I have had an SB3 running on the layout for some time now and today it sutdown. I had been running for about an hour and a half when it shutdown. The locos that were running were not near any turnouts and none were thrown wrong anyway. The loco lights flickered like the sytem was attempting to reset but I powered down quickly. I double checked everything and attempted to power up again, but the green inicator came on for just a moment and went out. I cannot get it to power up anymore. I cannot tell if I fried it or not but thats what it looks like.
Has anyone had a similar problem and did your SB3 recover?
Remove all locos, and any powered rolling stock, then look for pliers, etc., then try powering up again, then stick a meter on it and check for short(s) before giving up on it.
I agree with Virginian. Remove all your locomotives from the layout and double check to see if the problem is still there. If so, then comb the tracks for any potential problems. Something may have fallen across the track somewhere and is creating a short.
The other place to check would be your wiring underneath the layout. I had a bare wire from a light touching another bare wire that caused me all sorts of fits.
I am sorry to say that she has expired. Got a good light show and some smoke out of her. I attempted to power up without the track wires in place and she went up quick. I have a fealing the damage was already done before this attempt.
I just don’t understand how everything was running great then mass meltdown. Is it possible that there may be a short in a loco that could cause such a dramatic shift, but then it should have reared its ugly head from the get go. If its loco realated wouldn’t the loco be the only casualty?
I don’t think temperature had anything to do with it as its been about 60 today and I have run the layout in 100 degree days before. The unit and powers supply were not hot at all. I checked gaps in the track and double checked for faulty wiring but no luck. I just don’t get it.
Sorry to hear about your SB3 meltdown. [:(] Contact Larry @ NCE and see what they have to say. I’m sure they will have you box up the SB3 and send it back to them. My guess is that they will look at it and send you another one - FREE of charge.
John, if I might make a suggestion here. Make sure that you write down on paper your observations of everything that happened with the SB3 prior to the failure so that NCE has it in writing. That will aid them in possibly diagnosing and deciphering the problem faster, as they will be able to read and re-read your account of the event. I’ve done this for auto mechanics in the past, when I’ve taken in my car in with intermittent problems, and absolutely they LOVE it! I’m figuring it’s saving them time and me money. [:)]
Well, Larry at NCE was very receptive and apologetic to the problem. He acknowledged that there was a design problem in the early runs and to send it back, but there would be a few weeks before he would be able to replace.
I asked him if I should do more for short protection and said no, the problem is more complex than a simple short. He will have a re-design.
At this point they are all ‘early run’. My SB3 has fried twice now. Larry indicated there is a design flaw with the short circuit protection and they have stopped producing the SB3 until the new revision is out.
On the positive side Larry is sending me a PowerPro 5 amp system as a loaner until they can send the SB3 back to me. They have always had excellent customer service and sending out a loaner is top notch.