# Do I have a bad board?



## Marklx200 (Jun 14, 2015)

I ordered a PS3 diesel upgrade to use on a sd45 Williams back in September. It arrived shortly after they started shipping. I removed the electronics from the loco and installed the PS3 board and the front and rear couplers. I then left it as is for several weeks an studied the manual off and on during that time. It all seemed pretty strait forward. A lot of small wires but not all are needed or used. This weekend I hooked up all the power connections. Hot and neutrals to the 8 pin connector, speaker wire for sound and I removed the switch for DCS and DCC and soldered the wires together because I will never need DCC. I also installed tach reader and tape. I put it on the test track with a conventional transformer to test as the manual says. Followed all instructions for testing and I get nothing. No motor movement or test tones for horn or bell. Also nothing on the couplers. Checked all my connections. I'm getting power to the hot and neutral at the 8 pin connector but no response from the board. Am I missing something or am I out a $180.00 board? Any help would be appreciated and I thank any and all in advance.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

A lot of times you see smoke and burn marks on a bad board. I have tried to troubleshoot boards and some I could not figure out. I even swapped them out. Try looking at the motor connections and see if you can get it to run. DO you have lights?


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Welcome to the crazy world of the PS/3 diesel upgrade kit! 

FWIW, I recommend removing any and all of the unused pins and wires from the connectors. That makes the tangled mess of wires much more manageable. Also, be careful as some of the statements in the "beta" instructions are misleading if not outright wrong. I followed the schematic more than the instructions.

Did you check the current draw? It would be interesting if you have any current to the board.

Note that shorting ANYTHING to the frame other than the incoming power connection will not be good for the board!

If all else fails, I can test the board for you, I am an MTH tech and I have the PS/3 test set.


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## Marklx200 (Jun 14, 2015)

GRJ

Thanks for responding. I actually discussed this with you and another gentleman on the OGR forum back in June when I sort of horned in on your thread about doing your first PS3 diesel upgrade. The general conclusion was I should send it to someone to test. I will do that, but for what ever reason, I believe it is bad. I am certain I didn't short any wires when I tested to see if it worked. I also have a TIU with a weak DCS signal on fixed one channel. Do you also repair those?


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Marklx200 said:


> GRJ
> 
> Thanks for responding. I actually discussed this with you and another gentleman on the OGR forum back in June when I sort of horned in on your thread about doing your first PS3 diesel upgrade. The general conclusion was I should send it to someone to test. I will do that, but for what ever reason, I believe it is bad. I am certain I didn't short any wires when I tested to see if it worked. I also have a TIU with a weak DCS signal on fixed one channel. Do you also repair those?


Those can be repaired, just did one of mine when it lost signal on one channel.  Hard to say about the PS/3 board without seeing it. Sadly, I believe MTH won't warranty them if they're not installed by a certified ASC.


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## Mark Boyce (Jul 22, 2015)

I have two PS3 kits for two diesels I won't get to until this winter. I appreciate any information I can gather from others' questions.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I've attached a text file generated by George Gaylo (GGG over in the OGR forum). So he gets the credit and the blame for the contents.  It was helpful when I did my first one.


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## feldon30 (Dec 30, 2012)

You'd think on a $199 upgrade on a $500+ engine they could come up with instructions that aren't just plain wrong. I guess that's why it's intended for dealers to do upgrades. The customer won't know it's a mess.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

You'd think that, but you'd be wrong.


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## Mark Boyce (Jul 22, 2015)

Thank you for George's file, John!


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