Went across a turnout and shorted out. Now the engine is dead except for a blinking headlight. Won’t move and no sound. tried the magic wand but not sure if I am doing it right.
Did I burn up something inside?
Thanks, DON
If you are using DCC, try reprograming it.
Don,
How long was your SW7 on the turnout? If it was only briefly you should be okay. Did your E-Z Command “chatter” and blink when this happened? It does have a good circuit-breaker inside.
Try the magic wand again. I’ve never used one to reset a decoder so I can’t help you there. Someone else may have some additional pointers for you.
Tom
Nah, you didn’t boin it up. You;d know if you did that. The headlight is getting power, that’s a promising sign. You may need to see an LHS or a not-so-LHS with some DCC experiance. They’d need to reset the decoder
EDIT: Just saw the post below me, and he’s probably right. Removing the shell is probably in order. The hood is on tabs, don;t remember if there;s a screw involved.
Jerry,
Don can’t because he has a Bachmann E-Z Command. He should be able to use the wand though.
Don, a thought just came to mind: You may need to remove your SW7 shell in order to get the wand close enough to your decoder to reset it. Again, don’t know for sure.
Tom
Don,
If your SW-7 is like my DC only unit the exhaust stacks are mounted on a removable section of the shell. You may need to pull that piece off in order to get the wand close enough to where it can reset the decoder.
Easier than removing the whole body.
Mark Gosdin
TOM It wasn’t on the turnout very long I grabbed it real quik and took it off. I tried reprograming it to the default address 3 and a new address and neither worked. Still sitting on the track with a blinking headlight and no sound or movement.
Any other ideas? Thanks, DON
Try a Rare Earth Magnet, the ones that could pull a submarine out of the water? That sucker oughta reset the engine. Just donm’t use it in a room with metal walls…
Don,
Yep, sounds like the locomotive didn’t reset properly. You’ll either need to remove the shell or get a stronger magnet, as Flashwave suggested.
Yes, You can remove the stacks on top and theres an opening for the wand. But the manual dosen’t give very good instructions on how to use it. Will try again!
Thanks, DON
Don,
If the decoder resets correctly with the wand, you should probably hear three audible “hoots” from the horn - just like you would if you reset it via the a throttle.
Tom
BTW, Don: Were you ever able to program the direction buttons on your E-Z Command?
Tom
I have had little luck with the magic wand because the magnet in it is too weak. Use a more powerful magnet and it should reset okay. Even a refrigerator magnet might be strong enough.
I did find out what shorted it out and fixed that. The front coupler shank was too lng and hit the rail on the turn out while it was running. Just bent it up a little to clear the rail. But I still have a dead engine with a flashing front light.
DON
P.S. Didn’t get a chance to retry the direction buttons TOM. But will if I can get this thing running again. Thanks
Did you smell any smoke? If you did, your best bet is to send it back to where you bought it.
David B
No, did not smell any smoke!
DON
Don,
Look on the bright side. Your E-Z Command alerted you of the short - just like it was designed to do. [:)]
Tom
if the magic wand came with your loco it should work. the manual should show you where under the hood the magnetic reed switch is. the wand should be held at a right angle to the hood and laid across the hood not held vertically then you apply some power with the controller until you hear the word reset. this will reset the address to 03. shorts will occasionally disrupt a sound decoder. one of the guys in my club uses a kadee uncoupler magnet to reset his locos since he lost the wand.
Some QSI decoders have what they term a “jumper” that sits like a small office tower near one end of the board. You must remove the jumper by pulling it up and out of its socket, powering up the tracks, powering down, re-inserting the jumper, and then powering up once more. There will be a brief pause where nothing happens, but in time the decoder should reset and you’ll get sounds with access on address 03.
I find the wand thing to be hit and miss, with mostly miss.
Well, I give up! I tried the wand every which way and even a stronger magnet. Nothing works. It just sits there on the track with the front headlight blinking. Maybe I burned something out inside. Don’t know. Looks like I maybe sending it back and it sounded so good too. Ran like a champ! Was real pleased with it. Bummmmmmmer!!
Thanks for all your help, DON