[:)]i have the above engine which i have never run, i also have a pcc car that i did try out. should i install bcr units and charge them before i try running them? i have heard that if i do not change the battery, something bad will happen. thanks navyjack
Which protsound do you have, PS-1 or PS-2?
With PS-1 you must replace the battery with 9 volt rechargeable battery that is fully charged up before attemping to start the engine again. To the best of my knowledge using a BCR with PS-1 may kill or scramble the sound board because it needs the extra voltage at start-up to supply power to the electronics.
For the PS-1 engine that I bought at a train show I had to replace the battery as it was the original MTH battery, took the battery to my local hobby shop and the owner told me it was an MTH original. Had to buy a battery charger at Radio Shack to recharge the 9 volt battery, as MTH don’t make a battery charger for 9 volt baterries.
With PS-2 you may be able to swap the battery out for a BCR, but you may have to wait about two minutes with track power to the engine before the engine will move.
I have three PS-2 engines that still have the original MTH battery installed, however I use the MTH 120 volt separate powered charger and not track power to charge my batteries inside the engines. The electric power flickers a lot down here with FPL(a.k.a. flickering, powerless and lightless) so I bought the separate charger from MTH. The reason I mention this is because MTH says you can charge the battery by having the transformer power turned on for a few hours, but if the power flickers or drops out you may have high speed run-a-way engine!
With the PCC streetcar I don’t think that you have the PS-1 or PS-2 installed as it is too small a unit for that, but take the shell off and see if there is a battery inside, it may look like a regular 9 volt battery or a small portable telephone battery pack. If no battery or battery pack chances are NO Proto Sounds.
Lee F.
BCR’s were originally developed for PS-1 locos. I have had BCR’s in all my PS-1 locos for 5 or 6 years without any issues. Crank the loco up to 10 volts for about a minute and you are ready to go.
The PCC streetcars were originally released with the PS-1 sound chip. I have a BCR in mine and it runs great, the 5 station stops are a real kick. The latest PCC streetcars now come with PS-2. Same for the Galloping Goose, early releases were PS-1, later releases PS-2.