Hi Everyone
I am experiencing issues with one my Kato’s. I put a Dh123ps decoder in the loco, but it shorted and fried the decoder. Is there an apparent problem with this loco?
Thanks,
Caso
Did you remove the jumpers?
Actually, now that I think about it I’m sure you did. How else would you have plugged in the decoder, LOL.
Some of Kato’s earlier DCC ready boards, like in the SD80, had a problem with one of the motor’s contact straps touching one of the traces on the top of the board (it’s easy to spot). This would cause a short and fry any DCC decoder. All you have to do is cut the motor’s strip down a little or bend it the other way.
Here’s the note from Kato’s website. Note that this only applies to the earlier runs of this unit. I have three of these but have just replaced the entire board with a sound decoder decoder board.
I have 2 SD80MACs and they are both running a DH163 plug in decoder (basicly the same decoder as the 123 but with more features) and the only issue I noticed was the motor clip as listed in the article JB linked. I have an SD90/45MAC that has the DH123 in it and no issues with DCC what so ever. Check all connections, make sure there is nothing is shorting and make sure that the decoder is not shorting through the insulation.
Massey