While I’ll admit my track doesn’t have the best track record (and is still far from perfect), the tests detailed at the bottom of page 1 and the original problem were conducted on track which no locomotive has had problems with. I’ve had both DC and DCC locomotives crawling at slow-speed switching and have not seen a single short. During the tests when I was able to reproduce the problem, all of my power that I’ve had intermittent shorting problems with (an Atlas SD35) and all DC locomotives were off the tracks.
No single locomotive has overloaded the Zephyr during my tests - I was only able to accomplish that with two locomotives at almost full throttle and another two going from off to full throttle quickly, supporting your theory below about an overload.
Assuming your guess and my theory about the Zephyr confusing a quick overload for a short are correct, would dividing the layout into four power districts with a PM42 solve the problem? Or do I actuall
1.5A per section is a little light but you can;t go higher because the Zephyr itself is only 2.5A. Maybe just bite the bullet and do what I did, I have a DB150 configured as a booster powering the track through a PM42 giving me 4 sections, at the default trip level of 3 amps. The Zephyr is my command station. I doubt I run enough locos for me to need 5 amps, but it there and works.
Tyler, could there be something wrong with your Zephyr? I know you been told this, but if everything is right you should be able run 8 engines. While my SEB was down, I ran 4 engines with my Bachmann E Z Command.
Not trying to be smart here, but the way to solve the problem, is to stop trying to run a dc loco on a DCC system, even if the instructions say you can.
That’s why when I performed my test (and repeated the problem successfully) there was no DC locomotive anywhere on the layout. Trust me, I wish it were that simple.