There is so much to learn with DCC and I am 79 yrs. old re-entering HO scale and just starting benchwork. Larry's videos are very helpful. I like the idea of going over some of them more than once making notes. Our hobby grows more expensive as inflation takes its toll. I think, the learning and relearning has priorities given where each one is at with building and gaining knowledge and experience. All of this almost seems sequential; i.e., layout initial design, room lighting, small section of benchwork, wiring, command stations, power cabs and boosters - it's mind blowing. I need to scale back a small around a 12 x 12' bedroom shelf two deck layout idea to one 3 x 12 section until the learning curve can readily handle further expansion. One thing I've never understood is that hobby magazines tend to show us club size layouts that surely must be expensive maintenance monsters that we will never build. Reading about a small layout that is readily achievable seems rare. Thank you, Larry Puckett, I appreciate your tutorials.
MR regularly does small layouts for their project railroads as they have to,be able to fit in the elevators in their building. There have also been a number of contests to,design bedroom sized layouts. Check out the Model Railroader website to,see if they have any layouts there. They do have a track plan search feature but that may only be available,on their subscription website. Their book division at Kalmbach may have collections of small layout designs in book form.
Dr. Puckett, your video was quite timely. One of my locomotives quit a couple of weeks ago. I inspected the wiring and tested the motor, nothing found. Figured I would try Decoder Pro. Then you released your video and showed me how. Now it works fine! Thank you.
Thank you so much for your videos. I have learned a lot even though I have been using DCC for over 15 years. This one on restoring a :dead" decoder has saved the bacon. I was about to purchase some new decoders thinking they had failed when I found your video. I was able to restore 2 out of 3 failed decoders.
Thanks Larry! I had a MTH that appeared to be broken and I used your steps to resurrect it. And you using a Power Cab to bring it back to life was icing on the cake. Now time to get DecoderPro reconnected so that I can save CVs and reload at a later time.
I have used my NCE PowerCab to perform this exact same action on several "dead" decoders that were in units that I got off of ebay and elsewhere. So far it has worked every time. Of course now that I have said this the next one I try will fail.
Excellent video Larry, i found a small burn hole in one of my standard Bachmann decoders i flitted over 10 years ago . I agree its probably best to fit a new one.
Larry, thanks for the great video on resurrecting a dead decoder. Lot of great information here and you presented it in a stepwise procedure. Thanks for sharing and stay safe. Ken
Larry I remember this video and today I had an engine I was testing in my yard with all my turnouts and it shirt circuited three times I was able to do the factory reset CV8 to an 8 and that worked. My Decoder is a Rolling Thunder. I was not sure about that until I decided to setup Decoder Pro on my Work Bench I have the USB to NCE interface and that read the decoder info. Going to play with more Decoder Pro and setup the rooster for all my engines. Thanks for the great info
Actually as long s you use the service mode programmiing track as I demonstrated the power cycle is automatic. With service mode there is no power on the track unless you are reading or writing a CV value. As soonas you read or write the value to the decoder power shuts off so no need for a manual intervention such as tipping the loco. If you use programming in the main then yes you may need to tip the loco to power cycle but not all decofers seem to require this-I have never dine it with a Digitrax but Lenz and LokPilot/LokSound decoders do require it.
Larry - Thanks, again, for another fantastic video!! In one part of the video you mention using a value of "8" in CV 8 to reset the decoder to factory settings. Yet, in another part of the video you mentioned "08" as the value to enter in CV 8 when wanting to9 reset the decoder. I have an NCE PowerPro system using DecoderPro as well and have several "dead" LokSound Mini 5 decoders that I am trying to bring to life again. I'm confused which to use as neither seems to reset it. Any advice?? Thanks
I doubt it would matter with this CV. NCE can be kind of picky with addresses but I don’t remember why I said 08 vs 8 in that video, probably just talking too fast.
