No Engine To Add

Not trying to be funny, but have you checked to see if the engine had previously been added? Click the engine button on the DcS remote then scroll down to see if it is in your inactive engine list. If it is, simply click on the engine name and it will be moved to the active engine list. Highlight and click it there to start up and operate the engine.

Of course, if the engine is not on your list, that is a question for DCS guru Barry.

 and make sure it goes thru a full shut down sequence when you kill the power after testing in conventional!!

@Terrence Engine has never been added. If was already in the list DCS would say that.

@Engineer Joe - yes it does that. Failure to do so would indicate a battery problem.  There is no battery.

When I added an engine it had to be the only engine on the track or it was added with other engines and had to be re-added correctly. Do you have a separate test track so you can add engines? If not you may want to do that.

Lee Fritz

Ralph,

Some questions:

• Can you add or operate other DCS engines on the track where you're adding the engine?
• Does the engine immediately come up with lights and sounds?

If you answer "no" to #1 and "yes" to #2, do the following:

• Make sure that the TIU's red LED is lit. If it sin't, the TIU is not getting power from Fixed #1 Input or the Aux. Power port
• Turn on the DCS signal to all TIU channels: Menu/System/DCS Setup and press soft key "AON"
• Ensure that the wires between the TIU and the track are red TIU channel output to  enter rail and black TIU output to an outside rail.

This and a whole lot more is all in MTH’s “The DCS O Gauge Companion 2nd Edition", available for purchase as an eBook or a printed book at MTH's web store!

An odd issue that occasionally bites me is having more than one TIU.  I have one on my test bench that only gets powered up to do work on PS/2-PS/3 stuff.  However, if I forget and leave the USB plugged in, it's active enough to interfere with the TIU connected to the tracks.  When I try to add an engine or startup, the remote gets confused and obviously it doesn't work.  That gets me every couple of months when I forget to unplug the USB connection!

I'm not blaming the TIU or remote, it's operator error, just something to keep in mind.

John,

However, if I forget and leave the USB plugged in, it's active enough to interfere with the TIU connected to the tracks.

That's why my bench TIU has a dedicated remote to which it is always tethered. This ensures that there's no interference worth the layout, ever, from the bench TIU.

Oh no! That means I need a third remote soon!

 I just went thru this yesterday. The engine wasn't charged fully. The shut down sequence was about one second long. I ran the engine for five minutes. The shutdown was longer. The engine added no problem. For some reason, the BCR was not fully charged when I first tried to add. The system would get stuck for a few minutes and then say "no engine to add".

Very good idea Barry, I'm the lazy sort and use the same remote.  I do have several more, so I could do that.

Do you get shutdown in conventional?

I have read all of the above posts.  Here is my situation:

DCS 4.20 using a programming track.  DCS all channels turned on.  Remote connected by tether to TIU.  Press READ TIU 1 found.  Red Channel on FIXED 1 connected to center rail and Black Channel on FIXED 1 to outside rail.  Engine previously added cannot be found.  On the remote I select the previously added engine and the remote says "ENGINE NOT ON TRACK".  Press the engine button on the remote says " NO ACTIVE DCS ENGINES".  Try to recover previously added engine "NO ENGINE TO RECOVER".  Engine powers up normally and goes through normal shut down sequence in conventional.  Track has been checked and is clean.  Have tried several different times without success.  I just successfully added this MTH PS2 engine the other day.  Unable to get any previously added engines to respond.  Remote comes up with "NO ACTIVE DCS ENGINES".  They are listed as inactive but when I put them on the programming track I cannot get them to recover.  I have a MTH PS2 engine that is not added to the remote and I cannot get it to add as the message comes up "NO ENGINE TO ADD". It will go through a normal shutdown sequence when the power is turned off.  Remote has new batteries.  Any suggestions?

Neal Jeter

It almost sounds to me like you may have a low track signal on the channel you're using. Can you try a different channel? or if you can get one engine added, do a dcs track signal test.

 Last resort Depending on how much stuff you have entered into the remote  I would reset it. Clearing any Id conflicts (if any) .

One way to minimize the impact of resetting it is to first do a backup, then reset the remote.  If it doesn't fix anything, restore the backup.

I tried a different channel without success.  Reset the remote and TIU and still no success. Any other suggestions?

I don't have much. the read finds the tiu so that part is working. you reset the remote and tiu. tried a different channel. No much else to try  except  maybe try a small test track.    Your programming track would make a good test track so... Don't know.

When you have the engine on the  programming track and then power up the tiu does the engine stay dark & silent or start up with sound?

Shot in the dark here, when you turn your TIU on, how many times does it blink?  Could you have accidently changed the TIU to a different number.

do the engines power up the moment track power is applied? 

if so no dcs signal is being transmitted from the output side. if dcs signal is present all should stay quiet.

are all tiu channels set for DCS if no channels have the dcs signal turned on nothing works.

hope this helps get the issue resolved or at least gets the thoughts going as to what else to try.

When a MTH PS2 engine is on the track and powered is applied the sounds start immediately.  When power is applied to the TIU it blinks once.   When power is turned off the engine goes through a complete shutdown sequence.

This happened to me yesterday.  I had not used my DCS for awhile and had my wires crossed on the out side of  the TIU, I did what BARRY stated,

Ensure that the wires between the TIU and the track are red TIU channel output to  enter rail and black TIU output to an outside rail.

