TMCC and MTH DCS

On the chuffing, that is often done with a micro switch actuated by a off center roller on the drive wheels. And, often, the switch needs adjustment or replacement.

Ron,

the other problem is i have a MTH mikado and now it is doing nothing, no sounds will not do nothing, i talked to a guy and he said since its been so long it lost its programming wihtout a good battery. it will need to be hooked up to a computer and firmware added to it???

The guy you talked to either has no idea of what he's talking about or you, perhaps, misunderstood what he told you.

 

The only thing I've ever seen "lost" by a PS2 engine that sat for a long time with a dead battery was it's DCS ID#.

 

A few questions:

• Does the engine operate in conventional mode?
• Do other PS2 or PS3 engines operate from the DCS Remote?

If both answers are "yes", proceed as follows:

• Delete the engine from the DCS Remote and attempt to re-add it
• If it won't re-add, and you are using DCS 4.10 or later, do a Recover Engine:

Menu/System/Engine Setup/Recover Engine

• This must be done using a TIU that has an ID# of "1" and there must be no other engines on the track. Also, I suggest that this be done on a track that's directly connected to the TIU.

If both answers are "no", tether the TIU to the remote using a curly, 4-conductor telephone handset cord by connecting the base of the remote to the TIU's Remote Input port. See if things improve.

 

If things do not improve, but both answers to the above questions are now "yes", proceed as described above.

 

This and a whole lot more is all in MTH’s “The DCS O Gauge Companion 2nd Edition", available for purchase as an eBook or a printed book at MTH's web store!

hey Barry

thanks for the reply.

i did not misunderstand him, he told me that it would have to be hard wired into a computer and the "firmware" to be re-added to the train.

ive never heard of this.

 

one thing i will try is to use it like an older train and just turn up the transformer.

great suggestion, i will try it on the mikado mth.

now for the k line pacific, it has lionel circuit brds in it? does this mean its from after the legal battle k line had with lionel ?

it has lionel on the circuit brds?? also some have mdk on the brds.

i will definetly check the micro switch on the bottom, it rides on a eccentric camshaft so to speak, i understand the mechanics behind it easily.

i will check that on the pacific, but now it wont run at all, even in conventional mode?

maybe i should put it all back together and try it? it doesnt want to move, i wouldnt think the mother brd was bad? nothing would work right?

if a sound brd is working it makes sounds right?

well mine does make idle sounds but even while its moving it makes idle sounds, no chuffing, so i will check the micro switch.

thank you so muchg berry.

i will let you know how it works out in an hour or so.

thank you once again.

ron

thank you cjack as well for suggestions.

ron

well well well

i resoldered the blue wire that went to the engine, it was held on by one thread of the wire, maybe it could handle the amperage,  checked the rest of the wires and put back together the driver brd. tested all power transistors, etc... all seemed good to me.

 

fired it up and the sound came on when i hit start up, the brakes squeeled and alot of other sounds went off for what reason i dont know.

then it went silent and started to run ! ! !  ????

it actually moved???

i ran it a couple of laps and then shut it down, all functions worked but no sound at all.

then after i shut it down, i turned the whole system off, fired it back up and now everything works as it should, it puffs smoke and chuffs and increases with the speed of the engine.

all works, must have been either one or more loose connections or something.

ive never heard it puff or chuff in sync with the engine since it was new yrs ago, it sounds pretty neat.

one thing i did notice is when i checked continuity of the micro switch under neath with the engine removed, the wheels felt kinda binded up, without a motor?

so i checked it out and for some reason the piston in the smoke stack, was installed upside down, it limited the throw of the arm, i turned it upside down and now the chuff works along with the smoke puffs.

if that arm is held down and not allowed to move it will not let the smoke or chuff work, they are related when it comes to the arm from the cam.

 

well nothing like a train working right to bring out the little boy in us all ! ! ! 

thanks for the suggestions, i dont use it much, but when my trains dont work STOP THE WORLD im getting them fixed! ! !  hhha hhhhaaaa ! ! ! !

 

NOW, ON TO THE MIKADO i will work on it right now.

i will do an engine recover and see what comes up.

thank you to you all.

ron

well i tried to "recover engine" but my dcs remote doesnt have this feature?

it only has add edit or delete engine, and when i make it search for the mth engine it says there is no engine to add?

im going to try to run it conventionaly and see what happens.

will be back

thank you

ron

there was also a blu and a gray wire floating around inside the tender, i could see no where else to solder them to except the volume potentiometer.

i saw evidence of someone being there at one time with a solder iron, and saw a wire left in the solder joint, i guess this is where they go, they come from the plug that goes to the egnine.

hope this is where they go.

anyone please let me know

thank you

ron

The volume pot has three wires from the 12-pin connector,

 

 

I guess we are assuming this is a PS-2 engine.  Do you have a model number?

