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A couple of non-forumite friends of mine have PS2 board questions so I'm asking them here.

1) Friend #1 has a PS2 Premier steam locomotive that had blown boards.  He had it converted to an electronic e-unit since he was running only in conventional mode at the time.  He now has DCS running on his layout and wants to install PS2 in it again.  His question is on the availability of PS2 steam board kits.  Are they available at this time and from where?

2) Friend #2 has a PS2 RailKing 2-8-2 steam locomotive from back when PS2 first came out.  This is his only modern locomotive on an otherwise postwar Lionel layout.  He has run the 2-8-2 a lot, always in conventional.  He was away from the hobby for several months and when he recently got back, the 2-8-2 wouldn't run.  He took it to his LHS and they told him the boards were dead.  I'm not sure that is the case.  Before replacing the boards (he doesn't have tons of money), is there a way to get his loco tested and perhaps repair the existing boards?

Thanks for any guidance you all can provide.

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Steam kits are available from MTH, I got a couple several weeks ago.

You can send the board set to an ASC and they can test them on the PS/2 test set.  However, the 5V boards are quite infamous for dying a sudden death coming out of storage, so the LHS may not be pulling your leg.  The only way to know is to test them.  The probably of repairing the 5V board set is low to very low, usually when they go totally dead, they're really totally dead.

GGG in the forum here can test them and if possible he'll repair them, but don't count on the repair.

There is only one steam and one diesel PS/3 upgrade kit, it's the same for any locomotive.  There's really little point in upgrading a PS/2 locomotive to PS/3, the capabilities are similar.  If you have an older PS/2 that the board has died, you can install the PS32 board in it's place and use the existing wiring.

It's certainly possible for someone to test the board, and also to load a sound file into a new board before shipping.  Of course, it's really not that difficult for you to load the sound file as well.

Don't fix stuff that ain't broke!

It may run for years, but you do want to replace the battery before you try to run it.  I still have some 5V boards in locomotives, I'm not replacing them until I need to.

One thing I'd look at while it's open to replace the battery.  Check if there are any signs of these capacitors leaking or bulging in any way, especially the one indicated by the arrow.  They will normally exhibit some bulging on the top or the bottom, and occasionally you'll see a little leakage from them.  If so, and you haven't powered it on, it may be saved by a replacement cap before you power it on.

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That is a PS-2 3V board and I have never seen one bulge?  You meant the 5V board correct?

Boards can be tested, e-mail in my profile.  If your doing an upgrade it is all inclusive in the kit.  Engine difficulty varies, and your electrical and mechanical skills matter.  If your not good at fixing household stuff, chances are you may not be good at upgrading a train.  You can read the manual on line.

As far as repairing an older engine with a new PS-32 board, that can be a little more involved as it requires a speaker swap, the board with the proper connectors, and more mechanical fitting since it has a different shape and connector location than the board being replaced.  Smaller the space harder the installation.  G

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