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So here is my story,  I had a good sized 3 rail layout before,  and then got out and in to 2 rail, which I am still building for myself on in a smaller layout.  But I  decided I  wanted to have a 3 rail layout for my kids and myself as well since I have a bunch of 3 rail equipment and so do they.  Anyway I  have added on to my old bench work and now the 3 rail layout is 12X40 which is just awesome and I pulled out my old TIU from before and once the track was all wired and the TIU was all hooked up I fired up 1 of my engines and sent her on her way, the first thing I did was check the signal strength.  Now I did this with the engine stopped in various locations as well as moving at 3 smph and the signal was a 3 or 4 at best.....yikes I thought!  Now it has been a while but I know how to wire up DCS,  I am using just the 2 fixed input/outputs running off a Z4000,  I am using 2-12 port terminal blocks with 9 track blocks per terminal block for a total of 18 between the 2.....so not too bad.  Now my old TIU is a Rev I3A.  So after checking and dbl checking my wiring I decided to get ahold of a new Rev. L which I installed tonight and after making sure my track was clean along with my engines rollers and wheels I sent 1 off to check the track signal again......this time I got all 10's!  I was shocked, so I decided to send a different engine around....all 10's!  In short I ran 9 engines and they all brought back 10's and a quick 9.  Now right now I sound like a giddy little school girl I know but I am just blown away by this!  This new TIU is impressive to say the least.  Ok, I'm gonna clean up my slobber and go run trains some more!

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Chris,

Now my old TIU is a Rev I3A. 

You should be aware that some, but not all, Rev. I3a TIUs had an issue with a weak component that would cause low signal strength on all channels. This was typically an issue right out of the box.

The Rev. L is, indeed, superior to all previous TIU models. However, it's not going to automatically change a 3-4 signal strength into all 10's, if the previous TIU was functioning properly. The odds are that your I3a is defective.

MTH was fixing this issue under warranty, however, since the I3a hasn't been manufactured in about 3 years or so, a warranty repair could be iffy.

Last edited by Barry Broskowitz

Oh,  I agree my old 1 was/is defective and truth be told I'm not going to try and get the old 1 repaired at this point.  I suspected that was the issue and I have heard about that Rev having its issues potentially........but you know how it goes....you start checking your wiring, track joints and so on and you wonder if you missed something....well after finding nothing that jumped out at me I decided to order the Rev L.  I'm just amazed at how well the new 1 functions.....or maybe I should say how poorly the old 1 functioned???   Point being is that now I got all 10's and I'm as happy as could be.  Thanks for the info Barry.  

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