Engine error

Is this a 5V or 3V PS-2.  Did you try to do this on a programming track? 

You can try a "recover engine".  G

My initial though is that this engine may be associated with a different tiu other than tiu 1. I would use a small test track with no other engines receiving power and try adding again.  Maybe even cycle tiu power. (turn off and on)

 When I get engine error, I was thinking that the address matched that of a consist? The system can't move the consist and won't change the engine to a new address. So it comes up as an error.

 The part about the lights coming on when power is applied threw me.

"and turned the power on to the DCS, I heard the click indicating power and the lights came on"

that could be it Joe. The fix is to move (edit address) the lash-up to a different ID   on the remote

 in the remote's engine setup menu, there is a recover engine function in certain newer DCS releases. It works when the engine's ID was set at some out of whack number to "recover it" back to where the remote can find it. I have only had that work once when an engine was thrown out by a bug in a certain DCS software release.

 I'll have to go get my remote to find the steps.

 I guess we might start with some basics like what version of DCS is loaded in the remote, and the tiu?

Joe... I have the Rev L version of tiu and remote

Also I removed this unit and placed another unit on the test track and it worked fine. I don't have any other track or units other than this 1 piece of test track currently attached to this TIU

OK, lets try it. Recover engine =

press Menu

scroll to system and select

scroll to engine setup and select

scroll to recover engine and select

Was the remote purchased as a set with the TIU? When you turn on the remote, it says what version of DCS software is being used.

You can check the software in the TIU through selecting in the menu.

Some older DCS versions didn't have the recover feature. I believe any newer version L tiu would have it. So I'm just wondering how old your remote is?

 When you turn on the power to the engine, just what exactly which lights come on?

each version of DCS had different features, so that's why I ask about the version. It's important to have the remote match the TIU so there's no struggle between them.

 It's good to know that another engine works to help rule out other problems.

Well, that's good to know at least there should be a recover function if the TIU is a "L". The software still needs to match but that shouldn't cause this symptom, I would guess. If the remote was in the same packaging as the TIU as a set then it should match anyways. If they were separate, then the remote could have different software.

When I turned on the power to the DCS system with the engine on the test track, you can hear the click in the engine letting you know that it is getting power and the front light flash.  then normally with a new engine, you add the engine and it searches and locates the engine and then it shows that engine on the screen. When trying to add this engine, it runs through the search then shows engine error. I tried this several times and then tried the engine with mth manual controller. I dialed up to about 80 percent power, the lights lite up, I could blow the horn, pressed the bell button and the bell rings, pressed the direction button and the locomotive would start moving. and that where I'm at with this

Yep try the recover engine feature as suggested by G and Joe, Must be TIU #1 with no other engines on the track.. Menu/system/engine set up/ recover engine.. It goes by fairly quickly so have an eye. This feature does not automatically add the engine, It just says engine recovered or not.

If that does not  work I would reset the remote and tiu which would eliminate any ID conflicts . a test or programming track is a must to avoid some of these problems. It's also possible the tiu is not doing it's job putting out a good dcs signal. maybe test the track  signal with the engine you can add. With a small test track the dcs signal should be a perfect 10.

Ooops, didn't see Gregg's post while typing.

Are you near any train store's that offer MTH repair and service?

The dealer loader program can tell what address is stored in the board to help sort out issues.

 Have you tried the recover? It won't hurt anything and is worth a shot.

Looks like the recover engine feature was added to DCS with 4.1

Thanks folks for some hints....My train and dcs system is in my shop so I will have to wait until tomorrow to make these tests and trials. Tks again  Larry

I have purchased a ton of used engines now. I have had problems with very few of them. Unless the board has been damaged, which would be odd seeing that it still runs in conventional, it should add.

 It just hit me that a dead battery would also cause the system to struggle with adding.

 Try running the engine (or just sitting in neutral) on the track for about fifteen minutes with the power above 12 volts to charge it and then try adding it again. You can do a battery test by cutting the track power off when the engine is running and see how long the sounds last. The engine should play the whole shutdown sequence if the battery is decently charged.

 BTW, that is a great looking engine and I was just on the fence about buying one. I run 2 rail and would have to swap stuff out. I am jealous.

Joe...I decided to go try to get some form of action. I tried engine recovery with no recovery response, so I deleted all my engines that I have and after I cleared all them out of the hand held, I entered add engine and it found the engine and it works fine, xcept the smoke unit don't produce smoke, the fan runs but the element is either burned out or needs a new wick. I have new wicks so I will see if that works if not I will try to find a smoke unit. All the other functions worked that I could tell

Joe That was the first thing that I did...I charged the battery with a wall charger for 15 hours and when the engine wouldn't function I pulled the battery out and checked it with a volt meter and it was holding 2.7 volts

I also noticed when this engine was added that it showed in the first number as a 6 and I am wondering if some of my other engines was also a 6 and that might be the reason that the system couldn't pick it up... What do you think??????

I am glad it's running!

I have an engine right now where the board's address doesn't seem to want to be changed. It had a dead battery. I put in a BCR2 and it added after I cleared out address #1. I tried to change it and strangely, it stayed at address #1? I need to look closer but being lazy, I just left it alone for now.

There are software bugs with each version of DCS. There are also other problems that pop up. All of these have what's called "work a rounds". I don't keep notes on these like I should have.

 When I first started with MTH's system, it worked great. If I added a new engine, it went right in like a breeze. It got more and more complex as my roster grew. Each software release caused new issues for me. It has always worked out and I'm still enjoying it. It just takes some patience that at times, I don't have to spare.

