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Problem with MTH Locomotives

I have two MTH locomotives, both of which have ProtoSound, but not the most recent 2.0 version; they are probably five or so years old.

When I apply power to the track for either of them, they both just make a "Clink-Clink-Clink" noise(or maybe it's "clank-clank-claink" not sure), and won't do anything else. I don't think it's the rechargable battery, as I've swapped them out with a 9v alkaline to see if that fixes things, but it didn't chagne anything. It's not the transformer, as they do it with both an ZW and a new Z-4000. Also, I have other MTH locos that do work fine.

Has anyone else experienced this? If so, how was it resolved?

Thanks, Dave

Reply to
davidvoigt
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It looks like both your locos have the 3 clanks of death. If you try to run the locomotive while the battery is not fully charged, the PS1 chip can get scrambled. To unscramble the chip requires a reset kit from MTH or else you can bring the locos to a dealer that has a reset kit.

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When running a PS1 loco that has not been run in a while, you must place it on a powered track and let it sit until the battery is fully charged before trying to run it.

You may also want to consider replacing the battery with a BCR:

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Daniel Lang

Reply to
Daniel Lang

After you fix the Proto 1 lock in Program mode (reset the chip)...

buy the RED BCR capacitor unit for $24... & then Proto 1 units

will run perfectly IF you do the 1 minute BCR 'start up charge'

each run time !!!

Reply to
Dennis Mayer

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Interesting. So MTH charges you an arm and a leg for a loco with ProtoSound, and is too cheap to put an EEPROM chip in there? Good grief!

Well, it's a good thing there are so many kind folks out there to help out with the problems. Model railroaders are a great bunch of people.

:-)

Reply to
Wolf Kirchmeir

Some nasty company must have patented the use of EEPROMS in model trains and then intimidated everyone else out of ever considering it.

Stevert

Reply to
Stevert

Thanks everyone for the informative information! I'll be contacting my local hobby shop to see if they have the reset kit and BCR.

Reply to
davidvoigt

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