Larry, what do you recommend to reset an older QSI decoder in a HO Proto 2000 E-6? It was a good runner about 3-4 years ago. Then I put it away. Now it just sits on the track with the mars light flashing on dim once in a while making a click sound from the speakers (2 of them). Then after a few minutes of trying the throttle it takes off full speed then stops. I’ve tried it on several different tracks on the club layout, including the program/test track as well as my isolated loop track at home. Now it has a sporadic short then comes right back on. Our club also has the JMRI computer program and it showed the decoder was a G scale decoder brand I’d never heard of. It is a QSI decoder. So I called Walthers tech support and they said resetting the CV8 doesn’t work for QSI decoders. Walthers gave me the CV numbers to reset but the JMRI couldn’t reset them. I’ll try with the Power Cab. I have the NCE Power Cab and followed your simple instructions. Then remembered resetting the CV 8 will not work on this QSI decoder. Since it is old maybe a new decoder is needed? But I’d rather try a reset since it acts like it has some life left to respond.
QSI and MTH both have always been quirky decoders. They have done a lot of their own thing and I have steered away from them for that reason. I know of no one who I consider an expert on MTH and only one guy who professes to know anything about QSI. Maybe he will read this comment and chime i but I have not seen him comment in a while so don’t know if he is still watching. You might check groups.io to see if there are any QSI forums there. In the end I suspect you might want to start considering which type of decoder you want to buy as a replacement.
@@TheDCCGuy Larry thanks much. The irony is I also have an A/B set of ATSF MTH F-7 units that I bought thru a friend some years ago cheap. Beautiful passenger units in red & plated stainless steel with authentic sound. The big difference is MTH has come thru for me, admitting their system had issues with NMRA SOP. They also replaced the decoder and motors as they found that there was a factory defect. They also replaced the defective automatic couplers controlled thru a CV with KD couplers. I told them that the club had banned MTH so could they tweak settings so they wouldn’t know they were MTH? They did, but instead of function 8 for sound it was press 3 twice to turn on sound🤪. Those MTH F-7 units are about the best units I have now for the Super Chief. I just ad a couple of dummy Athearn units to match and they can haul the whole train.
@@dennisbailey6067 OK thanks. So if I put the unit on the test track in DC mode then run a magnet over the board it will reset the DCC? Or if that does not work unplug the board then replug it? Please advise. Thank you.
@@railscenes4959 It will reset decoder,if done on DC or DCC.Apply power and hold magnet over loco until you hear "reset".If it doesn't have reed thete will be a plug on board.Remove,apply power,turn off,replug.
Hi Larry i have this problem maybe you can have some ideas. I have had some problems with DZ123 Decoder. Installed in N scale locos, some of them was working for several years, but couple of them have been presenting red plastic thermal changes and in 2 cases a burned area can be find. 2 of them was totally damaged, and 2 are working no matter those evident damage, but i don't know what to do, to prevent further burns. And mostly know how it happened. thanks for your attention.
I am kind of surprised you are seeing these problems since this decoder is rated at 1 amp and should be safe for N-scale installs so there must be something amiss with your locos. Your locos must be operating at near the upper amperage limit for the DZ123. In an enclosed area like an N-scale loco this can create excess heat buildup and the wrapper wrinkling leading to decoder failure. Check your stall currents and make sure the locos are not drawing more power than they are supposed to. When you replace the DZ123 see if you can go to one with a higher amp rating and/or try to carve out more space in the loco.
Thanks Larry 🙏🏼 an interesting subject on bringing decoders back to life . Unfortunately not all manufacturers agree on the CV reset values and yes indeed the easiest is CV8=8 . I got a 2018 LGB tractor loco with a decoder that will not respond or accept a reset no matter what even after following the values stated in the manual ! 🤔
The DCC Guy Thank you sir . Claiming warranty from half across the world from where I purchased the locomotive under the current global situation is like trying to swim the across the Pacific . I think it needs to be replaced and that is something beyond my ability . Thanks and be safe .
Well, that is a problem. In this case I would disconnect the wires to the motor and the track pickups and wire them together so you are bypassing the decoder. Then try running it on DC or whatever the native power supply would be. That way you can quickly tell whether it is some issue other than the decoder. If the loco runs fine without the decoder in place then that is a sign the decoder may be damaged. Get in there close and sniff around the decoder-if it smells like cat pee then you probably have a blown component. If you don’t know what cat pee smells like I bet you can figure out how to find out!
