Wondering if anyone else has run into issues with their Arduino build like this: I have one specific loco (a BLI GE C30-7 with the Paragon 2 decoder) that when I put it on the track and turn on the power, the lights come on and just flicker. The loco is unresponsive as well as any other loco on the layout. Sometimes, I can rock the loco sideways, lifting one side or the other from the rail and put it back down, and the problem clears. Other times, it doesn't. If I remove the loco entirely, the track & other locos start working fine. I am using a EX ‑MotorShield8874 for power (correctly powered as instructed on their site). It is ONLY this one loco that has a problem. I had a friend try it on his Digitraxx layout and he attempted for a full hour to replicate the problem, but could not. I contacted BLI and they said for $199, they can inspect and possibly repair the loco. (I only paid $100 for it, so I'd hate to go that route). They also suggested that the Arduino may be detecting a short and rapidly resetting over and over. Is there some setting that is user adjustable in the Arduino or EX-MotorShield that I can tweak to slow down the short detection a tiny bit? If so, does anyone have (or know of) detailed instructions on how to do this? Thanks in advance, Chad Cloverville Junction
That definitely sounds like what is happening. Sound locos tend to have larger capacitors with a larger in rush current than non-sound locos. Most recent models have circuitry to account for this but many older ones do not, so it appears that the command station is seeing that larger inrush current as a short. A couple of questions: Do you have DCC-EX configured for then EX ‑MotorShield8874? The standard Arduino Motor Shield is only 1.5 amps. Do you have Version 5 or later of the command station software installed? Starting with version 5 it is supposed to deal with inrush currents better. If the answer to both of these is yes then you might want to put a resistor in line with the track to limit track current at startup, with a switch to bypass the resistor after startup. The resistor would need to be high wattage and somewhere on the order of 5-100 ohms.
Other options to maybe pursue that the DCC-EX command station is capable are discussed, explained here.... https://dcc-ex.com/reference/tools/diagnostic-d-ack-command.html#gsc.tab=0 One option there deals with current settings. Not sure if any other DCC command station has options like these or not. I use to have some problems with the old DCC++ command station before DCC-EX came along. It would usually program but picky about clean track and clean loco pickups. With DCC-EX I've never had to use any of the other options explained in the link above but glad they are there. Sumner
Yes, that could definitely cause the problem. That could easily cause a short, and I imagine tilting the engine would sometimes move the wire enough to clear the short and sometimes not.
If the EX-8874 is detecting a short you should be seeing a message to that effect on the serial output from your DCC-EX command station. Can you connect a serial monitor (e.g., from the Arduino IDE) to your command station?
For $10 bucks Amazon this (GeeekPi IIC I2C TWI Serial LCD 2004 20x4 Display Module) works perfect would never have guessed wifi address if not displayed! (ps: and thanks to this thread switched my JMRI setting to "Serial Port COM4")
I do have the 4 line display on the Arduino. I'll have to see if it's resetting or showing an error (never thought to check the screen! ) As for the possibility of a loose wire on one of the trucks, it doesn't seem likely as my friend was not able to duplicate the problem at his house (he spent an hour trying), but as soon as I got the train back, it started giving me issues immediately.
How do I verify this? I am basically a noob at the Arduino. I scratch built it using DriverD's tutorials on YouTube. Very straight forward. But, I'm not sure which version I have installed.
I don't have a display connected but would think the version number might be on it when it starts. Did you use the auto-installer? If so when? If you think you have an old version run it again. Only takes a few minutes to run. Sumner
So I took a look at his videos and he uses the manual install instead of the automated install. Is this what you did? He does not mention setting the motor driver board type, so I suspect yours is configured for the standard Arduino motor driver board. I would recommend first, downloading the latest version of the code as suggested by Sumner, but after you load it in the IDE, but before downloading to the Arduino, edit the motor shield type in config.h, as instructed here: https://dcc-ex.com/reference/hardware/motorboards/motor-board-config.html#gsc.tab=0
The auto-installer also now lets you choose between motor shields or maybe even define it there in the auto-installer. I've always just selected Arduino motorshield or clone so don't know what the option would of been if I hadn't followed that route. Sumner
You don't need the LCD display, and I'm not 100% sure what info the LCD will display. But shorts are definitely reported over the serial monitor. Just have your computer connected with the USB cable you used to upload the software, run the Arduino IDE, and open the serial monitor window.
