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I am fairly new to 3rail. I have an MTH H10 ps2 which I bought new over a year ago. Last Christmas it was run in conventional mode and ran fine. I now have the DCS system which works fine with my L1. Every time I try to run the H10 the remote says "no engine on track" and I have to re add it. Today it decided not to run at all. Does this mean that it needs a new battery?

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I agree with Joe above,

Do not try running this engine until you check the speaker for metal flacking off. The STARR speakers are notorious for this and the metal flacking will likely short out the audio amp on the PS2 board. The battery is likely bad if it still has the original white one still in it as it is almost 20 yers old. The sounds should play for at least 6 to 7 sounds after you turn off track power. This engine may have the flickering headlight problem with the smoke on also.

Battery and speakers, but be careful reattaching tender shell not to pinch any wires and keep connector at rear in same position. Tight fit.

So another myth turned legend.  The bad speaker shorting out the speaker.  How does the magnet crumbling short the speaker coil?  Constrict it yes, lose the magnetic field yes.  I have removed plenty  of bad speakers with out ever seeing a lost audio amp.  Just like I still remove white original dead batteries from plenty of PS-1 and PS-2 5V with boards that still work fine.   G

I don't know about the magnet crumbling, but I had one that had the flaking and the speaker voicecoil was shorting to the speaker frame.  It had to be internal to the coil/magnet because it wasn't anything that was visible.  I probably should have ripped it apart to see why, but once it was identified, I just dropped it in the round file.  I attributed it to the flaking happening inside the speaker coil assembly.

Coils can open, coils can short, coil leads coming out of diaphragm for solder to the tab can be located too close to the frame.  When speaker vibrates from a horn or whistle they can touch frame.  The flaking is the magnet crumbling, and it distorts the sound, and can effect diaphragm.  But it is not a direct correlation to "always cause" a short, shorted speakers are rare from my perspective other then the manufacture of the lead too close to the frame.

I have only had 2 or 3 shorts.  The fun ones are the ones that only short on a whistle.  That was one of my first as a new tech.  Before I install a BF-34 I always have to check the leads, and some times reposition them with a tooth pick.  G

Ditto on the leads, I've seen those either close to the frame or actually touching it in a bunch of these.  I try to space them and then gently push on the speaker cone to flex and make sure they don't come in contact with the frame.

I've only seen two speakers I can remember with a short to the frame, both 16 ohm ones for 5V boards.  Both were flaking pretty heavily, which is why I attributed that to internal flaking that cut through the enamel insulation on the voice coil.  I didn't actually take them apart, they just made a quick visit to the round file.

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