Last year I purchased a Power Pax to allow me to assign DCC addresses to sound equipped locos which overload conventional DCC programming systems. It worked fine last year. I recently purchased a number of new sound equipped locos and when I went to address them, the programming failed and the locos retained their default address of 3. I disconnected the power pax from the programming track and assigned addresses for non-sound DCC locos and it worked fine. When I went to reattach the Power Pax, I noticed the red light was on indicating an overload. This light is on constantly, not just when I go to program locos. There are no external controls on the box that would allow me to reset the device. I had left the AC adapter attached to the Power Pax so whenever the power strip was turned on, which I did whenever working or running the railroad, the Power Pax would have been turned on as well. Could this have fried the Power Pax even if it was not in use. I have been trying to locate the manual for it without any luck but it is a very simple device without any controls other than the wire connectors. Has anybody had similar problems and is there a solution.
Jecorbett:
You may want to check out this link to Tony’s Train Exchange –
http://www.tonystrains.com/technews/powerpax.htm
and click on Installation and Programming. This will lead you to a 2 page installation guide that may give you your solutions.
Hope this helps!
Thanks for the heads up. Two good pieces of info. One, the light being on is normal. It’s only a problem if it is blinking. Two, I should try inserting a resistor on the connection to the programming track. I have some of these somewhere if I can find them.
I hate to say it, but it sounds like you fried it. (Don’t ask how I know.)
It will be damaged if main layout power is directed to it … like by having a loco partly on the powered main and partly on the program track.
They are repairable – for about $10, I think, plus shipping. Once you’re sure it’s fried, check with Tony’s or Litchfield, or the like.
I finally got a 4-pole double-throw center-off toggle switch. My program track is at the end of a siding, and there’s another 12-inch section between it and the main. The 4PDT switch is wired so when in “main” position, both sections get main power. When it’s in “program” position, the program track is connected to the PowerPax, and the intermediate section is connected to nothing. No more fried PowerPaxes.
I suppose it is possible but not very likely. My program track comes off the turntable and it alligns with the dead spot on the Walthers 130’ TT. I couldn’t have run a loco from the bridge to the program track even if I wanted to. There is a gap between the TT bridge track and the program track so there couldn’t have been a connection there. I suppose it is possible that I inadvertently set a loco down sideways so it spanned between the program track and on of the TT leads but even that is unlikely since there is a coaling tower opposite the program track which would only leave room for a short loco to be set down sideways.
From what I have read, I don’t have a reason to believe it is fried. If I am understanding the PDF documentation correctly, the light being on is normal as long as it is not blinking. I am going to try to add a resistor the the circuit to see if that alleviates the problem. If not, then I will be out of ideas and contact Tony’s.
I hope you’re right. But having the red light on does not necessarily mean it isn’t blown (that’s what I once thought, too). I think if there’s just a short circuit across the relatively low-power programming leads, it blinks; if it gets main power (12-16 volts) through the “back end” it blows something out, but the light stays on. Been there, done that!
Let us know what you find.