I received these Motorola 1.5KE33CA 33V TVS two-way diodes
and installed one across the output terminals on my Z 1000 brick to protect the $$ electronics in my PS3 SW1500s:
But then reading threads about transient protection I ran across the sensible recommendation (thanks, GUNRUNNERJOHN) to install a TVS diode in the locomotive directly on the power input to the circuit board. So I looked under the hood and found that the wires from the power pickups and from the truck frames (outside rail) make a junction with the circuit board input leads using wire nuts. Huh. Nothing could be simpler than to add a TVS diode at that location so I did:
If all PS3 engines are wired the same way it will be pretty simple to add transient voltage protection.
Having done this my only concern is whether it is possible for TVS diodes to fail in such a way as to melt because that could possibly damage either the adjacent wiring or the locomotive plastic shell. Aside from a nearby lightning strike has anyone seen such a dramatic failure?
Oh, and a tip I picked up (don't ask how) is that when removing the shell from an SW1500, in order to avoid scratching the paint first remove the truck frames to gain access to the forward pair of cab mounting screws. The single hood mounting screw is accessed through a hole in the front pilot.
