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Hi Guys, I was attempting to put a lash up together with two proto 2  SD70's and could not get the lash us to take. (Both units ran well alone and performed all requested tasks.) I kept getting a message back on my IPad saying lash up failed. I removed one of the SD70's and replaced it with a Dash 9 and got the same results. I powered everything down and went to a hand held unit. I could not get the SD70 to respond to the hand held even though the unit was listed in the hand held. The sound was on and so were the lights. I then deleted the SD70 from the hand held and tried to reinstall it. I got the message the train was not on the track. I then powered down the entire system, transformer and TIU and when I powered it back up the SD70 did not turn on at all, no lights or sound. I replaced the battery thinking it might be weak or dead and that did not resolve the problem. I have tried to bring the unit up in conventional but it still does not respond. 

Can anyone give me an idea how to get the SD  70 to respond?

Are there issues with the new WiFi software in regards to building lash ups?

Thanks in advance for your input.

Al

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Hi Barry, Thanks for the follow up. I will check with our guy who is the keeper of the TIU. Do you have any thoughts on how I can wake up that SD70? I have never had a diesel go to sleep like that. 

Thanks again, Al

Engineer-Joe posted:

Well? just a hair more info believe it or not.

Did you remove the TIU from the transformer when you tried to run in conventional? ( or shut of the DCS signal?)

The engine should come up quiet when power is applied with the TIU connected.

Did you try doing a read?

Hi Joe, Yes, there was no TIU working at the time. I went as far as replacing the battery and without any TIU;s around tried to start the diesel in conventional mode and it is still sleeping. I do appreciate your help and interest in this. But you do bring up an interesting point, it is like the diesel is waiting for a signal from a TIU.  Thank You, Al

 

Al Spaventa posted:

Hi Barry, Thanks for the follow up. I will check with our guy who is the keeper of the TIU. Do you have any thoughts on how I can wake up that SD70? I have never had a diesel go to sleep like that. 

Thanks again, Al

Engineer-Joe posted:

Well? just a hair more info believe it or not.

Did you remove the TIU from the transformer when you tried to run in conventional? ( or shut of the DCS signal?)

The engine should come up quiet when power is applied with the TIU connected.

Did you try doing a read?

Hi Joe, Yes, there was no TIU working at the time. I went as far as replacing the battery and without any TIU;s around tried to start the diesel in conventional mode and it is still sleeping. I do appreciate your help and interest in this. But you do bring up an interesting point, it is like the diesel is waiting for a signal from a TIU.  Thank You, Al

 

Well if the TIU was connected, then you would be correct. Without the TIU, the engine should wake up and start up with sounds and lights. So there's something fundamentally wrong with it.

 So, when you applied power, did you hear a click? (on ps2 3 volt? engines only)

If totally silent, it might be a power pick-up problem. You could test for power with a meter at the black and red connections at the board.

Is this an older 5 volt model??

Al,

Do you have any thoughts on how I can wake up that SD70?

First, delete it and attempt to re-add it. If it re-adds, chances are that the battery needs to be charged or replaced. In this case, delete it again and charge or replace the battery until engine sounds persist for 6-7 seconds or longer when track power is turned off. Then re-add it.

If the process above doesn't resolve the issue, attempt to recover the engine as follow:

  • Delete any earlier occurrences of the engine from the remote.
  • Place the engine on a track that's connected to Fixed Channel #1 of any TIU that is numbered #1.
  • Make sure that no other engines are getting power and power up only this engine.
  • Press: Menu/System/Engine Setup/Recover Engine
  • If the engine is recovered, add it to the remote.

DCS Book CoverThis and a whole lot more about DCS is all in MTH’s “The DCS Companion 3rd Edition!"

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Engineer-Joe posted:
Al Spaventa posted:

Hi Barry, Thanks for the follow up. I will check with our guy who is the keeper of the TIU. Do you have any thoughts on how I can wake up that SD70? I have never had a diesel go to sleep like that. 

Thanks again, Al

Engineer-Joe posted:

Well? just a hair more info believe it or not.

Did you remove the TIU from the transformer when you tried to run in conventional? ( or shut of the DCS signal?)

The engine should come up quiet when power is applied with the TIU connected.

Did you try doing a read?

Hi Joe, Yes, there was no TIU working at the time. I went as far as replacing the battery and without any TIU;s around tried to start the diesel in conventional mode and it is still sleeping. I do appreciate your help and interest in this. But you do bring up an interesting point, it is like the diesel is waiting for a signal from a TIU.  Thank You, Al

 

Well if the TIU was connected, then you would be correct. Without the TIU, the engine should wake up and start up with sounds and lights. So there's something fundamentally wrong with it.

 So, when you applied power, did you hear a click? (on ps2 3 volt? engines only)

If totally silent, it might be a power pick-up problem. You could test for power with a meter at the black and red connections at the board.

Is this an older 5 volt model??

Thanks for the come back. I am not sure if it is 3 or 5 volts. I suspect it is the 5 volt, I have had this for a number of years, with minimal run time. I do not hear a click when I try to power it up, although I was not listening for that. I am going to check it out further tomorrow afternoon. If you have any more ideas I would appreciate the information. Thanks, Al

Hi Barry, I got your message about the recovery, I will attempt all of this tomorrow and let you know how it works out. I have a hard time believing there is a problem with the board because this all occurred after some unfortunate circumstances involving a hand held unit and a TIU that I thought were at 6.0 and I am learning now they probably were not. The engine was working fine until we attempted to lash it up and then switch over from an IPad to the hand held I thought was 6.0. We removed the engine from the hand held and when we went to reinstall it there was no powering it up again. I will be at the NJ Hirailers tomorrow and will try it out again with your advise. Thanks for all your help, I will keep you posted. Regards, Al

It's always tougher to guess at what's wrong, when we are not there. Knowing the full model number of the product helps.

Unless you want to take it to someone, I would say the next step would be to remove the shell and start looking for answers.

If you are not handy with electronics, you could just check for basic problems. Sometimes you will find obvious things that are wrong.

We could help more if you take pictures inside once you open it up. There are some simple things people can do to troubleshoot. 

The 2 main motors could be tested with a simple 9 volt battery once unplugged for example. 

BTW, If the MTH board inside is connected to a 9volt shaped battery with snap connector, it is a five volt board. They were only produced for a few years in the early 2000 time frame I believe? You stated above that you changed out the battery already. So what did you use?

I am just an operator so Barry can help better with the system overall. We will try to help with any questions as you go along. Are you near a hobby store that handles MTH repairs?

Al Spaventa posted:

Hi Barry, I got your message about the recovery, I will attempt all of this tomorrow and let you know how it works out. I have a hard time believing there is a problem with the board because this all occurred after some unfortunate circumstances involving a hand held unit and a TIU that I thought were at 6.0 and I am learning now they probably were not. The engine was working fine until we attempted to lash it up and then switch over from an IPad to the hand held I thought was 6.0. We removed the engine from the hand held and when we went to reinstall it there was no powering it up again. I will be at the NJ Hirailers tomorrow and will try it out again with your advise. Thanks for all your help, I will keep you posted. Regards, Al

Hi Barry, I just wanted to get back to you about that SD70. We did try to power it up like you suggested and there was not action from the relay inside.  After opening it up we learned it is a 5 volt board. We also learned it was at rest, eternal rest, it gave up the ghost. The SD70 is now in the engine shop getting ready for a PS3 board. Thank you for all your suggestions and attention. Have a great day.  Al

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