I just purchased a used set of MTH Atlantic Coast Line F3AA. No instructions came with it. I placed them on the track (Z-1000 transformer) and when I move the throttle, I get two rings of the bell and the motor sounds come on. However I cannot get the locomotives to run. Moving the throttle back to off and on again does not put it in forward or reverse. Will a full reset fix this? How do I do a reset? Also how does one identify which version of Proto Sounds does the unit have?Thanks, John Black
I know that you can do a quick reset with an MTH Z-4000 transformer, however I don't know the procedure.
Have you kept the throttle position in the off mode for 4 seconds or longer? If not the engine may not cycle correctly.
There are 3 versions of MTH Proto Sound; PS-1(nine volt looking battery, 8.4 volt rechargeable) PS-2 is either 3.2 or 5 volt system, PS-3 has no battery but has switches inside of the engine somewhere. You will need to take the shell off the engine(diesel or the tender's shell for steam and see what the battery looks like. A 9 volt battery is PS-1, a cell phone style battery is PS-2, PS-1 is just a sound system with no remote control operation except for remote coupler opening. PS-2 & 3 have full command control and need the MTH TIU to work in command mode. MTH engines will not work with either TMCC or Legacy!
Have you tried the direction button? It is a red button on the Z-1000.
If it is a PS-2 or PS-3 engine never use a Lionel CW-80 with them, as it will cause your MTH PS-2 engine to act crazy.
Thanks. I'll have to figure out how to take the body off and check the battery.
Yeah, the direction button only causes the bell to clang again end the motor sounds to start all over again. No movement.
If the F3's several years old and hasn't been run in a long time the battery may have run down. Leave the engine on a live track for several minutes to charge the battery and see what happens.
Something like this happened to a PS-2 General I bought used. About 5 minutes or so of charging brought it back to life, although the manual suggests leaving the engine in neutral with 10-12 volts on the track for 6-7 hours for a full recharge.
This is the reset to factory defaults procedure for a PS-2 locomotive, this is from the owners manual for my 4-8-4 Bantam J set. I'll quote verbatim from the owners manual:
To override the settings you currently have assigned to the engine and reset it to its factory defaults, while in Neutral tap the Whistle button once, followed by five quick taps of the Bell button, allowing approximately 1/2 second to lapse between each quick button press. Two whistle blasts will indicate that the engine has made the change.
Luckily you've got a Z-1000 transformer, this is exactly what you'd probably need.
I inadvertantly locked my Bantam J in forward only and this cured the problem.
One other thing, I don't own any MTH diesels but on the steam engines there's a sticker on the underside of the tenders telling you what version you've got, i.e. PS-1, PS-2, or PS-3. The older ones may even be labled QSI. I'd assume the diesels would have the same stickers.
Hope this helps. Good luck! And let us know how it turns out.
This set has a 9-volt looking battery. 8.4 volt rechargable model PB 1605 so I assume this is PS-1.
dieseldoc This set has a 9-volt looking battery. 8.4 volt rechargable model PB 1605 so I assume this is PS-1.
Not necessarily. Several of my "Generals" are PS-2 and have that 9 volt type battery in them.
There is a reset procedure for PS-1. If everyones suggestions don't work out for you let us know, I'll tell you how to do it, but brother, it's a bear compared to the above.
Passing on the procedure will be like writing a term paper. Remember how much fun THOSE were?
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.
Get the Classic Toy Trains newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month