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im looking into buying a MTH GP9 on the used market to turn into this:  see attached pic.  i only run conventional and i always just had williams engines. i recently bought a MTH SW1 with PS2 and it runs wonderfully in conventional mode.  is there anything i should be concerned about buying a PS1 engine on the used market, or should i spend the $$$ and buy a more modern one?  is there anything wrong with PS1?  thanks in advance, this is all new to me.......1751

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There's been several Posts on this Forum about old MTH batteries ruining PS2 boards (do a Search to see for yourself) so it wouldn't be a bad idea to either replace the battery with a new one or with a BCR (Battery Component Replacement). Note: The advantage of the latter is that you'd never have to buy another battery.

Good Luck and enjoy your train!

not trying to make a quick buck here, but i can offer something to you that makes running PS1 in coventional more enjoyable.  If you get a manual you will see how you can activate certain features using combos of whistle and I think bell buttons.  It's rather difficult to execute though as the timing has to PERFECT.

There is a device that I bought and used when I had a PS1 engine called a PowerProgrammer.  It has the added advantage of having spike protection built in.  Say you want to execute PS1 feature #5 - you could look up the right combo of clicks and do it if lucky or you just tell the programmer to execute function 5 and it does the combo perfectly for you.

If you think you're interested in it I will sell you mine.  Email me if so.

walt

Last edited by walt rapp

I'm shocked they didn't burn the read protection link in the chips, that's very uncharacteristic for MTH to fail to protect their intellectual property.

@JET posted:

That "news" is a year old, I'd like to be hearing something a bit more current now that MTH is being carved up...

Last edited by gunrunnerjohn

Certain (not all) PS1 locomotives refused to work with chopped wave transformers such as the Lionel ZW-L. I have one such example, a Premier K4, that was produced in the window of production time (1996-97) when this was an issue.

Worn-out rechargeable batteries scrambling PS1 chips was a much more common problem, but one that was more easily correctable. I have replaced most of my PS1 locomotives with BCRs.

Other than that, PS1 has been reliable, as has PS2 after the 5-volt board design was changed.

@walt rapp posted:

not trying to make a quick buck here, but i can offer something to you that makes running PS1 in coventional more enjoyable.  If you get a manual you will see how you can activate certain features using combos of whistle and I think bell buttons.  It's rather difficult to execute though as the timing has to PERFECT.

There is a device that I bought and used when I had a PS1 engine called a PowerProgrammer.  It has the added advantage of having spike protection built in.  Say you want to execute PS1 feature #5 - you could look up the right combo of clicks and do it if lucky or you just tell the programmer to execute function 5 and it does the combo perfectly for you.

If you think you're interested in it I will sell you mine.  Email me if so.

walt

I'd be interested if he doesn't want it.

@C_Murley posted:

Hey Walt, thanks for the offer, but ill pass. i dont have the locomotive yet so may as well send it to someone who could use it!  thanks for the offer for sure though!

Thanks for letting me know.  There is a person that wants to buy it from me but I asked for him to wait until I heard first from you.  Now I know it will be OK to sell it to him.

UPDATE:

Just heard from Matt.  He only does PayPal and I don't so he scrapped the deal.  I add this in case anyone else is interested.

- walt

Last edited by walt rapp

So i scored my locomotive and it is ps1, factory new old stock.  its coming from a hobby shop. it was tested and a new "green" battery installed before heading my way. in your alls opinion is this good to go for awhile or should i open it up and install the bcr still at this point? again, ill only be running it conventional,  thanks!!

Last edited by C_Murley
@C_Murley posted:

So i scored my locomotive and it is ps1, factory new old stock.  its coming from a hobby shop. it was tested and a new "green" battery installed before heading my way. in your alls opinion is this good to go for awhile or should i open it up and install the bcr still at this point? again, ill only be running it conventional,  thanks!!

All of my PS-1 engines get a BCR before being put on the track.

@C_Murley posted:

So i scored my locomotive and it is ps1, factory new old stock.  its coming from a hobby shop. it was tested and a new "green" battery installed before heading my way. in your alls opinion is this good to go for awhile or should i open it up and install the bcr still at this point? again, ill only be running it conventional,  thanks!!

If the battery is new it'll last years before you need replacement. no rush

One more suggestion, take a pair of pliers and carefully close / tighten the external terminals on the 9V battery / BCR and wired 9V connector and then snap them together.

I originally did this with just my fingers, it seemed tight, but a few months later it apparently loosened up and acted as if the BCR wasn't charged at all when it had 8 volts.

I have three engines that use BCR  .    I place the engine on the track & charge up the BCR at 10 volts for no less than 3 minutes .  Then I press the direction button on the Z4000 or z1000 transformers .   I would  check the battery in your new engine to verify it is a new green battery .  I would  charge the battery 5 minutes before before running in any direction .   

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