 

Testing in conventional is a good first step.  If the blue wire touched the chassis it could have damaged the board.  So we will keep our fingers crossed it starts up in conventional.

 

Also what battery does this have?  If a 9V like battery, make sure you install a new one before starting.  G

hello guys

thank you for replying

i have a blue volume pot, and it has a red, black and had an empty space on the other side, looking at it seems to look like the photo that gunrunner showed me, but i have a black wire also.

the model of this mikado on a sticker under neath it says PS2 , does this help?

it has a new and tested 9 volt battery in it

please let me know

thank you

ron

 

if you unhook the tender the lights come on for the engine?

the tender was making a very slight buzzing sound, so i seperated them, as soon as i did the engine lit up?

its the blue and gray wires, i just have to find out where they are supposed to go, gun runner is on it, but i have an additional black wire, so its still confusing just yet.

please let me know thank you 

ron

this engine is so new that the wheels done even show any micro dings from the track yet, i tested it when i got it and it worked back then but that was a few yrs back.

thank you guys

ron

i cannot help you in any way.but i am amazed at your tenacity!

 

go man go!   I hope it all works in the end and you get to JUST WATCH trains!!!

 

i would say that the blue wire goes on the tab by itself, then red in the middle and then black and the gray together?

black is ground and GGG said dont let the blue go to the chassis right?

im gonna think this one over.

i also took the engine apart, i found loose ground screws, and there is a big aluminum heat sink, it was loose from the factory and wouldnt have kept the transistor cool if it was used much, it was loose and would not have conducted any heat, its a good thing i didnt use it.

be right back,

i will be here looking for when someone chimes in.

thank you guys.

thank you redjimmy

i almost never give up unless it can take alot more than what its worth to fix something.

and if its a rare item, sometimes you go the extra mile and hold on at full speed.

thanks again

ron

Trace the black wire out and see where it goes. 

 

The three wires from the volume control go to the pins 10,11, & 12 on the 12-pin connector.  Pin 10 also splits off and goes to the smoke switch.

 

The gray wire is on the CW end of the pot, it corresponds to maximum volume, the blue wire is on the CCW end of the pot, and it's the one that splits off and also goes to the smoke switch.

 

 

i tried to find a wiring diagram, i wonder if i could look at a different loco i have, if there the same?

hmmmmm

as of now im tracing the black wire

hold on

theblack wire from the volume goes directly to the neg on the battery, no where else, so i assume it goes to ground in the loco?

wonder whats safe to do?

wire it like you said?

if i put the blue wire where you said to put it, it will go to the neg on the battery, should the blue wire touch anything negative?

just asking

thank you for your support.

ron

i took apart my 611 norfolk and western, it has the blue red gray configuration, only thing is, my mikado has that black wire?

i dont want to ground anything out?

has someone been in this thing and soldered it up wrong, i got it new but you never know, i wonder if the black should go to grouns somewhere on the tender, on my norfolk    the black goes to some kind of 2 pin plug exposed under the tender, maybe for battery recharging ?

 

please let me know

thank you

ron

DO NOT CONNECT ANY OF THE WIRES TO FRAME GROUND!

 

Nothing except the track power connections on the 7-pin connector connect to frame ground.  Any other connection will be very bad for your PS/2 board's health!

 

The battery has it's own 2-pin connector on the power board, the red lead from the battery goes to one connection there, the black lead to the other.

 

I think you need to take this to an MTH tech, randomly connecting these wires will almost surely result in bad things happening.

 

Of course, it would help if you provided pictures of what you have, we don't even know if it's a 3V board or a 5V board.  Is the battery a 9V rechargeable or a 2.4V rechargeable?

 

 

this is a 9 volt battery brd.

it has a black wire soldered to the volume control of the tender.

yes you are correct, im not going to just solder anything and see what happens, but im looking for an answer as to where the wires go?

i agree with the picture on the volume pot, BUT i have a black wire? it goes directly to the battery, so this means, that any voltage the battery gives out will go through the volume control, the black battery wire goes from the battery plug itself to a small white plug which is an easy disconnect, and then straight to the volume control?

hmmmmm

someone somewhere knows about this, maybe we can figure it out.

why would all the voltage go directly through the volume control from the battery?

out of the volume control and go either through the gray or blue wire?

the blue wire does what?

the gray does what?

hmm im going to go look at it again.

thank you sir

ron

red from the battery goes straight into the engine through an orange wire

black from battery goes straight to the volume control, if that is what it is? it isnt even labeled on the underside of the tender?

it is a blue pot though.

the gray wire comes directly from the engine plug, should i trace where it goes inside the loco?

