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As you all know, the PS3 upgrades are on the way.  I did a PS3 Diesel upgrade for testing last September.   Mike informed me I can now share information and pictures with OGR Forum members.  MTH is now releasing the replacement boards to replace old and worn 5 volt boards.  The platform that MTH is using is the PS3 diesel board with a plug in adaptor board.  This adaptor board allows you to pull out your PS2 5 volt board and plug in this new board.  Your new board will now make your locomotive a PS3 locomotive less the battery and associated hardware.  You will need to load a PS2 3V file or an updeted to 3V 5V file.   MTH is using the diesel board in the conversion and upgrade kit.  To tell the difference on the two adaptor boards, the 5 volt version will have black (HIROSE) connectors and the 3 volt board will have white (CHYAO SHIUNN) connectors.  The part number on the diesel board is AE-1000035.  The 5 volt adaptor board is part number AE-1005v36 and the 3 volt adaptor board is AE-1003v36.  A new heat sink number IC-0000026 is needed. The first few pictures will show the diesel board and adaptor board for 3 volt plugs.  This is what you will see in your upgrade kits.

 

The next picture will show a PS3 board set (bottom) with a PS2 board set to show you they are about the same size.  I will then show the PS3 mounting bracket (top) next to a PS2 bracket.  FYI, the holes line up even with each other.

 

The next picture will show both the 3 volt and 5 volt adaptor boards.  The 3 volt is the one on the top with the white Chyao Shiunn connectors.  The 3 volt board is plugged into the diesel board.  Using the diesel board with the adaptor boards is a good deal as the adaptor board has plugs that go into the diesel board firmly unlike the 40 pin connector on production diesel locomotives.  The next picture will show the adaptor board with the firm plugs.

 

Next two pictures are of PS3 5 volt set ups.  As mentioned earlier, pull your 5 volt board out and plug these in and your engine is now a PS3 engine with the proper or updated sound file loaded in. 

 

The next picture is of a 3 volt adaptor board.  Please notice the two pin plug on top of these 3 volt and 5 volt adaptor boards.  These are not for a battery.  These will be used for later slave connections.

 

The last pictures are of a PS1 Mass Bay F-40 PH.  Original PS1 to PS3.  The PS3 kits will be easier to use than the PS2 kits.  Both PS2 and PS3 share the same speaker and all wiring harnesses.  To do my early PS3 upgrade, all that was needed was to substitute the PS3 board for the PS2 board as in a standard upgrade. 

 

 

I know many will have questions and I will throw out all I know at this point.

 

 

 

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Last edited by Marty Fitzhenry
Original Post

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Does the speaker (8 OHM ) in a 5 volt PS2 system need to be replaced in the PS3 upgrade as it did in the 3 volt PS2 upgrade with a 4 OHM speaker?

Yes, if you want to preserve the engine's loudness. You can leave an 8 ohm speaker instead of the 4 ohm if you can live with reduced volume.

 

The reverse, however, is not true.

The PS32 boards will be available to the tech guys.  The upgrade kits can be purchased by everyone.  Matt, the boards you want are available now.  Total plug and play.  Pull the 4 pin, 5 pin, 7 pin, 8 pin, and 12 pin off your blown 5 volt board and plug them into the replacement board.  Good to go.  You do not have to do anything with the Mux.  Just plug in the board.  All existing wire stays in place.

Originally Posted by RJR:

Norton, "PS1" is the pre-DCS sound system.  When I upgraded my non-MTH locos to PS2, I gutted all the wiring except for the wires from the rollers.

RJR, I understand that. What I am asking is will this kit contain all the connectors, lights, couplers, tethers, etc that used to be included in the PS 2 upgrade kits or is it a scaled down kit that reuses those components and only intended for MTH PS1 engines.

 

Pete

Last edited by Norton

Pete, I'm not Ralph.  Not having seen the PS3 kits, I won't venture an answer.  But, the PS2 upgrade kits did not include a volume pot (re-used the PS1 pot or you could use alternatives), and included a standard gap tach reader which might or might not have the proper gap for your particular loco.

 

RJR

Pete, the PS3 kit will have every item the PS2 kit had.  The PS3 kit will be less the battery and related wiring.  The PS3 upgrade I did was a PS2 kit with the PS2 board swapped out for a PS3.  Everything will be present to do whatever locomotive you want.  When Mike first came out with the PS2 upgrade kit, it was intended to do PS1 locomotives.  It did not take long before the guys were doing almost anything that ran on rails.

 

I have done 148 PS2 upgrades and 2 PS3 upgrades.  I  have done Weaver, 3rd Rail, Atlas, and Williams.  I am happy the guys will get the PS3 kits but more happy that all of us with PS2 5 volt boards will have a plug and play option to make those locomotives PS3.  

 

I know MTH bashers are lurking but I want to say I know how much energy MTH has put into this program and being an operator I am thankful to MTH and the great people at MTH R&D.

Last edited by Marty Fitzhenry

No problem, Pete.  I've been called worse---much worse!

