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I have a legacy system with a powermaster I use to run in conventional mode.  Works fine. I got my first MTH engine with Protosound 1.   For about an hour I worked with it until I found the key to getting it to work smoothly.  Keep your finger off of the "direction" button.  Interupting the power this way does not do trigger the PS1 electronics correctly.    Just use the big red dial to reduce power on and off.  Then it all works as the manual states.

In reading the manual very carefully this system expects the power on/off to be done by moving the power lever on the transformer.  Nothing mentions the direction switch.

It is a Texas special PA ABA set hardly run and the sound is great and everything works as it should.  Real fun now that I know to keep my finger off of the "direction" button.

A week later and further review.

Using the dial is the way I get it out of reset mode.   After turn on and 2 bells for reset mode and enough voltage for engine sounds,  I turn it down until the exhaust sound and bell-clunk.  Then power back up a little.  It is now out of reset.   After that dial to power 0 or even the direction button will do FNR or cycle through station sounds.  Based on age I think I will be using the dial.  Also the directions for this set always show using the transformer handle for FNR etc.   BCR may be part of it.  I make sure I let it charge up the first time I run the engine after not running for a few hours.    With 2 engines and 4 motors and a ZW250 behind it, it would fly off the track in no time at high voltage.

What I see from protosound 1 is RTM, RTM and once MORE Read the manual.

I  like it as a good conventional engine set and it looks great with all the Texas special cars I have.  Diesel smoke works great, but my wife is borderline asmatic, so that will be used sparingly.

Last edited by VHubbard
Original Post

@VHubbard,

My experience is just the opposite.  The direction button without a doubt works best for me in order to get out of the initial 'Reset' state that the engine enters upon power up.

But this depends on the vintage of the piece.  It's been brought up often on the Forum that the instructions for starting up for PS-1 units changed from the earliest production to later models.

Here are the options.  Concentrate on the yellow and orange highlights, because they contradict each other between the documents:

1.) Everything but the earliest models -- I got my inspiration from the instructions that come with the Lionel version of the TPC and also with each Legacy Powermaster.  These have additional features specifically for operating PS-1 locos.  This method for getting underway works for me 9 times out of 10. Nothing else even comes close in terms of success.  It bears noting though that both of my PS-1's are not from the earliest production:



2.) The earliest models -- It seems very strange that an expensive locomotive can be damaged or confused so easily by features and settings common to all premium postwar transformers, regardless of the manufacturer, but that's precisely what these instructions, apparently from MTH, say:



I'm glad to see that we each eventually found a way to get out of 'Reset' and on the roll, even if we had to use completely different methods.

Mike

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