my wife gave me an mth fa2 aa diesel for my birthday. i tried to follow the instructions of throttling up (not past 10 volts as the manual says)and slowly throttling down to off and back on again to get the engine out of reset mode into forward mode. i can’t get this thing to do anything but make 2 bell sounds, throttle up and sit with it’s lights on. it won’t move.
help!!
thanks
dave
Hi Dave,
Welcome to the CTT forum.
It sounds like your are operating your engine in the convetional mode (non-command).
Turn your power on and the throttle up to about 10 volts, then press the direction buttone and see what happens. MTH engines start up in nuteral. You have to press the direction button for them to move.
tom
Might need a good battery charge as well, just leave it in neutral with the power up to, I believe, about 12 volts and let it set for awhile.
Doug, That’s a very good point. I was coming back to just post about that. [:D]
How old is your engine [?] Do you have the item number from the end of the box [?]
It would be 20- something or 30- something.
If the battery is more than 4 years old, it should be replaced. A low charged battery will also leave the engine lock in netural. [;)]
#30-2174-1
i tried pushing the direction button with no luck it just rings twice and sits there. i’ll try the battery charge
OK this is an old PS1 engine from 2000. The battery is past it live. Buy an new battery, charge it up and replace the one in there. You could also repace the battery with a BRC unit. http://www.jandwelectronics.com
YOu can TEST your engine with a standard 9 volt battery. But do not leave it in there as it can not withstand the charging unit.
tom
Dave,
If all of the above fail:
Certain MTH locomotives can get their “brains” scrambled if one attempts to operate them with a low charge in the battery. MTH offers a chip to fix this. MTH and some of their dealers have them. Some dealers will do the “unscramble” for you if you take the locomotive to them. Call ahead and ask.
Also, certain modern transformers, notably the Lionel CW-80 I believe, are simply not compatible with MTH PS-1 locomotives. If you have your MTH owner’s manual, check it to see whether your transformer is compatible.
Others on this and other forums know much more about this than I do. Keep trying and report what equipment you are using and what “fixes” you have tried. Someone will get it right.
gmc
well all i have to say is thank you all!!! it was the battery. i plugged a regular 9 volt in and it ran like a champ.i’ll be buying a new mth battery tomorrow.
thanks again
dave
Why would the CW-80 Lionel Transformer give the MTH engines problems? I’m confused on this matter. Anyone know exactly why?
The CW-80 uses a crop sine wave to change the voltage output. MTH eninges like a full sine wave transformer.
Well I’ll find out soon enough if it will work ok as I have two MTH engines and tenders coming, both steam engines with Proto Sound not the Proto 2.0.
YOu may be lucky, some engines are ok with it and some are not.
I used a CW 80 for short time with two PS2 engines, one steamer with a 3 volt system from a starter set would run OK, another older diesel with a (I think) a 5 volt board would sometimes just sit on the tracks a blow the horn and not move. I couldn’t get any of the conventional PSA sounds or or couplers to work.
Well so far the first engine is working ok. It is a 4-8-2 Mohawk Texas & Pacific Steamer made I believe in 1997. It has the proto sounds. I thought it had the Speed control option too but none of the paperwork says anything about it and it doesn’t maintain a constant speed at all. It slows down considerably in the turns and the chuffing sound isn’t nearly as good as my Lionel engine but man does it smoke!
That Mohawk was the first MTH engine that I bought and still love it.
The sound systems from 97 have really changed over the years.
Yep that is the engine I have. A beauty for sure. I see You pull a passenger line with your engine. I have to get the passenger cars yet. Any idea where I can pick them up at a decent price? Is it possible to update the sound system by using the update downloads? so am I correct in that this particular engine does not have the speed control on it? I have a 2-8-0 Pennsylvania coming and it is a 2005 model with proto sound and it states it has the speed control option. Does this option require a special transformer of anykind? The one I have coming came out of a set that was sold with the Z1000 transformer so I’m guessing it shouldn’t need anykind of a special transformer. I do appreciate the knowledge here! Thanks guys.
By going to this link
http://www.mth-railking.com/list3.asp?qwest=0&cat=any&cla=Passenger&lin=RailKing&rn=texas&naam=&cab=
you will see all the add on that have also been made.
The good news is that they were in the 97 catalog, so price should be good,
The Bad news is that they were in the 97 catalog and my be hard to find.
Updating the sound system only leaves you two choices.
Transformer - any per sine wave transformer should be fine.
thanks, now one more question… I’m not familiar with “QSI”
QSI was the mfg. of the sound board for MTH up to 2000 when MTH changed to PS2. I believe QSI is still making sound board. So if you want improved sound board, that would be your best bet.
You have any idea how to contact them? Did you get your T&P set complete or individual pieces and put it all together. The rechargable battery is bad in my tender and I am presently “Temporarily” using a 9V, could I use a rechargable 9V battery to replace the one that MTH installed or do I have to get a specific one from them?? Any idea what they cost?