My just purchased this morning big boy has developed a problem after it derailed on an incorrectly set switch. It sat there trying to run as the tender caught and something was still picking up power. I got it shut down and when placing back on track properly I had sound until I heard a bit of a screech. I now have a completely dead loco. I tore the tender down to check for a broken wires etc and can see nothing wrong. Any ideas and suggestions to check before I can call athearn Monday? My fear is I fried the decoder.
I'd say that since it's under warranty, call them. I had to do that with my BLI GS4. Mine had sound but stopped going forward.
We'll the tender is on its way back to athearn. Sounds Luke I have the first burnt out chip they have seen in this release of the big boy.
I'm no expert...not even close... but I don't think it should have failed that easily. Even if there was a short from the rails it was at the rails not in the decoder. I mean if it shorts at the rails there is just no more signal or power, right? Or am I all wrong? Silly girl's 2 cents
Candy, the power supply/throughput is what tells the story. If the system's power supply is rated for, say, 5 amps, a hard short where a metal wheel bridges two rails will possibly route all 5 amps through the decoder. Most decoders are rated for about 1.5-2 amps continuous, so........poof.
I'm just trying to understand. Wouldn't the current go through the wheels from rail to rail and not the decoder?
I agree with Candy..The bridged current should/would merely short out the DCC system before a decoder will fry in a train. I must have shorted out my NCE with engine derailments over unclosed points and other nonsense, like an exacto knife across rails, no lie, 422 times now..Engines and throttle are fine throughout...Something wrong in tender I just can't savvy..But, I guess it's possible..I wouldn't have mailed it in so soon..Candy, you're not a silly girl to say what you said..I too am far from being an expert. But experience is worth something. Anyhoo, good luck to Glenn. We all know how it feels...MRRing is not a plug and play sport !
Everything Dcc related is in the tender in that unit. Having no sound at all or response on the programming track as well as a lb electrical smell. It was checked and it was pulling the same voltage into the decoder as was on the track. Sending in tender only saved me about 25$ in shipping chargers.
If I've read this right, the DCC system didn't trip out at the derail, so whatever occurred wasn't a short. Sounds more like a component failure to me, as in a sub standard chip that would've failed QC had it been selected for testing coming off the the production line.
Just an update, I recieved the tender back a few weeks ago with a new decoder in it under warranty. runs like a top, turnaround time was just over 3 weeks, not bad shipping from across the continent and a border both ways.
