Hello all, my first post here. I bought an MTH 30-1115-1 Pacific Steam Engine w/proto off eBay, got it delivered and tossed it on my conventinal track powered by MRC Pure Power transformer. Once I applied power 2 bell sounds dinged and it just sits there, making engine noise. I decreased the power and then applied power to move it around the track and it doesn't move. I also noticed before I attemted to run it that there was corosion under the coal tender. I removed the cover to the tender and it looks like the battery is to blame (I will post pics when I get home). So, my question is: is this just a simple battery problem or could it be worse like a bad chip? Please advise, thank you.
That is an original MTH ProtoSound engine (PRR K4?) I believe. Be careful, as there is a chance of scrambling the board programming with these as the battery dies if you attempt to run it. Hopefully your unit hasn't been fully affected yet, as the only fix once the programming is corrupted involves board replacement AFAIK.
If it's NOT scrambled, the solution is dead easy: replace the battery! I do not have detailed instructions, but the general advice I have read is that you should not even attempt to run Protosound 1 engines until replacing the battery. Here's an article from Classic Toy Trains on the subject:
http://ctt.trains.com/how-to/command-control/2010/01/replacing-mth-batteries
Good luck!
P.S. - Also note it's not a standard 9v battery! It's an 8.4v rechargeable one, and you can order a replacement through a train shop, or online:
http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/MTH-O-50-1008-Rechargeable-Proto-Sound-Battery-p/mth-50-1008.htm