Put your cursor over the "Battery Info" label to the left and move right & down to click to select the desired page.
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While all the items to be considered may seem daunting, the net result of having the suggestions implemented will be smooth, trouble free Sound System Operation.
After Market Power supply considerations to keep your QSI conventional sound systems going
1) Battery charging update
2) Power supplies can also be Upgraded for operation with non-sinusoidal AC power
3) Logic Interference Removal
4) NEW! Battery charger limiting ckt
See: QSI Sound System Repairs: Power Supply Updates
for lots of details.
ProtoSounds1 Gatchas
5) ProtoSounds1 and Irondequoit Car Shops Battery Switch Eliminator
6) QS-3000 warning when used with the ProtoSounds1 bottom board
After Market
1) Battery charging update
The After Market power supplies designed by QSI were used in the
QS-1.0, -1.1, -2, -2p & -3000 sales, both direct and dealers,
and also in the entire line of MTH After Market Sound Systems know as
Proto One, Proto Plus, Proto Deluxe and Proto Deluxe II.
Also see After Market battery usage located below Battery check on the
Battery Info: Battery Checks & Tests page
There has been a change in the design of the Ni-Cad battery sold by MTH. These new batteries are a light grey color. The older version was white.
Because of the problems listed below, STR had developed an add-in Battery Charger Current Protector to limit the charging current to a safe level.
These new batteries allow for twice the charging current of the original design, which puts more than a few of the After Market power supplies at risk.
The power supplies that are at risk will likely fail in a puff of smoke during charging if the track voltage is kept below 12-13 Volts, by destroying integrated circuit U2.
NEW! With the Battery Charging Current Limiter installed on the After Market Power Supply, the minimum charging Voltage can safely be lowered to 8-10 Volts.
See: Sound System Repairs: Power Supply Updates , Paragraph 3.
Replacement Power Supplies are $75. If the damage on yours has left all the traces intact and its leads have not been welded to the pads, repair will be only $30.
Charging time is still the same 12 - 14 hours.
Other choices
It may be better to put the batteries into or connected to a commercial charger.
A) Remove the battery from the loco and plug into a commercial battery charger for the required time.
B) Obtain or make an adapter to connect between the battery and the battery charger. See the "Battery Considerations" page.
C) To avoid constant removal of the loco's shell, install the MTH battery charger system with the STR adapter:
Use one of each item below for installation in each After Market equipped loco:
MTH Proto-Sound Locomotive External Battery Charger Kit: $10.
STR Adapter. Connects the above kit's Molex plug to the battery clips of the After Market's battery clip. $10.
Choose the number of chargers below to match with how many locos you wish to charge at the same time.
MTH Proto-Sound 2.0 Battery Charger: $15.
The MTH battery charger is capable of charging either a 9 Volt battery (Proto Sound) or a 3 volt battery (Proto Sound 2). The Voltage is determined by which plug is selected. They are so different that it is impossible to incorrectly connect them.
Optional installation by STR: $20.
After Market power supply Upgrades for non-sinusoidal AC power operation
2) After Market Power supplies must be Upgraded for operation with non-sinusoidal AC power.
An update is available for the After Market power supplies which will save these power supplies from destruction when used with non-sinusoidal power sources. (Such as MTH Z-1000, Lionel's TMCC operated Power Master for conventional operation and all of the new Lionel transformers that use the "brick" transformers.) $15, $17 or $20, depending on whether combs are already present on the leads.
Note: Reliable sound system operation with non-sinusoidal wave forms may also require a sound system upgraded to either QS2p or QS-3000.
When the After Market Power Supply update is done, STR will also include the Logic Removal pin cutting discussed below.
A very limited number of replacement After Market power supplies are available for $75 ea.
After Market µProcessor logic protection
3) Logic Interference Removal
For all those who have their After Market sound system(s) plugged into a "once known" fully functional QSI reverse unit(s).
A "once known" fully functional reverse unit (ACRU or DCRU) is one where you had to pull 2 or 3 pins from the reverse unit in order to plug in the sound system.
The other clue on the reverse unit board is the presence of 2 flat oblong black blocks with leads sticking out on both sides, making them look something like short centipedes. They are located at one end of the Reverse Unit, opposite end from the relays (the 2 black boxes).
If you have a Reverse Unit that does not have the logic, known as an OEM board, the rest of this section does not apply.
In spite of the jumper pin removal, the logic is still connected to power and will usually be locked in reverse.
There are a number of lines connecting these logic blocks to the sound board's micro Processor. It is possible for one or both of the logic blocks to fail and while it will not make any difference to the reverse unit's operation, certain logic failures on the reverse units will kill the micro Processor via the interconnected lines, requiring replacement of the top board. QS Type (C-5 for MTH, and QS1C5 for AM & OEM) Replacement boards are $50 ea.
Note: These lines were installed for possible sound system operating features way back in 1984. The sound system evolved without need for these lines and the lines, forgotten, were never removed in subsequent production runs of the various reverse units.
If the combs, i.e. lead stiffeners, are already in place, you are welcome to contact STR for the instructions on which power supply leads to cut to remove this hazard.
Installing lead stiffeners: $3 per board. Lead stiffeners required before lead cutting.
Lead cutting: $2
4) NEW! Battery charger current limiter.
See: QSI Sound System Repairs: Power Supply Updates
ProtoSounds1 Gatchas
5) ProtoSounds1 and Irondequoit Car Shops Battery Switch Eliminator
Now for a note on BCRs used in early ProtoSounds1 (1994 - mid 1995) that have been equipped with the
Irondequoit Car Shops Battery Switch Eliminator.
This device was designed to compensate for the lack of the Automatic Battery turnoff feature that the later ProtoSounds1 electronics had in them.
The Irondequoit Car Shops Battery Switch Eliminator not only takes longer to connect the battery (15 + seconds), necessitating an additional wait before starting to move the loco, but also the switch takes a long time to disconnect the battery (about 15 minutes) after track power has been shut down. While this is no problem for a good battery, it is for the BCR.
When a BCR is installed in place of the battery, the incompatibility becomes apparent in the complete discharge of the BCR within the 15 minutes following power shut down.
So one must perform the same wait time startup sequence again, during the same operating session.
While the bottom board can usually be upgraded with STR's installation of the QSI designed Auto Battery Off components on the bottom board, $36, it is successful in about 95% of the cases. It turns out the unused (by MTH) board traces and feed thru holes were never tested for continuity and shorts, hence those occasional defects were never repaired. The upgrade includes adding the battery socket to the board and upgrading your existing cable.
See: STR Service Flyer, Section 15.
The better solution (than attempting to have this upgrade done on the old board) is to purchase a replacement bottom board: $50, (which includes this feature) and which STR includes the power supply Update at no additional charge. Your old board, returned to STR, will give you a $10 rebate. The existing battery cable is also upgraded with a plug for use with your new board.
6) QS-3000 warning when used with the ProtoSounds1 bottom board
The QS-3000's digital pot and µProcessor is very sensitive to over voltage, something that can happen when the 9 Volt regulator fails. With the older sound boards, usually all one would get is a memory scramble, which had to go to a service station to get reset.
STR has recently added a safety feature to the MTH version of the QS-3000 that will protect the board from power supply over Voltage. Included with all QS-3000 MTH board purchases.
For already purchased boards, the upgrade cost is $15.
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