Wiring - power into board?

If you're this deep into it, surely you must own a multi-meter.  Check the continuity between the connector and the wheels for black and rollers for red.  You will find they are indeed connected, but you really shouldn't have to ask that question.

Yes, the 8-pin connector is for track power and motors on the PS/3 diesel board.

A really dumb question.  Since the PS/3 board supports DCC, why do you have to add a board?  Why not just flip the DCS/DCC switch and run it with it's original board?

One thing I was wondering, aren't the DCC Blue Rail boards made to only run on DC voltage, either from an onboard battery or from DC track voltage?  I suppose one could use AC track power and also install a rectifier.  Just wondering, I don't know much about the Blue Rail boards, just a quick read of the installation instructions.

Since the PS/3 boards run on AC or DC, and they fully support DCC, I'm at a loss how the Blue Rail board is in the picture at all!

Ac or dc.

@davidbross posted:

Ac or dc.

Read Gunrunner Johns posts. He states AC/DC.

I always read gunrunners posts.  He’s a great resource. I was answering SteveH.  The board takes ac or dc input. It doesn’t, however handle the voltage we kind to use with legacy and can’t handle modern sine wave power supplies without some modifications.

@davidbross posted:

I always read gunrunners posts.  He’s a great resource. I was answering SteveH.  The board takes ac or dc input. It doesn’t, however handle the voltage we kind to use with legacy and can’t handle modern sine wave power supplies without some modifications.

David, thank you for answering my question about the BlueRail power input requirements.  Not trying to get in the middle of the PS3 vs Blue Rail board question.  Purely from an academic understanding, what is the model of the Blue Rail board are you're planning to use, I'm interested in reading more about it.

Thanks again, Steve H

@davidbross posted:

I always read gunrunners posts.  He’s a great resource. I was answering SteveH.  The board takes ac or dc input. It doesn’t, however handle the voltage we kind to use with legacy and can’t handle modern sine wave power supplies without some modifications.

Sorry David, i didn't catch that for some reason.

SteveH.  5 amp w external antenna.  

David, thank you for the model info.  Reading these instructions, I see what you mean about the 5Amp board also working on AC.  I guess the link I found earlier was for a different model.

Are you planning to control your converted loco using the BlueRail iOS app?

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

...

A really dumb question.  Since the PS/3 board supports DCC, why do you have to add a board?  Why not just flip the DCS/DCC switch and run it with it's original board?

One reason could be he does not have or does not want to buy a DCC command/base station.  Another could be he wants to run the PS3 engine via battery power.  And so on.

I'm guessing his configuration is something like the top diagram.

I believe he is/was simply inquiring/confirming the red and blk wires on the harness photo are indeed the PS3 track power wires which he needs to re-route into the Bluerail 5A board.

In a parallel universe, suppose there was a miniatured MTH WiFi Explorer that fit in an engine.  Then he could use the PS3 board in DCS mode controlling the mythical Explorer wirelessly over WiFi with the MTH smartphone/tablet app.  The mythical Explorer could be powered by a battery or by any AC or DC track supply.  Like the DCC scenario with no DCC command station required, in this case no TIU would be required.

If I have his situation correct, I'd be curious if provision is being made to revert wiring to original "DCS mode" so that the PS3 board can be upgraded/re-loaded which I believe can only be done over DCS (not over DCC).  OTOH this may be of no concern.

Stan is correct. I don’t have a command station and I do t want one.  A command station would put the signal in the tracks. That is problematic if you’re running other o gauge equipment.  

I did successfully convert the engine today.   Thanks for the input guys.

The BlueRail Trains website is an excellent source of info on how to properly use the BlueRail boards in virtually every scenario. Good to hear that David's installation worked out well.

I don't want to bog down this thread, but I have completed 4 BlueRail Installs.  3 of them with MTH engines PS3.  I have videos on OGR you could search or just go to YouTube and search ron045 or BlueRail.  Most of mine show up.

The BlueRail board can be powered by AC, DC, DCC or Battery (Also DC).  When flipping the switch on the PS3 board from DCS to DCC all the PS3 board cares about is the output from the BlueRail Board.

With BlueRail, no DCC equipment is needed.  I run my Altas BlueRail engine on track power with a Z4000.  I can run BlueRail, DCS and Legacy on the same track at the same time. 

My three MTH PS3 engines are all battery power.  If you go the battery route, just be sure to disconnect or remove the pickup rollers.  You do not want track power and battery power at the same time.

Feel free to email me with any questions about my setup after you watch the videos.  I like to think they are self explanatory, but they may not be clear for everyone.

I just purchased two engines for my next project.  A Weaver SD40 and an MTH GP38 PS1.  All the electronics are being ripped out for BlueRail, Soundtraxx and battery.  They should all fit onboard the locos without a battery tender.

Have Fun!

Ron

Thanks for chiming in.  Not that I'm going to try it, but just curious if you made provisions in your wiring to quickly revert the engine back to DCS in the event you want to upgrade the engine's PS3 software or, say, change the engine's soundset.

For example, I realize with the MTH business situation that this would be unlikely, but they could for example add new DCC functions/features in PS3 and this would require upgrading the PS3 software in the engine.  As I stated previously, I believe the ONLY way to upgrade a PS3 engine's software/soundset is via DCS.

@stan2004 posted:

Thanks for chiming in.  Not that I'm going to try it, but just curious if you made provisions in your wiring to quickly revert the engine back to DCS in the event you want to upgrade the engine's PS3 software or, say, change the engine's soundset.

For example, I realize with the MTH business situation that this would be unlikely, but they could for example add new DCC functions/features in PS3 and this would require upgrading the PS3 software in the engine.  As I stated previously, I believe the ONLY way to upgrade a PS3 engine's software/soundset is via DCS.

Converting back for me would require...

Reinstalling pickup rollers

Remove + and - wires from MTH wire nuts that go to the BlueRail Board

Install the wires from the pickup roller and trucks to the MTH wire nuts.

Flip the switch from DCC back to DCS.

I'd like to say simple... but there is this guy Murphy.

I have no intention of EVER going back.  I like the sounds I have.  I'm going to run them until those PS3 boards die (Or if someone wants to buy them).  They will be replaced with a more reliable, readily available and cheaper DCC Sound Decoder board, like the SoundTraxx Tsunami2 4400.

I'm personally done with idiosyncrasies of DCS.  I keep it for my Son, Daughter and my Brother in law.  Everything I could do with DCS I can do with BlueRail... and more.

Have Fun!

Ron