 

Marty, problem is, as I understand it, that the P&P to upgrade 5-volt to PS3 will not be made available directly to the public.  Have you been able to check whether a P&P 5 to PS3 board will fit inside a steam loco, where the 5-volt board is located in the loco/

At this point, as stated above, the only change to the PS-2 Steam Upgrade kit, is they remove the PS-2 board, battery, battery harness and heatsink kit and replace it with the PS-32 board, and heatsink kit.

 

Diesel could be the same, but they have not released it yet.  I think Diesel upgrade harness are the hold up.

 

As far as fitting they are similar other than connector location and height as compared to the PS-2 board.   There are some small locomotives where speaker is in the frame not in the fuel tank, or short tenders where the fit may be interesting.

 

As an example I am doing a repair to a 5V FF electric.  The shell is not tall and the speaker is inside the engine.  Despite a very long chassis, the room to place a 3V board is tight, and it looks like I need to mimic the upside down mounting.  With the 12pin connector elevated over the speaker edge.  Not sure if the PS-32 to will fit.  To be continued, and I will post pictures.  But it will work for much of the conversions and repairs, and it also can work with the PS-2 slave boards.  Actually has a 2 pin connector that is used for the motor signals with better output.   G

Originally Posted by Marty Fitzhenry:

Pete, the PS3 kit will have every item the PS2 kit had.  The PS3 kit will be less the battery and related wiring.  The PS3 upgrade I did was a PS2 kit with the PS2 board swapped out for a PS3.  Everything will be present to do whatever locomotive you want.  When Mike first came out with the PS2 upgrade kit, it was intended to do PS1 locomotives.  It did not take long before the guys were doing almost anything that ran on rails.

 

I have done 148 PS2 upgrades and 2 PS3 upgrades.  I  have done Weaver, 3rd Rail, Atlas, and Williams.  I am happy the guys will get the PS3 kits but more happy that all of us with PS2 5 volt boards will have a plug and play option to make those locomotives PS3.  

 

I know MTH bashers are lurking but I want to say I know how much energy MTH has put into this program and being an operator I am thankful to MTH and the great people at MTH R&D.

Thanks for all this information Marty. I too am grateful for MTH 's hard work in making these kits available.

 

My question is will there be a DCS/DCC switch included in the kit or does one have to purchase that separately? As we all know there wasn't a DCS/DCC switch in the previous PS2 upgrade kit.

 

I know this is obvious but I feel it needs to be mentioned. I would be careful when replacing a blown board and reusing all the existing PS2 wiring, lamps, smoke unit,etc because if that original board blew on it's own you're OK but if there was some kind of short circuit that took out the original board and the short is not repaired you most likely will blow up the new board.

 

 

There is a jumper connection, so you could easily add your own switch or just use the jumper.  G

 

Here is a picture comparison on a MTH Premier FF-2.  PS-2 5V to PS-2 3V to PS-32. 

 

The PS-2 5 and 3V had a variety of ways to be mounted.  The PS-32 will have less, so some fits will be tougher as I mentioned in an earlier post.

 

More flexibility with sound files though and the latest flash code has the stm/diesel/electric/articulate and Quillable Whistle file.  Trolley and electric pantographs will require a separate flash, as will a few other unique engines I believe.

 

G

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Images (6)
  • IMG_0483: Origional 5V board
  • IMG_0484: Shell height issue
  • IMG_0485: PS-2 3V right side up
  • IMG_0486: PS-2 3V upside down
  • IMG_0487: PS-2 3V to PS-32 comparision.
  • IMG_0488: PS-32
Last edited by GGG

Marty, I only remember the GG-1s...  This was for a customer that the 5V failed.  The cab is pretty short so I think there might be an issue with the PS-32 fitting, even on the diesel bracket.  Unless you go with a smaller or flat speaker.  Here is the final with a PS-2 3V upside down.  That fit nicely, but you can see the top of board is at the fly wheel height. and just enough room left for the truck harness to swivel, with the 12 pin just above the speaker edge.

 

This was the FF-2. Looks like MTH only made 2 variations of this.  Like a Y1 but with passenger effect.

 

It was neat with PSA "arriving in Philly, Villanova, off to Paoli".  Brings back memories.  G

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Last edited by GGG

I have not heard any more on that John.  My friend Locolawyer is a huge LED headlight guy.  I just cut the incandescent bulb off the wiring plug and install a bright white 3MM LED with a 560ohm resistor on the + leg.  Works perfect for headlight and backup light.  I am sure that is close to what you do.  I have used this combination for years and never had a problem.  Myself I like the old look.

Originally Posted by gunrunnerjohn:

Marty, is there going to be an option (other than what we do now) to have direct connections to LED's for upgrades?  For upgrades, I normally dispense with the bulbs and use LEDs anyway, it would be nice if that were PnP.

 

I imagine that would drive the price up.  Adding limiting resistors to the board, LED in the kit.  G

I am OK doing it this way.  Another way is to go from the rollers to the LED with rectifier diode and a 1K resistor inline with the + leg.  I see no other need for a LED as the marker lights on the locomotive are already LEDs.  Being older my memory of steam is very clear.  I always remember the thrill of seeing the New Haven I-5 blasting through Readville with the yellowish headlight.
 
 
Last edited by Marty Fitzhenry

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