Hopefully someone can tell me why my NCE Power Pro DCC system acted extremely erratic the other day. Here’s details.
I have a 5’ X 10’ layout with 3 connecting ovals; it’s a temporary test track.
Over the period of about 4 hours I was running different locos without any problems. When the gremlins started to attack I was running a new Proto 2000 E8/9 A/B diesel, (B is un-powered), A unit has a QSI sound decoder. It was pulling 5 Walther’s passenger cars. I was running it on the outer loop.
Middle loop was a Proto 2000 SD50 pulling a 4 car train. It has an NCE decoder installed.
Inner loop was a Bachmann GP35 pulling another 4 car train. It has a factory Bachmann decoder installed.
The problem started with the Bachmann GP35. It would come to a screeching halt then proceed forward. The headlight would be off when it started. This happened at least 10 times before I pulled it off and replaced it with another Bachmann GP35 that did the same thing. I changed out 5 locos all Bachmann and all on the inner loop with no change in the problem.
I then took off the Proto SD50 from the middle loop and put on a Bachmann. It continued to have the same problem, screeching stop then going again with the headlight off.
While the Bachmann locos were having problems the Proto 2000’s seemed to be ok. Then the Proto E8 started. It would stop at the exact spot every time around the track. It then began stopping any where on the track. Now it seemed the problem was progressing.
Finally I thought it had to be one of the two Power Pro cabs or a wiring problem. I disconnected the cabs from the bus and connected one of them directly to the booster. No help. The problem still existed.
By now I was tired and frustrated. 1-1/2 hours trying to find the problem and was getting nowhere.
The next day I fired them up again and everything was running fine! After running them for about an h
When you say, “Temporary test track,” what type of track is it? Is it flex track or sectional? Your problem sounds like loose rail joints, an inadequate number of power feeds, or poor soldering of the power feeds. Sectional track, especially some like Bachmann EZ-track, have poor connectors, especially if it is not securely fastened down.
I call it a test track because it is just a temporary set up until I am able to build my permenant layout.
It is Atlas True Track. In the Atlas true track gallery it is # 10046-TT with an extra loop on the outside making it three loops.
On each loop I have connected 4 sections of track to the bus. So each oval has 4 spots where I have dropped a feeder. They are at each end of the oval and in the center of the straights. So the layout has a total of 12 spots where feeders drop to the bus. I isolated the reversing loop and did not power it and do not use it. The rest of the track is connected with rail joiners. The loops are not isolated only the section crossing the loops which I did not power and I do not use it.
The track is set up on a 10-1/2’ X 5’ bench I built with a 1/4" birch plywood surface and on top of that I have 1" of the pink foam from Home Depot. The track is not glued down.
Everything has been working fine for the last month and a half up until last Saturday when I had the problems. Sunday everything is working fine again.
I have no clue why eveything went whacky on Saturday other than wondering if because I had the NCE system running for several hours with 3-4 trains created a problem for it?
We occasionally have this exact same problem at the club with a Lenz system, but seems to be mostly with BLI locomotives. Running along fine, slam to a stop, then continue like nothing happened. When it starts happening it occurs about once every 3 minutes or so.
Simply powering down and back up does not solve the problem. To “fix” the problem we clear the stack in the Lenz control unit and “reboot” so to speak. Our theory is that over time and operating sessions the unit remembers every loco assignment, double head, and consist that has been typed into throttles. This queues up and eventually overflows some number (probably 255) becoming unstable.
Our clubs modular layout with NCE sometimes runs 8-10 hours at a time, with 10-15 different consists plus the occasion lone runner (switching) with no problems at all. With most engines running sound now!!
[:D]
How many power districts and boosters are you using? I am using just the Power Pro command station/booster with a 5 amp Mega Force MF615 power supply. I have the whole layout set up as one power district. It’s only a 5’ X 10’ layout.
The only thing I could find that possibly caused the trouble were the wires from the power supply to the booster may have been loose. I tightened them about a half turn each. Seriously though, I don’t think they weren’t loose enough to create that kind of problem.
My next thought was did I run a power bus too close to the command station bus. Nowhere do they run parallel to each other but they do corss at a couple of spots. They are separated by about 5-6 inches.
I had a train going last night and didnt’ have any problems. As a matter of fact it was the Bachmann loco that was the first to start the irratic operation.
Well, for now it’s all working fine. Hope it doesn’t happen again, if it does hopefully I’ll figure it out and report the problem here on the forum.
Your right, a strictly electrical problem would stop every locomotive in that power district. If this problem is like ours, it only effects one locomotive at a time.
We usually split it up into 4 to 6 different power districts, depending on size. Each one with its own 10 amp booster and a signal booster on the communication bus. The layout has been as big as 60x100 and will be even bigger when we hit the road again in October.
The NCE system is the least of our power problems. With layout lighting pulling 100 watts @110 volts every 4 linear feet, its harder to keep the layout lit than it is to power the track. !
Karl, It just occurred to me that you set up the layout at the Timonium show. I saw it in April when I was there. Very impressive layout you all have.
Texas Z, My experience was as yours was, not all loco’s stopped at the same time. each one did it at different intervals. However, once it started the occurances were more frequent. That led me to believe that something was overworked. Finally in furstration I shut everything down.
I haven’t had as many locos on the track at one time since then. Hopefully this weekend I will be able to run several at the same time for a long duration duplicating the situation. We’ll see. This weekend is Mothers Day weekend so I’ll be visiting my Mom and my MIL not to mention special attention to the better half on her day. Looks like I may be a little short on time so it may have to wait for another weekend.
One biggie that solves a lot of erratic loco behavior is to make sure Analog mode is set OFF in CV29.
Once I did this, a lot of my loco behavior wierdness went away. As a matter of standard practice, I now set ANALOG MODE off first thing in all my decoders.
In CV 29, Bit 2 is Analog Conversion. This means to turn it off, you add or subtract 4 from the value of CV29.
The problems encountered last Friday 5 May seemed to go away until yesterday. It happened again. I was running a Bachmann GP40 pulling 6 freight cars. It had only been running for 10-15 minutes when the stopping & starting began. It happened three times inside of 2 minutes.
I pulled it off the tracks and cleaned the wheels hoping that would help. When I put it back on it went 1/4 way around the loop and did it again. Then for 15-20 minutes it ran just fine. The difference this time was the headlight stayed on, it didn’t go off like it did last week. After running clean for 15-20 minutes I stopped it and shut the system down then went to bed frustrated.
I emailed NCE about the problem to see if they have an answer. When they get back to me I’ll post their answer.