The DCC Guy 😁 oh am familiar with cat pee haha . Even though it is a G scale item opening it up requires removing a ton of screws and being a person with eye sight mainly in the left eye makes it even more challenging . But my thanks and appreciation to you for the kind suggestion . 🙏🏼👍🏽 Note: found lots of DCC concepts Alpha meters on the British ebay web site eBay.co.uk
Ok idk what I did on my locomotive, but it won’t respond period. Now, it was working just fine, until I went to active the mars light, I’m using digitrax decoder DH126 and I have an NCE system with no programming track. I accidentally went to ops prog accy cv and thought that I was programming it via there, then I went to the program main track and I believe I programmed the wrong cv’s or something. I popped the top of to check my connections, and when I put it back on, nothing, so what I did was put in on a dc land it works just fine so I know I did something sketchy with the decoder. I tried resetting the decoder and still nothing and it’s not my track since it was working fine before I went to active the mars light. Please help
OK, take a deep breath and step away from the locomotive ad the layout. Anytime something like this happens you need some time to calm down and then come back later with a clear head and a plan. Since the loco runs on DC that is a good sign that you didn’t fry the decoder and the wires are all OK. The fact that you cannot reset the decoder sung the CV8=8 reset suggests the loco is nit getting your OPS mode programming commands. The most likely reason for this is that you inadvertently changed the address or CV29 which controls whether the short or long address is active and the decoder will not respond. For this reason you need to get it on a service mode programming track since that will reprogram CV8 no matter what the address or CV29 setting, as long as the decoder is not fried. If that doesn’t work you can still try reprogramming the address and CV29 but it will not be a good sign. You are kind of hamstrung without a service mode programming track so take a little time to set one up, it can be done in just a few minutes and the bonus is you can read back the CV settings. If none of that works then take a good look at the decoder for any blisters, holes or other signs of a melted shrink wrap. Also give it a close sniff for the tell tale smell of burnt electronics, commonly referred to as a cat pee smell. Good lick a d let us know if you get it sorted out.
I have an HO Intermountain D&H Heritage ES44AC with a Soundtraxx MC-IM84 dual mode non-sound decoder in it that is malfunctioning after many years (5+). The lights come on and oscillate rapidly with throttle increase stabilizing at max throttle, but the motor will not respond. There are no wires disconnected or loose near as I can tell with the body off and decoder un-mounted. I've never run it in DCC mode, just DC. (I have a Digitrax Chief set but haven't taken the DCC "plunge" yet.) Any suggestions about repair or replacement would be most appreciated.
Do a factory reset by programming CV8 to a value of 8. That usually takes care of situations where CVs have been inadvertently changed due to intermittent shorts on the layout, etc. If that doesn’t work you’re probably going to need a new decoder. If you are not clear on this see my video #105 on resurrecting a dead decoder.
I have a bit of a problem with my Broadway Limited Paragon 3 4-8-4 Niagara. You see, I bought this engine just over two weeks ago. It ran it on my local club's layout where it ran fine for a lap until it ran away on me. I had no control over the engine. It was until the other day when I took it into a hobby train shop where I was told it suffered a short circuit. while they were testing it, they factory reset it and it stopped running away but another issue rose up. Once reprogrammed to its address, the engine's sounds and functions work but when you try to get it to move, it doesnt move at all. The motor was tested and it does work but it will not move at all with responding to commands from the controller. Everyone that I have gone to still have no clue what is causing this issue. What I did find is that the motor decoder and the regular decoder could be on different addresses. Any idea of what can be done to resurrect my Niagara?
I don’t know what you mean about 2 decoders, I have never heard of them having more than 1. If the reset did not cure it then it is likely part of the motor power circuit cooked. If it is still under warranty send it back to BLI and even if it is not you still may need to get them to repair it.
@@TheDCCGuy I thank you for your quick reply and I guess I will need to send it to BLI or have my local model railroad store fix it if they can find a motor power circuit board. I did take apart my engine and saw the part that needs fixing.
I have watched your excellent videos. I have tried using NCE to factory reset an Athearn Genesis dcc sd70ace as well as with decoder pro. So far spent about four hours on it. As a result I get sound but still no movement. Pressing the wheel certainly notches up the sound. It's as if the train brake is on and it won't allow me to move. Any advice please?
There are a lot of potential problems and reason so first tell me some more. Have you determined the type of decoder in it? They have used both SoundTraxx and LokSound. Also how old is it and are you the first owner? If you are first then did it originally operate correctly? If so what precipitated the failure? it sounds as though some component if the motor power output circuit has failed sin e you say the decider sound does notch up so it is responding to commands, just not providing power. If that is the case then it will need repair or replacing. Hopefully it is still under warranty.
