I had a sad occurence today... at our show, one of my Atlas DCC SD50`s decided to "self-destruct" right before my very eyes! I was running on our NTrak modules, on about lap 20 on DCC when all of a sudden, my train, powered by 2 Atlas SD50`s, stopped abruptly. When I reached over to see what the problem was, I noticed smoke coming from one of the units! A miniature "fire" broke out in the 2 unit of the consist that burned a hole through the shell! I grabbed the units to pull them off the track and literally burned my fingers on one of them (the one with the hole in the shell). So what gives? These are the Atlas DCC units that operated well prior to this "incident". Also, other units passed the same location with no problem. Was this a decoder failure? Inquiring minds want to know,,,, Chessie ------------------ Harold Hodnett Fan of NS, CSX, and their predecessors! Coming soon: The North Carolina Railfan Web Site http://www.trainweb.org/ncrail/
Most likely it was a short. A decoder that shorts (say on the frame) has a tendency to get very hot. And while power is still on the rails, it will burn a hole in the shell. This happened to one of our club's P2K GP7s (HO scale). I couldn't even get the shell off!! The other problem could have been a short somewhere on the layout that you were the unlucky recepient of, overloading the decoder. This is possible, although far more unlikely than a problem with the individual unit. You are going to loose a decoder every now and then, no technology is invincible. It's just too bad when one takes a loco with it. ------------------ Corey Lynch Pres - Rensselaer Model RR Society NEB&W RR http://www.rpi.edu/~lynchc/Railfanning/railfanning.htm - My Site http://www.union.rpi.edu/railroad/ - NEB&W
I second that. I have had an Digitrax decoder "fry" in a SD60. You should have noticed a problem earlier though, so what ever happened happened quickly. You should have a short time period where the lights flask while the decoder is getting ready to start frieng. Did the engine look jerky or speratic before? Sometimes when a decoder is 'knocked' out of place slightly too you could get a short. That would be another theory I would like to present to you. Some times even a little kid who innecently poked the engine can move a decoder enough so that there is a short in it. Just ideas, Dane N. ------------------ BCRailKing@Canada.com Teen Association of Model Railroaders- for information, contact Dane N. at TAMR2860@Canada.com http://www.tamr.org "I was DC, and went DCC!"
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by BC Rail King: I second that. I have had an Digitrax decoder "fry" in a SD60. You should have noticed a problem earlier though, so what ever happened happened quickly. You should have a short time period where the lights flask while the decoder is getting ready to start frieng. Did the engine look jerky or speratic before? Sometimes when a decoder is 'knocked' out of place slightly too you could get a short. That would be another theory I would like to present to you. Some times even a little kid who innecently poked the engine can move a decoder enough so that there is a short in it. Just ideas, Dane N. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Dane, I have a SD60 Digitrax decoder that sometimes flashes. 99% of the time it appears to work ok. Should I be concerned? Matt
Model engine fires? Wow, talk about getting prototypical! Wouldn't a properly divided DCC layout stop the short?
Yes, it would stop a short, but if the short was on the same section, or if the layout wasn't properly divided, then you could have problems. And Matt, as for an occasional flash, it can happen if you run over an insulated frog (or even a section of dirty track), losing the signal for a split second, resulting in a flash. Best bet is to open up the loco and make sure the decoder is still isolated from the frame. ------------------ Corey Lynch Pres - Rensselaer Model RR Society NEB&W RR http://www.rpi.edu/~lynchc/Railfanning/railfanning.htm - My Site http://www.union.rpi.edu/railroad/ - NEB&W
I am not sure what really happened... as far as the decoder getting "knocked", it is the factory decoder and the locomotive was not dropped or mishandled; it had already completed about 20 laps around the layout when this happened. Odd to me also, in that it was the 2nd loco in the lashup, but the the SD50 leading had no problem. It may have been at a block, but had not caused any issues for anyone else all day. I guess I was just the "lucky" one Chessie ------------------ Harold Hodnett Fan of NS, CSX, and their predecessors! Coming soon: The North Carolina Railfan Web Site http://www.trainweb.org/ncrail/
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mtaylor: Dane, I have a SD60 Digitrax decoder that sometimes flashes. 99% of the time it appears to work ok. Should I be concerned? Matt<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Does it Get hot? (Quickly) If yes-check it, take it out of the SD60, and just re-install it. Does it still flash-then you have an interesting problem. Does it not get hot quickly? Then just re-program. It should be fixed. Of course if the loco doesn't move you have a shorting decoder on your hands. Happy RRing, Dane N. ------------------ BCRailKing@Canada.com Teen Association of Model Railroaders- for information, contact Dane N. at TAMR2860@Canada.com http://www.tamr.org "I was DC, and went DCC!"
