Both engines with QSI,when running at slow speed{throttle set at 3 or 4 )will run for a few seconds then I’ll hear a “click” in my Digitrax DT400R throttle and the engine(s) will stop and the speed will drop to 0.
If I run at a higher throttle setting,there is no problem or hesitation.It does seem to happen most when on the apex of a 22" curve or when crossing over turnout frogs…What do I look for? is it loseing voltage? is it a small short that would trip a breaker in the DT400 throttle(If they even have one)?But not shut down the system.Would a TTX,PSOne power booster solve the problem or is it some CV setting?
Mike,
Does it happen in the EXACT same place on the curve? Does it happen anywhere else on your layout? What about @ speed step 001 or 002? If so, then it’s probably a momentary short that, when your locomotive is traveling at higher speeds, is not be detected by your command station. Whenever my NCE Power Cab finds a short, the whole thing shuts down and reboots. When my Bachmann E-Z Command experienced a short, it would “chattered” and the LEDs would blink on and off but the unit would stay on.
Tom
It does seem to happen pretty much in the same places,but like I mentioned,the engines just revert to 00 and it has no effect on any other engines running at the same time.Also, it;s only with the BLI engines and not with brass,athearn,bachmann,precision scale or any other???
It is a most likely a momentary power loss (track mechanical), but it still could be a short.
My Niagara, which I acquired from their Outlet Direct, gave me fits after using it for a few weeks. I finally isolated it to the rear truck, and thereafter to the very loose first rivet, the one that allows the spring arm to pivot. It was allowing the curved dipped portion of that arm to come back into contact with the front axle, which is metallic. Phsst. Then, when I fixed it (drift pin and solid couple of taps on the rivet with a hammer) and it ran well, I found that I had forgotten to solder two rails together along a planned cut in a section of flextrack…one of my better attempts at laying a nice curve. The loco, now fixed, would lumber up to that point at speed step 4-10, say, and stop dead, but restart with my DT400 saying that the input speed was now 00. Once I soldered that nice razor thin meet, the world returned to “normal”.
Mike,
Does your Niagara and Hudson have the old QSI chip or the new upgrade chip?
Tom
I have not installed the new chip yet.Playing around with it further,I find that if I do nothing,after 20 seconds the engine will resume running.A couple of strange things…If I am running on the left throttle,the engine will stop and the throttle will revert to 00,But running on the right throttle (knob) the engine will stop,but the setting will remain the same,and after 20 sec.,will continue on at the setting.In both cases,the sound and lights continue(of course the “chuff” stops.It does seem like it resets but I don’t know if it’s the engine or some setting on my DT400.
I wonder if it is something about the encoder on that throttle. Both throttles should behave identically.
I guess I’ll have to look at the Digitrax manual tommorow and see what the settings for the DT400 are suppose to be.It is possible that I somehow changed them while playing around trying to program a Tsunami (That’s a whole other story…God bless TTX)
Are you running one at a time or both together ?
I’ve seen some really strange things happen if I select the same BLI engine with both DT400 throttles. [
]
One at a time…but i did “steal” the engine from one throttle to the other.The stopping problem happend even before i stole the engine
Could it be that your cable insertion from tender to loco, or vice versa, is not fully seated? I had an intermittent performance problem once and when I checked I found that I had failed to engage the plug into the socket fully.
Thanks…At this point,I’ll try any and all solutions.This is going to end up being very simple.It would almost be better if the thing did’nt run at all.
Never ask for the thing to not run at all, that might be next.
I use a small flat-tipped screwdriver and my Opti-Visor when placing the plug into its receptacle. I have found on the BLI locos that if you press with the screwdriver on one side of the plug, the other will want to pivot partially in the opposite direction, and thereby loose good contact with the tiny inset pins. So, I have gotten used to pressing on one side, pressing the other, returning to the first, and finally once more to the second at which point they are firmly in place.
SUCCESS…(so far)
I guess the cure was changing out the chip with the qsi upgrade.I also went over the engine and tender,tightening,adjusting,cleaning and used conducta lube on any and all electrical conductors.I also made sure that the plug was set tight(it was a little loose in the socket)After doing all of the above,the engine runs beautifully, responds well and much better sound.The only thing that bothers me ,is not knowing which “cure” worked.
Thank you all for your assistance…I really needed a place to start looking
Oh, that’s only for the hudson,I have’nt gotten to the niagara yet.I’m a little upset with myself for waiting too long to get in on the BLI,$99,trade-in on the early run Hudsons.
Okay, here is where I reveal a finding about the Niagara. Mine began to short, and the short seemed to come from the tender (when I placed the loco on the powered track, no short. Placed the tender, starting with the lead truck, and then added axles, until the last axles shorted…hmmmm.) Got it back from BLI after two months, and it worked just fine (new decoder and pickups). Then, more shorting. Forget how, but I decided that the rear engine truck was the culprit. Felt that the first pivot from the mounting bracket was way too sloppy, and it allowed the curved spring arm to pull back in some conditions and to make contact with the metal leading axle. I used a drift pin and a hammer to whack that rivet…carefully, natch… which tightened it up quite nicely. No more shorts. Matt Williamson at BLI relayed to me a conversation he had with one of their techs about the S1b’s rear truck, and this fellow admitted that they have been problematic.
So, if you begin to get shorts after a while, remove the trailing truck and see if there is excessive sloppiness in the spring arm and the part that goes on to the rest of the truck. If you can get the rear curved portion, to which the lead end of the spring attaches, to make contact with the front axle, you have likely found the cause. Invert the truck, place a thin, flat-nosed drift pin directly on the head that presents, and use a hammer to whack it until the truck pivots nicely around that rivet/pin. DON’T overwhack!
That’s something worth remembering…Thanks