Hello fellow modelers,
I have an mth sd70ace that has been run around my layout maybe 3 times in its life time. Its older than a year and out of warranty. I’ve heard allot of people complain about MTH , fortunately for me I don’t have many. It appears to be dead, I can’t seem to even get it to respond via program track or main, i assuming the decoder is dead somehow. I tried the f3 wakeup still nothing. Anyone have any issues with these engines and have any idea what my options are ? I guess i can send back for repair ( how much and is it worth it) or even pull rip it down and put in a tsunami or something.
Thank you all, appreacite any input.
Regards,
ward
Decoders do tend to develop problems over time, even when left unused and darkly stored in a box. Have you tried a reset? Be sure to follow the instructions scrupulously, including removing track power for a few seconds and then restoring it again BEFORE you attempt to acquire the engine on ADD "03"...if that is what MTH says is be the default address.
MTH locos are odd beasts. I’ve got a pair of MTH Alco PAs, every once in awhile they just become unresponsive. But the reset is not like “normal” locos. In my experience they don’t respond at all on a programming track, and the only thing that brings them back to life is to select loco address 55, and send a value of 55 to CV 55 (do this in Ops mode, and hope you don’t have a loco that actually uses address 55). I’m no expert, but that procedure usually works for me.
I'm given to understand that they use a supercap to store settings, instead of simply using eeprom like a normal decoder (hey, they know best...) so if the loco sits long enough without ever being placed on powered track, I can see it 'forgetting' everything. My FA's haven't run in 5 years, I'll bet they are the same way if I get them out and try them.
Some of the O hi-rail locos used a battery to backup the memory of the controller board!
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.