Worked normally then.  Good Luck.

Seems there's no dcs signal on the track. I know you tried another channel but this time make sure the tiu is turned on. Only 2 way to turn on  a tiu. power to fixed 1 or an aux power supply. Fixed 2 probably the easiest to try, jumper fixed 1 IN  over to fixed 2 In. Fixed 2 out to the test track. make sure the red led on tiu  is lighted.

When a MTH PS2 engine is on the track and powered is applied the sounds start immediately.  When power is applied to the TIU it blinks once.   When power is turned off the engine goes through a complete shutdown sequence.

From this we know that the TIU is powered on, that power is getting to the tracks and DCS engines are coming up in conventional mode.

There are only 3 reasons why this may be so:

• The wires between the TIU channel output and the tracks are reversed. Red output must go to center rail and Black output to one or both outside rails
• The DCS signal is turned off. Turn it on by pressing: Menu/System/DCS Setup and the AON soft key
• The TIU's channel is defective. Try another TIU channel while being sure to, at the same time, power the TIU itself via either Fixed Channel #1 Input or the Aux. Power port.

This and a whole lot more is all in MTH’s “The DCS O Gauge Companion 2nd Edition", available for purchase as an eBook or a printed book at MTH's web store!

One other possibility Barry for the specific post.  The engine missed the watchdog signal.  If you can select the engine and shut it down with the remote.  You still have DCS control of the engine.  G

George,

It's not just the watchdog signal. In an earlier post he stated:

ress READ TIU 1 found.  Red Channel on FIXED 1 connected to center rail and Black Channel on FIXED 1 to outside rail.  Engine previously added cannot be found.  On the remote I select the previously added engine and the remote says "ENGINE NOT ON TRACK".  

Power applied to FIXED 1 IN with jumper wires to FIXED 2 IN red to red, black to black.  Wires from FIXED 2 OUT red to center rail, black to outside rail.  Still the same response.  TIU light comes on and with one flash.  Engine starts up immediately when power applied to TIU.  Goes through normal complete shutdown sequence when power turned off.

I think you're beat although you  still have 2 var channel you could test . Set them to fixed mode and jumper from fixed 1 to var  just like you did with fixed 2.

To set var channel  to fixed mode    Menu/System/ DCS set up/ high lite the channel and hit FXD. There is a slight delay before the var channel comes to life. Do any engines work?

First I want to thank everyone for their help.  Gregg I tried the jumper wires through the VARIABLE 1 IN channel.  As soon as I hit the FXD button there is a click in the engine and it immediately comes on.    I tried powering the TIU through the AUX POWER INPUT rather than from a transformer.  Once power is applied to the TIU the red light comes on and their is one flash of the light.  I turn all the channels on and try to add the engine through both the FIXED 1 and 2 outputs.  It comes up "NO ENGINE TO ADD".  The engine sits there with no sounds.    

Wait a minute ,the engine sitting there with no sounds is a good thing. Try it again... power down the tiu and power it up again with the engine sitting on the  track....Hopefully  the engine stays dark and silent? does it.

With the power supplied through the AUX POWER INPUT there is no sound from the engine.  After turning on all channels I checked to see if there was any electrical output from the FIXED OUT 1 & 2 channels.  There is no electricity going to the track from the TIU with all channels turned on and the power coming through the AUX POWER INPUT.  The TIU light is on and blinks once when power is added through the AUX POWER INPUT.  Pressing the READ button the remote finds TIU 1 once power has been applied through the AUX POWER INPUT.  When the TIU is powered by a transformer through FIXED IN 1, electricity does go to the track as the engine immediately comes on.

Aux power only powered the TIU circuits, it doesn't power the track.  You need to supply power on one of the inputs to energize the matching output terminals.

Aux. Power only powers the TIU itself. Now, also add power to Fixed #1 In and try again on Fixed #1.

The aux power just turns the tiu ON. It doesn't supply  power the tracks. . You need power supplied by a transformer  to the tracks  using the inputs and outputs on the tiu.  We may be back to the beginning again.  It seems the tiu is not putting out a dcs signal for whatever reason. 

Barry:

I applied power to the TIU through the AUX POWER INPUT.  Light on the TIU comes on and one flash of the light.  Power then added through FIXED IN 1 from a transformer.  FIXED OUT 1 red to center rail and black to outside rail.  When power is applied the engine comes on immediately.  By the way I bought your book at York a couple of years ago.  At this point do I need to send it back to MTH?  What is frustrating is that I was able to add an engine with no problems earlier this week.

Neal 

Is this rev L?  If so there are chips that go bad and it kills the DCS on all channels because they are all powered from the same circuit.

This does sound like a TIU issue, which is fixable.  G

Yes it is a Rev L.  Gregg can I send it to you and have you take a look at it?

Neal

No.      send it to George (GGG) He does good work,.

Gregg:

I was looking at the wrong post.  I thought you were the MTH Authorized Service Center and Technician.

Neal 

Nope, I wish. I'm just  a train nut like all of us.

E-mail sent.  G

Neal,

   Sounds like with all the testing you have done, using the advise you got here, that

you have a faulty DCS TIU, something seems to be wrong with it.  Let George (GGG)

repair it.  One other thing you might check, I do not know if the TIU light still blinks if you have a blown TIU fuse, might give that a check 1st.

PCRR/Dave