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Howdy Folks,

 

I purchased a brand-new Boston and Maine E8 AA Diesel Engine set.  It sure is pretty.  Anyway to the point.  I am working on a test track with a TIU, AIU and 2 Switches.  This is all new within the past 3 weeks and is running version 4.20.  The TUI is powered separately from the track.  I am powering the track via the Fixed1 channel.  I've gone through what I believe to be all the basic trouble shooting items, but I am unable to add the new engine to the remote.  I checked and the switch on the bottom of the locomotive is set to DCS and not DCC.  All of my PS-2 engines run fine.  Anything else I can try?

 

Best!

~MattS

Original Post

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Originally Posted by jjames9641:

I had a similar problem a short time ago with the new MTH Erie Lack. E-8's. The DCS/DCC switch was installed backwards in the loco. Meaning when I thought the loco was in DCS it was in DCC. Try to set it to DCC {which would actually be DCS if it is in fact reversed} and see if the remote accepts it?

Thank you for the reply, I just tried that and still nothing.  Could the battery be that low that it isn't responding?  The LTS literally just got it in yesterday and I purchased it today, oiled and greased and put it on the track.

 

~Matt

Originally Posted by MattSaint:

I forgot to mention, that after powering up the track the locomotive starts up, sounds wise...  I am not sure if that is just because it hasn't been added to DCS remote yet, or it thinks it is operating in conventional mode?

 

~Matt

Although I don't have any PS-3 engines  I'm certain it shouldn't start up with sounds and lights upon powering up the test track.  Why is it starting in conventional mode?

Doesn't matter if it's been added to the remote or not, it should be dark & silent.

 

You may  want to do a signal test on the test track with a proto-2 just to rule out a faulty tiu , Do the proto-2s come up dark & silent untill addressed?

As you know the watch dog DCS signal goes out any time the voltage is raised above zero on any channel. Engines should be dark & silent.


 

Thank you all for your replies. 

 

I didn't see the post, before I fired up the engine and left it sitting on the track to charge the battery while I went to the garage to work on my track.  I came back in and tried again without success.

 

One of the things I tried was a signal check with my PS-2 Hudson.  I ran it around my short test track and received a 10 around the entire track except one of the switches which read a 7.

 

My PS-2 engines come up dark on both the Fixed 1 and Fixed 2 Channels.  I've plugged in and shut down bunches of times. Out of all of those times, the new engine came up dark once, but I was still unable to add it to the remote.

 

No lash-ups of any kind in the remote.  I did try a TIU reset, but not the remote reset.  I will give that a try now and see if there is any change.

 

~Matt

Originally Posted by jonnyspeed:

Do any PS3 engines work? Or just this one has the issue? Will it run on AC? I seem to remember having to upgrade DCS in both the TIU and Remote to support PS3.

This is my first PS-3 engine.  All of the others are PS-2.  I have version 4.20 in the remote and the TIU and haven't seen any other software available.  Unless I am missing something?

 

~Matt

Matt,

Take a look at the thread Signal strength problems P2 versus P3. You're not alone with this problem. I've spent many hours armed with aligator clamps and fiber pins with very little success trying to get a good signal strength with my only PS3 engine. PS2 engines get 7-9 everywhere except one small 4 foot section(I can live with that as the rest of the 120 foot loop is fine). PS3 gets 1-3 and is almost non functional. I wonder if I'm at the limit of what my variable 1 channel REV I TIU can put out and am just not getting a good enough signal for PS3. After spending a lot of time I really think the PS3 engines require a better/stronger signal than PS2. I'm ordering a new REV L TIU with the hope that I'll get a better signal as Barry suggested might happen. If that doesn't work I'm going to be very hesitant to buy any more PS3 engines until I resolve the problem. Please let us know what MTH determines.

Ed

Originally Posted by ekaz:

Matt,

Take a look at the thread Signal strength problems P2 versus P3. You're not alone with this problem. I've spent many hours armed with aligator clamps and fiber pins with very little success trying to get a good signal strength with my only PS3 engine. PS2 engines get 7-9 everywhere except one small 4 foot section(I can live with that as the rest of the 120 foot loop is fine). PS3 gets 1-3 and is almost non functional. I wonder if I'm at the limit of what my variable 1 channel REV I TIU can put out and am just not getting a good enough signal for PS3. After spending a lot of time I really think the PS3 engines require a better/stronger signal than PS2. I'm ordering a new REV L TIU with the hope that I'll get a better signal as Barry suggested might happen. If that doesn't work I'm going to be very hesitant to buy any more PS3 engines until I resolve the problem. Please let us know what MTH determines.

Ed

Ed, when I get the engine back, I will rerun the signal strength test and report back my findings.  Without being able to add it to the remote and with getting a signal strength of 10 with my PS=2 engines, not sure how I would check this?

 

~Matt

Matt,

I had an extra TIU and took it and 4 feet of track over to the work bench. When I hooked it up the PS3 engine added easily and got good signal strength. If you have only one TIU I would think that if you hooked it up to a separate test track you would get the same results. Whenever the P3 engine would not function properly on the layout, I could reset it fine on the test track.

 

Ed

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