TIU Repair

Try “GGG” from the forum. He repaired mine last year. Price was reasonable, and his service fair. Came back right, and has performed flawlessly ever since. Search members for his contact info.

RRAddict posted:

My TIU is unable to see any of my locomotives. The red light inside lights up but there seems to be no power from DCS output 1. I tried DCS output 2 and as soon as power is applied the locomotive starts up but the locomotive is still not recognized. Is there anywhere I can send this to have it fixed. I would buy a new one if I can find one.

I know you said channel 2 sent power to the train.  I has similar experience over the weekend.  Turns out I had a loose cable.  Have you tried the following:

• Disconnect Wi-Fi, aux power from the TIU (Wallwart) and disconnect transformer from main power.  Necessary for TIU reboot.  WiFi will power TIU red led.
• Reconnect power and check
• Remove TIU cover and check to see if boards are snug ( I’ve read here that a board, possibly radio pub can loosen).
• Check fuses while they are accessible.

These steps are simple for operators and have a shot of helping.  It will also help get a head start on diagnosing for you tech.

BTW, if typo, can you edit it so a person down the line does a search to fix a similar problem.  let us know what you find.

Make sure you have the power input in fixed not variable - easy mistake, don't ask how I know... LOL

What version TIU Do you have? Look on the bottom. If it is unmarked, it is the oldest version: Rev G. Pictures are helpful!

Chris

LVHR

If it's the old Rev. G, I'd suggest replacing it.  If it's a newer one, I can probably fix it.

Shoot, the DCS truck just rolled by my office before I could grab one

go to "service" on the MTH website to find a repair center near you..

Bruce

The symptoms suggest that his Rev. G has the cooked internal trace, there is no fix for that.

GRJ, Why can't you put a jumper wire from one end of the trace to the other to eliminate the open circuit?

You'd have to ask MTH the details.  I know when you turn the board over and see the brown embedded trace that MTH states it's un-repairable, and I've never figured out how to get around it.  I suspect that it's broken some internal connections in the multi-layer board that can't be easily reached or bypassed.  I've seen a few of these, and I never found a way to fix that channel.  I was using one for some time on my bench powering it with the aux input and just using the three other channels, but eventually it totally crapped out and I scrapped it.  However, I did save the parts, recently sold the case to replace a broken one, and I also occasionally need the banana jacks for melted ones.

Soldered wires are Rev G, did a wire break off on F1, did you have an over heated terminal melt plastic near F1 and effectively disconnect it from the high resistance?  G

I have not had a chance to turn the board over yet but I see no melted or burnt plastic.

Who works on TIU

@santa fe posted:

Who works on TIU

Second and third posts above yours.

hi if you have melted plastic, traces are burn up on the bottom of the circuit board and that is unrepairable! That was a problem with the REV G!

Alan

Santa Fe, tiu's can sometimes be repaired what rev tiu do you have let me know maybe i can help !

Alan

I do.  G

I agree with Jim M's recommendation regarding GGG.  I do deem GRJ as also being reliable.