I should have done this right away. Here is a photo of the bottom of my Power Cab panel made a short while ago. The two black circles show DCC power from the cab. The DCC power also goes to the red LED via a 1k resistor. That way, when you have DCC power, the LED will be lit. I measured 13.3 VAC at the two black spots on the PC board, and the two wires you see sticking out the connector that feeds the track. The two LED pins measure 1.1 VAC. and 5.9 VDC. You mentioned this in your original post. You should in the future mention AC or DC voltage. Since the LED is a diode, you will see a DC voltage as well as a AC voltage on the two pins. No loco connected to the panel so the current is zero. Rich
Power Cab The twp black spots are connected right to the output plug. Yeah, I know, the meterr is not a true RMS meter. Rich
One more item, look carefully inside the connectors for six pins in all the same position. Do you have an extra six pin flat wire? You might also try a continuity check of the cable. Not easy but can be done. Ok, I assume the cab display is lit, six wire flat cord plugged into the same port as mine, you have a defective cab. I have not opened up the cab to look at the circuit. Rich
I went and dug out some photos of the topside. It doth appear the only electronic parts may be the resistor for the LED. Which means, it should be a junction box, effectively. At that point, I would be following the tracks with my VOM, determining where I have power and where it stops. Then, I'd look for broken tracks with my magnifying loupe, and then, if no cracks found, be touching up the solder joints. You could very well have poor solder connection, ESPECIALLY if they are ROHS compliant. Does the power feed jumper through the handheld, as in, does it need to be plugged in to have power routed out? Looking at an on-line photo of the component side, and your photo, and using the NCE manual, the power does seem to go to the handheld. So, follow it all the way to the sockets for the handheld.....at that point, maybe the handheld itself is the issue, or the cord. Does the handheld need to be "powered up" to allow voltage out? Ooops. Right from the manual: NOTES: The Power CabTM will only deliver track power if it is plugged in to the LEFT socket. Hold the Power Panel so that the red LED is on the bottom.
I think you've said you are using the six wire cable. Just in case, from the manual: The flat 6 wire cable carries track power from the Power CabTM to the Power PanelTM. Use this cable for Power CabTM operations. The 4 wire coilcord DOES NOT carry track power. Use this cable when you use the Power CabTM as a Pro CabTM on another system. Dave
If the led is on, you should have power to the track, because it's connected to the output. If you have a 4 wire cable, then the light won't come on, so the following must be tru: 1. 6 wire cable is good because the led is lit and it gets power from the throttle. 2. 6 wire cable is in correct socket on the front panel, because led is lit (change to other port and led won't light) 3. power supply is good because throttle is on and led is on. The output pins have no voltage, that is pretty impossible except for the possibility of a broken trace between the RJ45 socket and the plug to the track... Now with a new board from NCE that seems pretty impossible too. So, unless we are in an alternate universe one piece of the information given MUST be wrong. Greg
Read all the messages. He has the same meter that I have. I have compared them to my digital scope. I see the the 5.8 voltage on the LED that he sees in his first message. He failed to mention that is is DC voltage which was a little confusing. I suspect one of the two pins going to the panel are defective or the cab is defective. I asked him to look into the six wire connectors in case a pin is bent and not connecting. Rich
I was revising my post as you responded... please re-read it and check items 1, 2, 3 and see if you have a different conclusion on that information. Greg
Jim, It's almost too simple to suggest, but are you sure you don't have the power panel upside-down, and are mistaking left & right for plugging in the throttle? Easy to do since afaik there are no markings on the faceplate to indicate which way is up. Bill in FtL
I thought of that also as that did happen to someone in another forum. I just checked my Power Cab in program mode and the DCC signal is always at the connector during programing. I have mine set up on the bench right now. Rich
I posted earlier from the manual, LED up, left port. But, Greg is testing his, the red LED will NOT come on with the handheld plugged into the right port. Dave
Again, the LED will not turn on if you are in the wrong socket The LED will not turn on if you have a 4 wire cable The LED will not turn on (and the cab won't display) if you have a defective power supply. Something is wrong with the data we have been given. You got a new board, you said... do you still have your old one? Or, did you send in your board, and they sent it back, still defective? It's the only theory I can give that makes sense of all the information you have given. So, how do you know it's a NEW board? (clearly all the other components are working) Greg
At least the PCP boards are fairly cheap, only $20 or so, so you wouldn't be out a lot if you bought a new one to try and it didn't work, and at least then you'd know if it is or isn't the PCP. I made a data cable tester using a battery, 6 pos. rotary switch, 7 leds w/resistors and a wall fixture with a couple of 6-pin RJ sockets, but that's a lot of work to just check one cable, so you might just want to try a new one of those as well. The only things left would be the power supply an throttle itself. You say that NCE upgrade the throttle when they had it, was that to the new v1.65 software? Could the new eprom have worked loose? Bill in FtL
I just went to dinner and look at all the great replies. Thanks guys, very much appreciated. This is my second new power panel from NCE. No volts out the back to the track. I have the light down and use the left plug, as per diagram in the manual. Remember all this worked perfectly for a year and just stopped. I believe all the data I've given to be correct. Something in the power panels?? is wrong. Power goes in, but none comes out. (to the track) This whole set up works at NCE, but not in my trainroom. Greg, I don't have the old one, sent it back... Best of all is that it too worked and NCE, but they sent me a new one, along with the flat cord and updated cab. CSX Robert, is DC or AC a trick question? I thought the wall transformer plug converted the AC from the wall into DC entering the power panel? I hope I'm right. Going on 3 1/2 months now with no trains! Jim
I posted a bit earlier on troubleshooting. Now we all know if the red LED is lit, power supply works, feeds into the board, out and into the handheld, back to the board, feeds the LED. Red LED is lit. Handheld plugged into left port, as LED won't light in right port. One of the guys (lexon?) posted a photo several pages back of circled through holes. Through holes are printed circuit tracks that go...through the board,, ties one side to the other. Measure those circled points. The other side of those through holes are attached to tracks that go directly to the track output port. Just tell me what voltage you have at those points.
Here's a front side: http://home.earthlink.net/~tgstage/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/powerpanelcircuitboard.jpg Probably copyrighted, so links okay, posting the photo, probably not. Dave
No, not a trick question. The wall plug does convert the household AC into DC going into the Power Cab, however, the power coming out of the Power Cab and to the track is AC. It is not a 60 HZ sine wave like you get from the wall, but instead a square wave with a varying frequency of a few thousand HZ(the varying frequency is how the digital signal is encoded). You will get little or no voltage trying to check the track power with the meter set to DC.
I traced the circuit paths, near as can be done from photos. On the photo showing the black circles, there are two small tracks coming off those points. One goes to one side of the LED. The other goes to the current limiting resistor. The other end of the resistor goes to the other side of the LED. Near as I can tell (and I am pretty good at that). (usually) (even in State 4 seas). If the LED lights, you have to have power at the circled points. If your meter reads zero (and the board is probably lacquered so twist the probes a bit) it cannot be. Now, if you do have power there, measure the same points on the other side of the board. Have power there? Now, no power at the plug for the track leads, so, see the tracks on each side of the plug? Probe one of the through holes, then the plug that goes to the other through hole. Get anything? If so, it's the solder connection at the back of the plug on the side you didn't measure direct. If not, reverse, and do it again. Dave
