G
GGG,
Simplification - I agree it shouldn't but when debugging you always narrow down to the simplest operating condition. I'd also try hooking up the board to the test stand and see if issue is there too. This 100% removes the engine from the equation - unless you don't have a Proto2 test stand. If issue happens on the test stand then try a new board.
CV board is still the most likely suspect.
Jim
If you have a board test fixture as noted above plug it into that and make sure it works correctly. If the board works correctly disconnect the CV board from track power and try the board in the locomotive. If that solves the issue the check the 22uh choke for shorts or try a different choke/CV board.
In the PS3 steam conversions I've done for myself (4) and for a friend (2) I've never used a CV board or the choke. I just run all the lighting off the headlamp circuit and use all 3mm LEDs. I use a 470ohm resistor on the power wire for the headlamp and 560ohm resistors on the power wire for all the other LEDs (markers/class lights, number boards, cab light, firebox light). The nice thing is no CV board is needed and the locomotive remains dark until powered on.
GGG n John cv board disconnected and stikk poor signal bouncing 5 to 7 to 9 to 10nall over the place!
Alan
Put the board on your tester and see what it does.
Are hot and common swapped in the engine?
AFAIK ps 2 is polarity sensitive ps 3 is not sensitive to polarity!
Alan
Pull the board and put it on a test fixture. If it works fine then there is a wiring issue. If it still has poor DCS reception then it's a board issue. Putting the board on the tester eliminates the wiring variable.
Correct Lou, that was my recommendation as well. If something basic doesn't show up with my visual inspection, I fire up the board or boards (for steam) on the tester and eliminate them as a cause of the issue, then move on to other possibilities.
Yup. I haven't had an issue with any of my PS3 steam kit installations having bad signal reception but sticking the board on the fixture should at least pin point the problem area.
Wasn't there an issue in the past with wire routing on diesel PS3 boards causing a signal loss? Since the PS32 board in the PS3 kit is a modified PS3 diesel board could the wire routing in the tender play an issue?
I haven't seen wire routing for the PS32 board be an issue, though I'm sure it could be possible. The routing on the diesel board was the power going right over the DCS inductors, the stacker board keeps wiring away from the PS/3 bottom board components on the PS32 board.
Only way that could be an issue is if the PS32 board is mounted spaced away from the frame for clearance issues and the wiring run below the board. Or if the board was mounted on it's side with the wiring running behind the board.
Alan do you have a picture of how the board is mounted? I'd think on a DMIR Yellowstone there should be plenty of room to mount the board flat on the tender floor.
I've mounted all the boards on my steam locomotives to the tender floor and run the wiring over the top with no issues. But I'm working with large ATSF and SP tenders.
Did you get it working correctly?
Well, Is the jumper installed on the top board? Is the top board fully seated all 40 pins on the connector? Is pin 1 or 40 damaged and not connecting? Is the toroid damaged. G
yes GGG jumper installed and runs in dcs and conventional. just poor signal will test board tonight in test rig!
Alan
Thanks every body! GGG i figured it out works same way in ps 2 tester, so reset. board no change, so i took board out of tester and examined very carefully both ps3/2 board's found toroid coil only 2 connections were soldered all the reset were not soldered at all !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! soldered all connections and now signal strength was perfect 10'S! i never had a bad ps3/2 board until now! guess there is a first time for everything!
again thanks all n GGG!
Alan
Interesting, had not seen that one, yet put have seen them messed up. G
Glad you found the problem and reported what it was.
Access to this requires an OGR Forum Supporting Membership
