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  • downloaded the manual
  • oiled the wheels and gears I can get to easily
  • tested the battery (looks like an early PS2 board, no charging port even), battery appears to be fine, sounds and voices are clear
  • turn down the volume to a reasonable level (hello! )
  • turn off the smoke until ready (yeah, it is an electric engine that has smoke for the water heater, who knew?)
  • runs great (early MTH Bi-Polar with die cast everything, wow is it heavy) even at low speeds in both directions, wheels must have been dirty as it stuttered in spots but all good now
  • lights work
  • couplers fire front and rear
  • should I open it up and grease it?
  • should I replace the battery with a capacitor now?
  • I don't have an operating TIU so no way to tell how much mileage it has but when I do, I will check it out
  • start looking for a PS3 board now to replace the early PS2 board or should it be fine?
Last edited by ctcharger
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First step: Pray hard.

Second step: Not having a charging port means it's a "5-volt" board.  It may last for years, or for minutes.  I would not invest in a supercap to replace the battery, because of the limited life expectancy of the 5-volt board.  If the battery is white, replace immediately; actually, wouldn't hurt to replace it with a new battery

ctcharger - jhz563 brought up an important point about 'checking the speaker' if you're not already aware of it.  

Some early Proto 2 5 volt locomotives were equipped with a bad batch of speakers, causing the metal coating on them to flake off over time.  Consequently you should check to see if there is flaking metal or shiny metal shavings on the speaker magnet or nearby because if there are, the shavings can create shorts and possibly fry the PS2 boards.  So in that case it's best to replace any flaked speaker BEFORE running the engine anymore.

Good Luck and enjoy playing with your new train.

@ctcharger posted:
  • downloaded the manual
  • oiled the wheels and gears I can get to easily
  • tested the battery (looks like an early PS2 board, no charging port even), battery appears to be fine, sounds and voices are clear
  • turn down the volume to a reasonable level (hello! )
  • turn off the smoke until ready (yeah, it is an electric engine that has smoke for the water heater, who knew?)
  • runs great (early MTH Bi-Polar with die cast everything, wow is it heavy) even at low speeds in both directions, wheels must have been dirty as it stuttered in spots but all good now
  • lights work
  • couplers fire front and rear
  • should I open it up and grease it?
  • should I replace the battery with a capacitor now?
  • I don't have an operating TIU so no way to tell how much mileage it has but when I do, I will check it out
  • start looking for a PS3 board now to replace the early PS2 board or should it be fine?

The first thing I do, is wait till wife goes to the bathroom.  Then run out to the car and sneak it up to the layout.  Be completely done with the task before she comes out.  No brainer here.

Opened it up which was scary. Never done it before. It has a capacitor already so I left it. Seems to be running ok again after a factory reset. I think the wheels and part of my track might be dirty so I will “run the wheels off” as it tows my track cleaner car. And... blowing the horn never gets old 😀.
Some of the insulators came off during the process. Is there a low adhesion glue I can use? They will drop back on but I just need them to not fall off, rather not super glue them in.

Last edited by ctcharger

So it ran for almost an hour and then started acting "weird" which is what it did yesterday.  Before I knew it had a battery replacement capacitor, I did ask a eBay retailer if their capacitor would work on a 5v PS2 board as they care clearly marketed as 3V PS2 replacements.  The answer was only buy if it you have a 3v PS2 board so I didn't.  Also, as it was running, it found a small dead spot in my track and would go lights out for a moment which my MTH diesel switcher and Liberty Liner blow right through and so I was not aware of it.  Plus, when I pull the Liberty Liner and switcher off the track, the lights stay on and if they have something to say, they say it.  I have some replacement (8.4v) Ni-mh batteries on the way so when they arrive, I am going to replace the capacitor and see what happens now I know how to get into it although the battery is in an awkward spot.  Thankfully the board and such are in the other part of the Bi-polar and I left 2 of the screws off so I can get back into it easily.  That's the working theory anyway and the battery replacements I see all say 3V so I should take them at their word.

I shall pray also!

and thankfully the last loco I bought before I knew about 5V PS2 and all is thankfully a PS3 (whew!)

Plan B would be to replace it with a PS3 board (maybe from another loco?) and upload the sound files from my PC which I have never done but I have heard this is possible.

Last edited by ctcharger

I looked at eBay again and the battery replacement looks to be right for the board from J and W electronics (red case).  So that may not be it. The lights do go off for a moment when it hits the dead spot.  I suppose a capacitor could go bad maybe?

This is the model:

MTH 20-5535-1 Milwaukee E-2 Bi-Polar Electric Loco w/PS2

20-5535-1 | MTH ELECTRIC TRAINS (mthtrains.com)

Last edited by ctcharger

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