I know what you mean, you want to put it on the track and presto it works. That's not the case all the time I have 12 other MTH engines and I bet one of them is identified by a number 6 so I will have to change this one to something else. I am going to check the smoke unit on this one and see if it needs a new wick.. I keep about 10 around for this purpose. I'm hoping that is all it needs. I could see the fan spinning and could feel the air coming from the smoke unit but no smoke. Thought I saw a faint amount once. And to think this was listed as a new unit. The engineer had fallen off, had drops of brown paint on top of the cab and a cracked section on the left front corner. The rollers and wheels didn't look they had been run hardly any tho. anyway have a great weekend.....Larry

The last several engines that didn't smoke were easy to fix. A couple of them, I just blew down the stack because an air bubble was blocking it. A couple of others were packed so tightly, that air couldn't come out. I used a thin zip tie with the engine off, and moved the wick to create an opening.

 Only two had to be opened up and still just needed to be re-packed for air movement.

When trying to add this engine, it runs through the search then shows engine error.

Your problem was that you had a lashup in the remote that had the same DCS ID# as the engine that you were attempting to add. This bug, only in DCS 4.20, is about the only way to get an ENGINE ERROR message.

The bug was fixed in DCS 4.30.

If you would have looked at The DCS O Gauge Companion 2nd Edition, you would have known this. It's right in the Table of Contents. referenced at page 149:

Engine Error

Although this error message is not very common, there is one circumstance in which it will appear every time the operator attempts to add a PS2 engine to a DCS Remote that has DCS 4.1 loaded into it. This is due to a bug in DCS 4.1and 4.2 that will not allow a PS2 engine to be added to a DCS Remote if the PS2 engine that the operator is attempting to add has the same DCS ID# as does a lashup that is already in the DCS Remote.

The workaround is to use the Edit Address function to change the lashup's DCS ID# to something else, allowing the new PS2 engine to be added. If necessary, once the new PS2 engine has been added, its DCS ID# can be changed and the lashup's DCS ID# can be changed back to what it was previously. Refer to Part II - DCS Is An Operating System for Your Trains!, 5. DCS Menus, System Menu, Engine Setup for additional information regarding the Edit Address menu function.

This and a whole lot more is all in MTH’s “The DCS O Gauge Companion 2nd Edition", available for purchase as an eBook or a printed book at MTH's web store!

Glad you got, I was tied up or was it lashed up last night so no time for the forum.

I have seen this ID conflict before, unfortunately if you only have one remote it is difficult to determine if you have an id issue unless you clear your remote.

As a tech the bench remote is always empty of engines.

As far as smoke, you don't need a new smoke unit.  They are rebuildable.  If the wick is burned, replace it.  If the you have a VM measure the solder joints of the resistors and you should get 8 ohms.  If not the elements may be bad.

Do make sure the fan is rotating, and that the smoke output is fully on.  Diesels won't smoke as much as steam, but you should get good smoke.

If the smoke element is all fine, it is possible a broken wire or the FET on the board is bad.  All are fixable.  G

George,

I have seen this ID conflict before, unfortunately if you only have one remote it is difficult to determine if you have an id issue unless you clear your remote.

Actually, that's not necessarily the case.

The tip-off is that the ENGINE ERROR message is almost never issued except when this particular bug (unique to DCS 4.20) is encountered.. Then, all that's necessary to do is to edit the DCS ID# of each lashup that's in the remote to some other DCS ID#. The new engine will almost certainly then add correctly.

This was corrected, along with a couple of other ugly bugs, in DCS 4.30.

I have seen this ID conflict before, unfortunately if you only have one remote it is difficult to determine if you have an id issue unless you clear your remote.

As a tech the bench remote is always empty of engines.

So is my spare remote...A programming track can eliminate most of these problems.

Ex  2 brand new engines with ID 1 .  put  both on the track and the remote will find one of them but take forever if at all finding the other engine. take the one added  off the take and the remote finds the other  engine with little or no problems

Anyway glad to hear you found the engine. good stuff..

Barry, I agree, except it is a pain if you have a lot of data on your remote and you need to randomly start changing stuff to find an unknown engine ID to free up.

I think I have seen this occasionally with just ID conflict, no lashup, as Gregg mentioned above.    G

George,

I agree, except it is a pain if you have a lot of data on your remote and you need to randomly start changing stuff to find an unknown engine ID to free up.

It's not all that bad, since most folks would know what lashups they made and where they put them. When the ENGINE ERROR appears on an add engine attempt, it's always a lashup that's the problem and only lashups need to be moved.

I finally got all the kinks out and got the locomotive up and running with everything functioning as it should....Thanks all you train doctors for the help....Your the greatest

OK!

but now we need pictures please!

( I really wanted this engine...)

Joe...I will take 2-3 pix and post them...Right now there is one just like it on ebay...heres the site ...http://www.ebay.com/itm/MTH-SD...;hash=item4ae4a019ab

Barry....I finally removed all the engines from the remote,,which included a lashup and started fresh with the problem engine...It loaded perfectly and functions just like new. Now to reload the rest all MTH premier Norfolk Southern...1 AC6000, 2 SD80MAC, 1 SD90MAC, 1ES44AC, 2DASH9-40 AND 1 DASH 8-40 1 SD60

which included a lashup

That was the cause of your ENGINE ERROR.

Joe  heres some pix