Just a quick question that popped into my head. I have 2 Atlas locos with DCC/sound that are almost 6 years old now and was wondering how long decoders/motors etc. typically last? Id assume a while for what they are worth…
Given the fact that they are solid state, they should last decades as long as you give them good ventilation to prevent them from getting to hot.
Mine are only 5 years old…so you have me beat by a year.
Unless you fry something, I should think with the normal lube maintenance and such, they should last for as many years as a DC loco would.
But TVS radios and such that are electronic DO also wear out and fail after so many years, so I could be wrong.
I’ve been known to be wrong before and I am sure I will be wrong again!
My oldest is a P2K GP-7 that is the first loco I converted to DCC. It’s been running with DCC since 2003. Other than the cracked gears which were replaced, it’s still going strong. My oldest factory-equipped DCC/SOund loco is a Precision Craft Reading T-1 steam loco, I got that when they were first released, and it has quite a bit of run time as I used to set it to running for background sounds while building at the workbench, plus it’s been run many hours on the club modular layout.
The key to keeping any loco running is proper maintenence, particularly periodic lubrication. This goes for any loco, DCC or not. As for the electronics, usually problems will show up early in their life, if it’s run years with no problems there’s no real reason a solid state piece of hardware will fail anytime soon, provided it’s not subject to excessive heat, shorts, or voltage spikes.
–Randy
On my none sound DCC engines, I start having decoder problems at around 300 hours. More than likely it me forgetting to lube the engine up and starts drawing to much power.
On my sound engines, never had a problem. Seems there decoders are more robust than none sound. Even when I had a wiring problem and was eating none sound decoders, never lost a QSI or Loksound 3.5.
Ken
I’m afraid it is much like the question,“How long is a string?” Yay long.
Each locomotive has points where there is more friction that at other points, so those will wear first. Manufacturing and assembly defects will affect the longevity, but so will materials, and so will the number of hours of use over a given period of time. I hear that some museums run their locomotives for hours each day, or for several hours each weekend, and that they go for years with minimal maintenance…just cleaning and lubing once every few weeks.
In my case, I hardly use my locomotives at all. I am no longer very sweet on my layout, and am ready to move on. Even when I was more active, I ran each engine maybe three hours per year and rotate the (purposefully) few that I have. Therefore, I expect to either be buried with most of them (not really) or to give them to a young fella that might appreciate them. With care, they should last decades for me.
Crandell
Didnt know the decoders were solid state, I guess thats a good thing. Thanks for the responses!
I would estimate the time of the motor and decoder to be at least 20 years and more. I think they were made to LAST and LAST,
Ya as I recall in the 1920’s Lionel’s “Standard Gauge” line tried an early version of DCC, using decoders with vacuum tubes. It didn’t really catch on.
[:-^]
It’s not unusual for Lionel or American Flyer engines built 75 years ago (or more) to still be running if they’ve been properly maintained with normal routine maintenance. I would think an Atlas HO diesel with a can motor and a good decoder should be able to go on for a very long time too. Unless you accidently “fry” a decoder I would think they’d last a long time, no moving parts to wear out.
As one of your respondants mentioned, when electronics are faulty they tend to go bad soon after purchase and I’ve had that happen a couple of times. Also you can fry these engines as I did one when I tried to clean the wheels by the old method of running the engine over a paper towel dampened with solvent. Factory repairs solved these issues but it did cost me ten to twelve bucks every time I had to mail one back to the manufacturer. My older brass engines have their little problems too, from time to time, but I can repair them myself and/or rejuvenate them with new motors and gear boxes. Consequently I’m betting that the brass old timers will outlive the newer power with all their bells and whistles.
I still have a few of the dh83s and dh 120 series that came with my first Digitrax in the late 90s that are still working with no problems, Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything it is friday the 13th. LOL jim.
As mentioned above, they are solid state devices (SSD) and as such has a VERY long life. They have also a very good resistance against bad climates as well.
As an example, a USB flash memory is also a SSD, and I happened to drop one in oktober last year. I found it a few weeks ago, it had been suffering snow, extreme cold, rain etc. etc. It had been pushed in the gravel and soil… I just washed off the mud and soil with tap water and used alcohol to dry it, I inserted it and it worked as if it never had been put through all that!
SSD´s are very good things indeed.
Now there would be a project, a Steampunk-style DCC command station using tubes. You probably could for the output H bridge anyway. Not sure it would be even remotely possible to make a decoder with a tube in it - maybe for large scale. (thinking of a particular line of PC motherboards that were around a few years ago that actually had a single tube amp for the audio output!) Use the case from oen of those old Lionel Electronic units.
–Randy
My club went DCC in 1999, and those decoders we installed when we first tried it out still work today (I used one last month, in fact…an old Athearn BB GP7 that was my 1st ever install). So, I can tell you that they last at least 12 years… [:)]
Paul A. Cutler III
Since the electronics are solid state, they should last approximately forever unless they are exposed to either excessive input voltage or excessive output amperage.
The most probable points of failure will be found in the mechanicals - flexible couplings, gears, bearings, motor brushes… Properly installed and maintained, these, too, should last a long time. I have one loco that has been in fairly continuous (light, intermittent) service since 1948 that is still going strong, original Pittman DC71 motor and all. Another, more heavily used, recently had to have a worn out power pickup slider replaced(!!) The most common failure item has been flexible joints using neoprene tubing. After thirty years or so, the tubing dies and has to be replaced.
As for ‘lifespan,’ I don’t scrap locos, I repair them and return them to service.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
The key is to not just run your loco’s but open them up and give them a good cleaning and lubricating every year or so. The loco will thank you with more years of use…