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I have done several ps2 upgrades, and a couple of ps3's. I have done some ps2's without a kit. I have a railking engine with ps3, and need to know if  I could  rob it and put everything in another engine, like I've done with ps2's. I am mainly wondering about the wireless drawbar. Has anybody tried this?

Barry

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But a steam upgrade kit doesn't contain the same hardware as a factory equipped PS3 steam loco.

Best thing about swapping is you get the boiler board which controls all lights, smoke, motor etc. and only need a 6 wire tether. Tender board & boiler board installs have a lot going for it compared to 1 board mounted in tender. Using a upgrade kit I could count needing up to a 17 wire tether to operate motor, smoke, power, tach, markers, headlight, interior, coupler etc. Could of course use those cheezy mux boards to solve part of the problem (and hassle of mounting them) along with cv lighting board but then lose some lighting functions which could be overcome by using relays but then why??

MTH needs to sell PS3 steam upgrade kits that use a set of steam boards with a 6 wire tether instead of supplying a diesel board...I mean really c'mon man just how hard would it be?? I think it would make installs a lot easier...tender board with wiring harnesses and boiler board with wiring harnesses...duh!

 

I've recently taken my mint MTH PS1 SF AA F3/7 and gutted it.  I replaced the electronics with parts from two MIB RK PS3's.  I'm not a MTH Tech, but learned a lot along the way.  Fun experience, and worth it to me, as long as you assume your time/labor is free.  If you think your time is worth more than $10/hr, Marty's probably right - may not be worth it unless you have done hundreds of these and know exactly what to do and have spare parts available.  Even simple things like not having taps for micro - metric threads and assortments of wrong screw lengths/sizes can slow/stop you.  

Things I learned - the RK PS3, while the same PS3 electronics board, doesn't have all the 40pin PS3 connector sockets populated in the header.  You might need to learn how to move pins or build wires to get features you want.  I wanted MARS light, but no pin in that socket.  Didn't need rear headlight, so "borrowed" the socket/wire from that pin and had to move it to the MARS light pin.  Then you need to find a new chain file for engine that activates the MARS light.  Do-able, but takes time.  Not necessarily as plug-and-play as a kit, but cheaper.

SF PS1 didn't have smoke unit, but it was possible with some fabrication, to adapt the RK smoke unit accessories to the interior of the F3/7, and get it to smoke.  Not as nice as factory installed, but does now smoke.

I'll disagree on the kit price comment above.  $200 or $175, or whatever the current PS3/2 kit price is, was in my case, much more expensive than the MIB RK PS3 donor diesels I bought.  Plus I have the leftover trucks, shells, couplers, motors, and other parts that can be sold to recoup most, if not all, of the price of the donor diesels.  The PS3 board can become essentially "free" if you are willing to invest the time.  But IMO that's Marty's point - if your time is $$$, use it wisely.

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