What came first, 5 volt boards,or 3 volt boards????

The PS2 5 volt boards came first and were replaced by the 3 volt boards, which were subsequently replaced by PS3 boards.

PS2 5 volt boards initially had no charging port at all. Later PS2 5 volt boards had a round charging port and 3 volt PS2 boards have a rectangular port. PS3 boards have no charging ports since they have no battery to charge.

Thanks Barry!!! What were the years that the 5 volt boards ran???

What month and year did they introduce the 3 volt board????    Still no luck with getting my DCS companion back.

The 5 volt boards were in 2000 Proto-2  engines before the days of the remote & tiu.   Remote & tiu showed up  around April 02. I don't know when the 3 volt started,( upgrade kits were 3 volt)

I think the 3V boards were out in quantity by 2004, I think a couple may have been in new models for 2003, but I don't know for sure.

Kenny,

Still no luck with getting my DCS companion back.

Did you contact OGR regarding downloading a new copy of The DCS Companion?

Thanks So much for your replies!! So anything 2004 and later,has a 3 volt board.

Anything from 2000-2003 is a 5 volt board. 

And you might find a few 2003 models with a 3 volt board,but no doubt they were using up the 5 volt stock left over before the 3 volt boards were put out in quanity. 

Question Answered. Bet settled!!!!!!  

I learn more about MTH everyday.and just think,I USED to run only Lionel.Boy did I miss out on some fun,being a postwar hold out.

I still love my postwar Lionels, but as far as new stuff, MTH packs more bang for your buck!!!! 

I was at Stockyard Express today,and saw some pretty impressive paint jobs on the new MTH stuff.  Thanks so much guys for setting the history straight,-Kenny Baughman

Barry Broskowitz posted:

Kenny,

Still no luck with getting my DCS companion back.

Did you contact OGR regarding downloading a new copy of The DCS Companion?

Barry,

I drive truck during the day ,and have left a few voicemails but have not heard anything back yet.

Maybe Sante Fe Clause will bring me a new one!!!! 

I spilled the Pepsi into the MacBook,it's all my fault!!!

Now if that had been a Beer.everything woulda probably been okay!!!(LMAO!!!))-Kenny

Well, it's not "quite" that settled.  There was a bit of mixing in the 2004 and even in the 2005 timeframe, a couple of 5V models came out.

The way I figure it out is to look at the website, most of the models have a user's manual or a sound file.  If the sound file is a 3V file only, they should be a 3V model.  If there is a 5V or a 5V and 3V, then they're a 5V model.  In the user's manual, you can check the section on the battery, that tells you what you have as well.

Gunrunner is right about the boards. I have an engine 20-2595-1 Harley Davidson SD60M  that came with a 5 volt board from 2005.

I got a sneaky one from 2005 that had a 5V board, I didn't realize before that engine that they reached into 2005.

Just when you think you know it all

willygee post

willygee posted:

Just when you think you know it all

 

Yes Sir!

Just when you think you've heard it all, seen it all, and done most of it, an idiot like me asks a question like this!!!

I've just heard so many different answers on this question,I knew I had to ask the guys on here t really know,and be able to tell the difference when purchasing used MTH.

There really is no tell tale sign on what  board is in a particular MTH engine,unless you can locate the rectangular charging port,which indicates it's a 3 volt board.A circular charging port indicates it's a 5 volt board inside. 

It gets even harder to tell the difference when you buy a used train ONLINE,unless once again,you can see that rectangle charging port,indicating a 3 volt board is inside,or a circular charging port indicating a 5 volt is inside. 

From this day forward,I am staying away from the 5 volt boards, and I am very thankful to you guys who responded.

It will really help me when considering and "haggeling" the price for a Used Engine.   I guess it was all part of MTH history,and watching a product line get better as time went along.

The 3 volt boards are not perfect,but at least a skilled tech can repair parts of them if they go bad,but not all of the parts. Now, we are at Proto 3.0 and we will see if that was an improvement over the 3 volt board.  I can only afford used stuff,so I won't be getting any Proto 3.0 trains for a few years yet!!!!    

Like GRJ said,it also helps if you pop open the search for a product on MTH's website,and take a look at the original owners manual, which seems proud to boast  "3 volt board" right on the front cover.

I have learned a lot from this post,and will continue to learn as long as there are good people willing to share helpful knowledge with you.  Thanks AGAIN everybody!!!!

Just keep in mind that all of the manuals for 3V stuff don't actually say that on the front cover.  They did that at first I suspect as the 5V boards had garnered a somewhat checkered reputation, but later it doesn't specifically mention it.  Looking at the battery maintenance section of the manual is about 99% certain.  I have run across at least one that said it had a 3V board, but the actual model had the 5V board.