Skip to main content

I think I damaged my PS2 board.  I oiled the smoke fan motor due to noise.  Now the fan motor does not work.  However the fan works when I connect a 9 volt battery to it.  Train runs very slow in forward regardless of track voltage.  It runs normal in reverse and responds well to the remote for speed control voltage.   The sounds plays the bell continuously and I cannot do a factory reset on it.

 

Merry Christmas to all and I hope you find some new trains under the tree in the morning.

 

GT

Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

the fan motor is a 3 volt motor i hope you did not damage the motor because you can't buy the motor you have to buy the whole smoke unit with the motor, it's either $30.00 OR Fifety dollars!
Originally Posted by GT:

I think I damaged my PS2 board.  I oiled the smoke fan motor due to noise.  Now the fan motor does not work.  However the fan works when I connect a 9 volt battery to it.  Train runs very slow in forward regardless of track voltage.  It runs normal in reverse and responds well to the remote for speed control voltage.   The sounds plays the bell continuously and I cannot do a factory reset on it.

 

Merry Christmas to all and I hope you find some new trains under the tree in the morning.

 

GT

 

Repair Technician, The motor runs on 5 volts not 3 volts and you can buy the motor from MTH.  You do not have to buy the complete smoke unit.  Part number BE-0000041 for the fan motor. 

 

GT,  what PS2 steamer do you have?  Most PS2 steamers have the PS2 board in the tender.  I would say your best bet is to get your PS2 board to an MTH tech that can put it in his test fixture and check the board outputs.  I see where you live and you should be able to get Bill Lucas to do that for you.  If your board needs a component repair, contact forum member GGG.  When you ran your motor on 9 volts, did you do it with both wires unhooked?

 

One last thing you can try is to pull the 4 pin connector from your PS2 board and plug it back in.  That 4 pin has two wires for the fan motor and two for the heaters.

Last edited by Marty Fitzhenry

How did you oil it?  If you disassembled the smoke unit, make sure the gasket is not swollen, or the impeller is pushed too far down, or not down enough so that it hangs up on the top or bottom of the smoke unit.  You want just a 1/16" clearance.  Hopefully just one drop of oil was used, but unless you got it into the motor holes, it should be ok.

 

Is this the Bigboy?  If so read my post about you motors and linkage.

 

Also the bell only turns off when you press the bell button a second time.  You can do a conventional reset by hitting 1W and 5B in succession.  Your manual tells you how.

 

Lastly, if the bell is still on you may have motor lead with a nick that is grounding to the chassis.  That may also be your fwd motion problem.  

 

Or the smoke fan is bad and electrical noise is causing weird behavior.  Batteries provide more current than the board.  So a bad fan can work on a battery, but not in the engine.

 

You have a lot going on, so a tech is probably the best approach for you.   G

Last edited by GGG

Marty, I have the PRR Bantam Steam 6-8-6.  It is PS2.  The tender only contains the battery and speaker.  The bulk of the electronics are in the loco itself.  Unfortunately when I ran the fan on the 9 volt battery it was not disconnected from the main connector.  That is what I should not have done.  I'm hoping it was only FETs that I damaged and not the whole board.  Reseating the 4 pin connector didn't help either.

 

GGG,I did disassembled the smoke unit.  The gasket between the fan and smoke bowel is about an 1\8th inch thick.  I'm not sure if that is the normal thickness or not.  1 small drop of oil was all I used and it did quiet the fan noise.  The bell, no matter what I do I cannot shut it off.  The standard reset of 1W, 5B I can't even do as when I press the whistle button nothing happens but bell noise constantly.

 

So I think after what you both are saying I will definitely get the unit looked at by a tech.

 

I did not find any pinched wires.  I did remove the 4 pin connector from the board that controls the fan and smoke unit.  Once I did that the loco now runs normal and the bell stops ringing.  I am leaving it disconnected until I get this fixed.  I assume the FETs are bad and letting voltage flow back to other areas of the board that it shouldn't be going to. 

Originally Posted by GGG:

Check the purple wire and the gray wire to the smoke unit carefully for a nick in the insulation, especially around metal parts of the engine.  You can check the smoke element solder joint against a screw. Should be open.  George

All wires are in good shape.  Smoke unit ohms out to about 11 -12 ohms. I ran the engine without the shell on it and also without the shell on the tender.  I bench tested the fan and it works with a 1.5 volt battery connected to it.

The results are as follows:

1. With the four pin connector (for smoke and fan) NOT connected. All woks normal, forward, neutral, reverse and PS2 sounds.  I can also do a reset (1 W and 5 B).  I did this with the smoke unit switch both in the off and on setting. 

 

2.With the four pin connector connected the loco runs very slow in forward no matter what voltage I put to the track, normal in reverse and neutral.  PS2 sounds are working but I get the bell constantly and cannot shut it off or or do a reset.  I also did this with the smoke switch in the off and on setting.  I do get smoke when switch is on but no fan.  In either case the results are the same.

 

 

Last edited by GT

The smoke unit should read 8 ohms. There are 2 16 ohm elements in parallel.  When touching one lead to the smoke element joint and the other lead to the chassis do you get a reading or open.  Should be open.

 

Do you have individual 2 pin plugs near the smoke unit.  2 wire to fan motor and 2 to element?  You can test disconnecting just the fan motor.  Frankly at this point you can try a new fan motor.  If it is going or is bad it may cause these symptoms.  I realize it works on a battery, but a battery can source more current than the board does.   G

Originally Posted by GGG:

The smoke unit should read 8 ohms. There are 2 16 ohm elements in parallel.  When touching one lead to the smoke element joint and the other lead to the chassis do you get a reading or open.  Should be open.

 

Do you have individual 2 pin plugs near the smoke unit.  2 wire to fan motor and 2 to element?  You can test disconnecting just the fan motor.  Frankly at this point you can try a new fan motor.  If it is going or is bad it may cause these symptoms.  I realize it works on a battery, but a battery can source more current than the board does.   G

I get "open" (no reading) when touching a lead to either joint and the other lead to the chassis.

I do not have individual plugs near the smoke unit, they are soldered.

Originally Posted by GGG:

It is possible you have a shorted FET in the board, or the smoke fan is bad.  At this point board needs to be tested to help isolate the issue.  G

Thanks G.  I am going to my local hobby shop and see if they can test the board. I won't get down there until Friday.  I'll keep you posted on the results.

 

Happy New Year!

 

GT

Add Reply

Post
The DCS Forum is sponsored by

OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×
×