MTH PS-2 F3 locomotive went "pop" - now what?

[Not_2_old_yet]

Recently I tried to run an MTH F-3 with PS-2 that had been sitting for quite awhile (~ 1yr or so).

When I powered it up on the track and pressed the direction button, the locomotive went "pop" and smoke came from within. I took a look inside, and there appears to be a 330 uf capacitor that "lost its smoke" (as in blew open). I'm not sure if any other components are damaged, but lacking a schematic, I am reluctant to just replace the cap and try again.

Of course, now I know the importance of using a fresh battery, but aside from spending $200 on a new PS-2 board, does anyone have any ideas?

-Anders

[rtraincollector]

Probably not what you want to hear but it sounds like the risk of all these electronics has attacked you also. I had a Lionel that would after about 15 minutes would either take off like no tomorrow or stop dead till I turned off all power and restored power then it would be good for another 15 minutes so i ended up replacing the boards in it. $100.00 older Lionel with first TMCC in it in fact it is one of the first models to have TMCC.

Sometime I think I would do better going back to conventional but like you I like the electronics and I'm hooked

[servoguy]

It is not uncommon for capacitors to "lose their smoke." I would suggest that you replace it and try again. Most likely, it will work. If you know how, you might check the power transistors and diodes with a meter while you have it apart. This cap is probably across the bridge that converts the AC from the track to DC for use by the electronics. It is unlikely, but not impossible, that when this cap blew, nothing else was damaged. Put "testing diodes with a multimeter" into Google (without the quotes) and dig around a little. The first link that came up when I did that had good informatin on testing diodes and transistors. If you don't have a meter, you can buy one for $8 at Harbor Freight. When you buy a new capacitor, see if you can get one that has a higher voltage rating. 35 volts should be enough, and if the size of the capacitor (in microfarads) is close to the old one, it should work OK. Radio Shack, DigiKey, or Newark Electronics should have a cap that will fit in place of the original. Bruce Baker

[Not_2_old_yet]

Thanks for the suggestion. I will hunt for a suitable capacitor.

The "older" PS-2 boards were sandwiched together tightly, so I'm not looking forward to trying to disassemble it to get to the cap. While I'm in there, I'll also check any other compenents I can reach with the multimeter leads.

Thanks again,

Anders