The black wire is DC ground on the board, that's also the one side of the volume control.  However, if the battery wires don't go DIRECTLY to a small two-pin plug and nowhere else, someone has already been in there hacking at this unit.

 

Note the 2-pin connector labeled battery...

 

 

the battery wires do go to a small 2 pin plug, factory plug, after the plug the batt neg goes to the volume control.

now, does the gray and the black wires get along voltage wise?

if so, i can connect the gray to the black side, red in the middle and blue by itself

if the gray and black can be soldered together? on the ccw side of the volume.

the question is can gray be soldered to the black on the volume control?

the photo you showed is in the loco itself, im in the tender.

does this make a difference?

i havent changed anything in the engine

Since the wiring on that is not the standard factory wiring, I'm loath to continue advising you on connections, I have no idea what was done to it.  I've never seen one of these that had the battery negative jumpered over to the volume control.  They're both DC ground, but that's not how they come from the factory.

 

my tender looks like the tender in the photo in the begging of this topic.

but i have a black wire, i will trace the gray and see where it goes in the engine.

i appreciate it, nothing looks hacked in here, but the solder was kinda rough, but maybe they made it that way, i gotta find a photo, wonder if the guy who sent me the first photo has a photo of the rest of the tender?

it would show where the black wire goes right?

inside the engine, the black wire and 2 blue wires  all soldered to the brd that the plug, plugs into, there fore the black and blue are the same?

2 blues and 1 black inside the engine at the plug brd.

one of the blues goes directly to the on off switch. 

the other blue goes to the long volume plug or 12 pin connector

thank you guys for all your help

got it running, black and blue together on the volume, then red, then gray.

traced them inside the engine and both black and blue are together, they are neg for lights and engine ground.

thanks for all your help she is running good, whistle,brakes, boost, headlight,smoke, everything all works good 

THANK YOU ALL TO YOU GUYS ON HERE.

ron

i forgot to mention i have an associates in electronics at DeVry which helped me out alot, but without wiring diagrams you gotta do it the old way.

thanks for the help on here guys.

im not gonna let these engines set for to long again.

wish i could help someone out sometime.

thanks

ron

Was busy yesterday so I missed this, but it is standard wiring for PS-2 5V with board in the engine and battery in the tender.

 

You just have to be careful in not assuming because for many models black is used for AC ground between engine and tender.  Putting that on the Blue would damage the board.

 

Since the engine has the PS-2 board you don't need to send AC ground to the tender.  You only need to send over speaker, coupler, tender light, marker, and volume control. 

 

Smoke control is always located with the board.

 

Always good to start with a model # that way tech can help you zero in faster.  G

thanks for your reply
this is not a 5 volt brd, its a 9 volt, dont know if that means anything or
not, but i did trace the wires, and she runs fine.
will give a model number next time though, and any other info.
thank you for your reply
ron


In a message dated 2/2/2015 8:52:20 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
alerts@hoop.la writes:

The 5V board uses a 9V battery.

 

well
doesn't that make a boat load of sense huh?
no wonder everyone , was like "who is this guy?" anyway
i didn't take any voltage readings because my track is 7 ft up in the air
and its hard to reach and trouble shoot.
any more trouble and i might make a test track so i can do so.
i saw online on youtube, a guy had some kind of tool that put the train on
the track but held it up far enough so the wheels didn't contact the track
but the pick ups did? i might want one of these someday.
im pretty sure im right about the wires, it all works good anyway.
thank you again for all the help, i dont use the trains much, but it looks
like im going to more to keep the loosened up.
my wife said "you got a lot of money in those you should use them every
night"?
i was up till 2 am once and 3 am another night, we got up the next morning
and she said "up till 2 am playing with your trains eh?"
she laughed and i told her hey some guys are out hitting the bars, you
think you got problems, at least i was home right?
she just laughed, i dont drink or nothing just build new homes and have a
lot of different hobbies, to many really.
but a lot of hobbies means a very open mind.
it seems the few times im on the forum, no matter what, its the nicest
place to talk to people and converse with them, never had a bad event yet. ive
always told people about it.

have a nice night
thank you again for helping out
friends
ron



In a message dated 2/2/2015 11:34:13 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
alerts@hoop.la writes:

The 5V board use a 5V regulator to power the 5V processors.  The battery choice was probably a follow through from the PS-1 day with the 8.4V battery being common.

 

The 3V board has 3V processors.  So a 5V regulator feeds a 3V regulator to power the processors.  The 2.4V battery is connected via a buck/boost circuit to make 5V to keep the 5V regulator, therefore the 3V regulator powered during track power interruptions.

 

The refinement of the electronics and the growth in the AA and AAA batteries probably contributed to the shift in battery choice.

 

Common misconception that the battery rating equates to the board name.  G