I started a post on here last week because I had an poorly running Athearn Genesis GP9. I have completely eliminated that the locomotive is the issue (I tested it on a friend’s layout and it worked beautifully). So, I have two possible issues. 1) I am not getting a good solder on my rails causing a distorted signal to the decoder or 2) I have a malfunctioning Digitrax Super Cheif.
In an attempt to eliminate my soldering as a possible issue, I made a video of my soldering two feeders to a brand new piece of track. I then wired the track directly to “rail A and rail B” on the DCS 100 and I am still having the exact same issues. Could you please take a look at my soldering technique and offer any suggestions if I am doing something wrong? Or possilbe issues/fixes to my DCS 100. Thank you for your time and help!
I don’t think this would necessarily affect the soldered connection quality per se’, but I wouldn’t clean the rail or wires with rubbing alcohol. Rubbing alcohol is not “pure”. It has lubricants in it ~ for rubbing of course. So basically if you’re applying rubbing alcohol after you’ve burnished the rail you’re putting pollutants back on the rail. I also notice you’ve made of point of using small amounts of flux. Don’t be afraid to use plenty of flux. This is what cleans the metal surface and allows the solder to flow easily into all the nooks and crannies quickly. You can’t really use too much, but using too little can result in a poor or weak connection. It also seems like it takes a long time for the soldering iron to get the wire hot enough to melt the solder. I use a 40 watt iron. And make sure the tip is firmly secure so that there is good heat transfer. I would have your friend bring one of his locomotives over and see if it performs the same way yours does on your track. And then of course, if you can get hold of another Digitrax unit and see what happens that would certainly narrow things down even more. I would also try a different power supply and see what happens.
Thanks, Randy. It 100% is not the loco. I did a OpSw39 and that didn’t work. I did get ahold of Digitrax and they suggested what you did so I just uploaded a video of unplugging everything from the DCS 100 and plugging the throttle directly into it: http://youtu.be/IMBYj12zEfg
Also, Arto - I appreciate your soldering hints! I am beginning to believe that the issue is related to my power supply.
Yes, like Randy said…the LocoNet connections…that’s what I forgot…it could be the Loconet connectors, wires…I’m going wireless, so for me it’s pretty much a non-issue
Did you disconnect everything else connected to the track power connector? There should only be the power input and the wires going to your test track.
Your voltage on the throttle seems a little low for being directly plugged in. That power supply that Digitrax sells has an adjustable output setting. What do you have it on? It should be on the 19V setting if you want to get HO, around 15V, out of the DCS100.
Batteries in the throttle are not required for plugged in operation.
Your symptoms are typically caused from low voltage. Check the input voltage to the DCS100 while it is operating the locomotive. Measure right at the terminals of the DCS100. You are probably using a digitrax power supply that supplies AC voltage, so be sure and use the AC setting on your voltmeter. It must be at least 12VAC. However, the DCS100 is quite happy with higher voltage and I would use 15 to 16 volts AC as others have said.
Not sure if you used just a short test track or not, but I would do that too. What I mean is to disconnect all other track except a short 3 or 4 foot section, and see if things change. An intermittent short elsewhere on the layout would be a problem.
It would be very easy if you know someone with another digitrax booster he could bring to your layout for a test.
Assuming the Op Switch 39 reset worked and the address has not been status edited. Check Cv29 on the decoder and make sure it is set for 28/128 speed steps. It looks like it is running on 14 steps.
If all else fails, remove the DCs100’s cmos battery and leave it out for 20 minutes or so. Reinstall it and start the DCS100 up and try it out. This will cold boot the command station and sometimes works better then closing op switch 39.
Thanks, Randy! You figured out my issue! I am new to DCC and I did not realize that on the Digitrax power supply that there was a selector to select the voltage. I switched it from 12 V to 19 V and now everything runs fine! I am slightly disappointed in Digitrax because I contacted them and emailed the links to my videos and they told me I had low voltage but they never told me to check the switch on the power supply. I find it hard to believe that nobody else has had this issue. Oh well, I learned a valuable lesson.
Also, a big thanks to everyone else for all of your comments and suggestions! I tried most of them and even though they didn’t work this time they might work for future issues. I printed these discussions out so I have a record of them for future reference. Again, thank you to everyone who helped fix my issue!
I know WHY they went to a power supply likethat - big bulky transformers are going the way of the dodo, and many brands of laptops all use the same voltage, so the laptop bricks are available by the boatload. And they are more efficient. Wish they would have just picked one with a single voltage instead of that adjustment. The 12V and 13.8V settings are likely both too low to even use the N scale setting, let alone HO - natural losses in the components of the hardware mean you need to feed in a bit more than you expect to get out.
Use the lowest setting that works reliably, anything above that ends up just getting wasted as heat.
I guess what has me most frustrated is that I checked in my Super Chief manual and the packaging of the power supply and nowhere does it say to change the voltage. The only instructions that came with the power supply were to use the white connecter. It would have saved me a lot of headache if Digitrax provided better instructions. I am also disappointed that the tech support from Digitrax didn’t really solve my issue and I was literally getting ready to package up my power supply and send it into them. Oh well, I am happy now becuase I can run my train!