Check your locomotive thoroughly for short circuits, especially the wiring. You could also check the decoder with a magnifier and look for stray wires that might have fallen on it. Other than that if it has a bad component or damaged circuit trace then it likely would cost more to repair than replace. Sorry but good luck.
What you get a short circuit message on the screen? I check all the wires and found no solder touching or any wire touching. So checked the motor after removing the decoder from the motor and tested motor with dc runs fine. The I tested decoder with my dcc throttle and program track and it still say short circuit even though there is no solder touching any connections or components. The dcc system asks program anyways should I do a factory reset???
Hello, I am having trouble with a decoder. I have an Athearn Genesis SD45-2 with DCC and sound. It even comes with a sound controller for DC operations. I know it works because it runs and makes sound perfectly on the DC track, but when I try to use my Power Cab to run it and reset it, it tells me that it cannot read the CV’s. Any idea what’s going on and how to fix it?
@@dorapadakis2957 And are you using it with DecoderPro? I have never seen that with my PowerCab system. Try a complete power down and restart then see if it still does it. You should still be able to program it using ops mode.
@@TheDCCGuy Thank u for your reply Larry. I opened up a brand new DC loco. Use an ESU new decoder with no issues. Just plugged in the one I have a problem with, enter the values and I get to the same massage after "...please wait" PROG CV. Can not read CV.
Can you help me out. I have 2 atlas MP15 .I have reset CV8 I have got it to work on the short address. Can not get it to do anything on the kind address. When programming on programming track it says cannot read CVS I have reset CV 7 to 04 did not help. Thanks Roy
@@TheDCCGuy there atlas quantum system and I use NCE DCC control system . I have it set to the short address of 3 . All functions are working on the short address. It won’t do anything on the long address.
OK, I figured that was the situation. With NCE there is a difference between a short address like “3” and a long address like “0003”. You have to enter the leading 000’s with the long address.
@@TheDCCGuy I have set the long address to 1004 the locomotive number. And it will not do anything.The locomotive will work on short address of 3 . I have reset cv8 to 8 and reset cv 7 to 04 . It still says it can not read cv’s. The controls says it is in page mode when trying to set cv’s. I’m so lost . Roy
Problably has a blown power transistor on the output to the decoder. Time for a trip to Panama City but definitely call them first if the factory reset doesn’t work.
MRC decoders (XL systems) are the ones I have found that DO NOT follow NMRA standard of the CV8 to 8, its 125 to 1 to reset. Always check your decoders manual for resetting CV's.
On my old website I had a post listing all these variants from the NMRA standard but that is no longer available. I guess I need to make it available elsewhere.
There’s a little thong at the bottom pf the screen called a scroll button. You can use it to zip past content you are not interested in-feel free to use it, I won’t be offended one little bit!
There is so much to learn with DCC and I am 79 yrs. old re-entering HO scale and just starting benchwork. Larry's videos
are very helpful. I like the idea of going over some of them more than once making notes. Our hobby grows more
expensive as inflation takes its toll. I think, the learning and relearning has priorities given where each one is at with
building and gaining knowledge and experience. All of this almost seems sequential; i.e., layout initial design, room
lighting, small section of benchwork, wiring, command stations, power cabs and boosters - it's mind blowing. I need
to scale back a small around a 12 x 12' bedroom shelf two deck layout idea to one 3 x 12 section until the learning
curve can readily handle further expansion. One thing I've never understood is that hobby magazines tend to show
us club size layouts that surely must be expensive maintenance monsters that we will never build. Reading about
a small layout that is readily achievable seems rare. Thank you, Larry Puckett, I appreciate your tutorials.
MR regularly does small layouts for their project railroads as they have to,be able to fit in the elevators in their building. There have also been a number of contests to,design bedroom sized layouts. Check out the Model Railroader website to,see if they have any layouts there. They do have a track plan search feature but that may only be available,on their subscription website. Their book division at Kalmbach may have collections of small layout designs in book form.
Dr. Puckett, your video was quite timely. One of my locomotives quit a couple of weeks ago. I inspected the wiring and tested the motor, nothing found. Figured I would try Decoder Pro. Then you released your video and showed me how. Now it works fine! Thank you.
