Install ERR Cruise in MTH Berk

Thanks John. I think I will look into buying the ERR smoke fan puffer board. One other thing The smoke board on this Loco is powered directly by track power and the engine does not have PS- 1 installed. Is it still the same board?

The previous electronics has no bearing on usage, if you're installing the Cruise Commander, this board was made compatible with it.  It connects in parallel from the chuff switch with the RailSounds Commander inputs and modulates the fan, which is connected as well.  It also requires track power to run the power supply.

John, I just ordered the smoke puffer board from Boxcarbill. I checked the smoke unit on my loco today and at 8.5-9 volts track power the board outputs about 4.5 volts dc to the fan motor. The smoke board must have a built in rectifier. I plan on running the smoke board from the smoke output on the cruise board and the fan through the puffer board so the smoke is timed with the chuffs. The fan motor is connected to the existing smoke board with a 2 wire molex connector so it will be easy to connect it to the puffer board. At this time I plan on installing the puffer board in the loco and the cruise  and sound boards in the tender. Have you ever used the puffer board in an MTH loco? Thoughts?

I've only used one of the puffer boards, I got it for a project.  I used a Lionel smoke unit with it, it just powered the fan and the smoke output from the R2LC powered the resistor.  It worked just fine.

Since the fan is connected directly to the ERR puffer board, the voltage regulator and rectifier on an MTH or Lionel fan smoke unit are bypassed, correct? Therefore, I presume the puffer board has it's own voltage regulator and rectifier; I believe MTH smoke boards have A 5V regulator; anyone know what the voltage out from the puffer board is? 

I have done conversions of PS 1 to PS 2 and know that the traces of the MTH smoke board need to be cut through; would I need to do the same for the ERR PUFFER when doing a cruise commander and puffer upgrade?

Thanks,

Mack

You cut no traces on the PS/1 board for a TMCC upgrade, the smoke unit can be connected just like the Lionel ones for this task.

Thanks very much, John. I have learned a great deal from your posts. Much appreciated.Mack

You're welcome.