So I've got a used PS1 engine that I took a chance on and just got to test it. It seems to work really well. I just put a fresh battery in it for testing it out. Booted up properly, operates as expected in both directions. Chatter comes on when expected, brakes squeal...it all seems to work great!
However, when I pull the whistle lever on my KW transformer, I get a boost of power (light gets a touch brighter and engine gets a little boost of speed) but no whistle. I checked the transformer output pins with my Fluke and it shows a 5.4V instant and constant boost as soon as I pull the whistle lever, so that seems to work fine.
So I figured maybe someone re-programmed to silence the whistle. I went into programming mode to reset to defaults, got to program 18. When I got 5 clanks and 3 clinks, I left the transformer at 8.5 volts (after the clanks, clinks I didn't move the handle again) but as soon as I flipped the whistle lever and then let go (about a half second maneuver), the engine saw that as an advance to the next program and I got a hiss and 5 clanks and 4 clinks.
Went back into reset, tried again. This time after getting to program 18, I held the whistle lever until something discernable happened, but nothing happened as long as I held the whistle lever. As soon as I released the lever, it hissed again advanced to the next program with 3 clanks and four clinks.
Is it something with the way the lever ramps up the voltage and the PS1 board doesn't see it as an instantaneous thing?
For the record, I shut down, restarted and everything still works as before. Good sound, all directions work, get the startup noises, get the slowdown noises (squeaky brakes), get the chatter if I stay in neutral for a while, but the whistle lever still just acts like a turbo boost instead of tripping the whistle.
Thoughts?