I love to hear success stories. Glad to hear it worked for you-Larry
Thank you so much for your videos. I have learned a lot even though I have been using DCC for over 15 years. This one on restoring a :dead" decoder has saved the bacon. I was about to purchase some new decoders thinking they had failed when I found your video. I was able to restore 2 out of 3 failed decoders.
Thanks Larry! I had a MTH that appeared to be broken and I used your steps to resurrect it. And you using a Power Cab to bring it back to life was icing on the cake. Now time to get DecoderPro reconnected so that I can save CVs and reload at a later time.
I have used my NCE PowerCab to perform this exact same action on several "dead" decoders that were in units that I got off of ebay and elsewhere. So far it has worked every time. Of course now that I have said this the next one I try will fail.
Excellent video Larry, i found a small burn hole in one of my standard Bachmann decoders i flitted over 10 years ago . I agree its probably best to fit a new one.
Larry, thanks for the great video on resurrecting a dead decoder. Lot of great information here and you presented it in a stepwise procedure. Thanks for sharing and stay safe. Ken
Larry teaching me something I had no idea about... THANKS LARRY 👍👍
Larry I remember this video and today I had an engine I was testing in my yard with all my turnouts and it shirt circuited three times I was able to do the factory reset CV8 to an 8 and that worked. My Decoder is a Rolling Thunder. I was not sure about that until I decided to setup Decoder Pro on my Work Bench I have the USB to NCE interface and that read the decoder info. Going to play with more Decoder Pro and setup the rooster for all my engines. Thanks for the great info
Tom-Glad you got it fixed, I don’t make this stuff up, it really works!
Very Helpful information Larry. Thank you.
This video just saved me 2 engines thank you so much
Glad it worked for you.
Do you know how to fix a locomotive when the sound is working and the engine is not running
After performing a factory reset or any programming remember to cycle the power to make sure the programming takes
Actually as long s you use the service mode programmiing track as I demonstrated the power cycle is automatic. With service mode there is no power on the track unless you are reading or writing a CV value. As soonas you read or write the value to the decoder power shuts off so no need for a manual intervention such as tipping the loco. If you use programming in the main then yes you may need to tip the loco to power cycle but not all decofers seem to require this-I have never dine it with a Digitrax but Lenz and LokPilot/LokSound decoders do require it.
Larry - Thanks, again, for another fantastic video!!
In one part of the video you mention using a value of "8" in CV 8 to reset the decoder to factory settings. Yet, in another part of the video you mentioned "08" as the value to enter in CV 8 when wanting to9 reset the decoder.
I have an NCE PowerPro system using DecoderPro as well and have several "dead" LokSound Mini 5 decoders that I am trying to bring to life again. I'm confused which to use as neither seems to reset it. Any advice??
Thanks
I doubt it would matter with this CV. NCE can be kind of picky with addresses but I don’t remember why I said 08 vs 8 in that video, probably just talking too fast.
Many thanks Larry. Unfortunately I still get the message "cannot read CV" after trying this
Unfortunately it won’t work on a bad decoder.
Larry, what do you recommend to reset an older QSI decoder in a HO Proto 2000 E-6? It was a good runner about 3-4 years ago. Then I put it away.
Now it just sits on the track with the mars light flashing on dim once in a while making a click sound from the speakers (2 of them). Then after a few minutes of trying the throttle it takes off full speed then stops. I’ve tried it on several different tracks on the club layout, including the program/test track as well as my isolated loop track at home. Now it has a sporadic short then comes right back on.
Our club also has the JMRI computer program and it showed the decoder was a G scale decoder brand I’d never heard of. It is a QSI decoder. So I called Walthers tech support and they said resetting the CV8 doesn’t work for QSI decoders. Walthers gave me the CV numbers to reset but the JMRI couldn’t reset them. I’ll try with the Power Cab.
I have the NCE Power Cab and followed your simple instructions. Then remembered resetting the CV 8 will not work on this QSI decoder.
Since it is old maybe a new decoder is needed? But I’d rather try a reset since it acts like it has some life left to respond.
QSI and MTH both have always been quirky decoders. They have done a lot of their own thing and I have steered away from them for that reason. I know of no one who I consider an expert on MTH and only one guy who professes to know anything about QSI. Maybe he will read this comment and chime i but I have not seen him comment in a while so don’t know if he is still watching. You might check groups.io to see if there are any QSI forums there. In the end I suspect you might want to start considering which type of decoder you want to buy as a replacement.
@@TheDCCGuy Larry thanks much. The irony is I also have an A/B set of ATSF MTH F-7 units that I bought thru a friend some years ago cheap. Beautiful passenger units in red & plated stainless steel with authentic sound. The big difference is MTH has come thru for me, admitting their system had issues with NMRA SOP. They also replaced the decoder and motors as they found that there was a factory defect. They also replaced the defective automatic couplers controlled thru a CV with KD couplers.
I told them that the club had banned MTH so could they tweak settings so they wouldn’t know they were MTH? They did, but instead of function 8 for sound it was press 3 twice to turn on sound🤪. Those MTH F-7 units are about the best units I have now for the Super Chief. I just ad a couple of dummy Athearn units to match and they can haul the whole train.
QSI can be reset in DC.If it has a reed sensor use a magnet.Or unplug and replug a socket on the board.Cycle power.
@@dennisbailey6067 OK thanks. So if I put the unit on the test track in DC mode then run a magnet over the board it will reset the DCC? Or if that does not work unplug the board then replug it? Please advise. Thank you.
@@railscenes4959 It will reset decoder,if done on DC or DCC.Apply power and hold magnet over loco until you hear "reset".If it doesn't have reed thete will be a plug on board.Remove,apply power,turn off,replug.
Hi Larry i have this problem maybe you can have some ideas.
I have had some problems with DZ123 Decoder. Installed in N scale locos, some of them was working for several years, but couple of them have been presenting red plastic thermal changes and in 2 cases a burned area can be find. 2 of them was totally damaged, and 2 are working no matter those evident damage, but i don't know what to do, to prevent further burns. And mostly know how it happened. thanks for your attention.
I am kind of surprised you are seeing these problems since this decoder is rated at 1 amp and should be safe for N-scale installs so there must be something amiss with your locos. Your locos must be operating at near the upper amperage limit for the DZ123. In an enclosed area like an N-scale loco this can create excess heat buildup and the wrapper wrinkling leading to decoder failure. Check your stall currents and make sure the locos are not drawing more power than they are supposed to. When you replace the DZ123 see if you can go to one with a higher amp rating and/or try to carve out more space in the loco.
Thanks Larry 🙏🏼 an interesting subject on bringing decoders back to life . Unfortunately not all manufacturers agree on the CV reset values and yes indeed the easiest is CV8=8 . I got a 2018 LGB tractor loco with a decoder that will not respond or accept a reset no matter what even after following the values stated in the manual ! 🤔
I hope it is still under warranty. Make sure to check the obvious but often over looked issues of broken wires, connectors, etc. Good luck-Larry
The DCC Guy Thank you sir . Claiming warranty from half across the world from where I purchased the locomotive under the current global situation is like trying to swim the across the Pacific . I think it needs to be replaced and that is something beyond my ability . Thanks and be safe .
Well, that is a problem. In this case I would disconnect the wires to the motor and the track pickups and wire them together so you are bypassing the decoder. Then try running it on DC or whatever the native power supply would be. That way you can quickly tell whether it is some issue other than the decoder. If the loco runs fine without the decoder in place then that is a sign the decoder may be damaged. Get in there close and sniff around the decoder-if it smells like cat pee then you probably have a blown component. If you don’t know what cat pee smells like I bet you can figure out how to find out!
The DCC Guy 😁 oh am familiar with cat pee haha . Even though it is a G scale item opening it up requires removing a ton of screws and being a person with eye sight mainly in the left eye makes it even more challenging . But my thanks and appreciation to you for the kind suggestion . 🙏🏼👍🏽 Note: found lots of DCC concepts Alpha meters on the British ebay web site eBay.co.uk
Ok idk what I did on my locomotive, but it won’t respond period. Now, it was working just fine, until I went to active the mars light, I’m using digitrax decoder DH126 and I have an NCE system with no programming track. I accidentally went to ops prog accy cv and thought that I was programming it via there, then I went to the program main track and I believe I programmed the wrong cv’s or something. I popped the top of to check my connections, and when I put it back on, nothing, so what I did was put in on a dc land it works just fine so I know I did something sketchy with the decoder. I tried resetting the decoder and still nothing and it’s not my track since it was working fine before I went to active the mars light. Please help
OK, take a deep breath and step away from the locomotive ad the layout. Anytime something like this happens you need some time to calm down and then come back later with a clear head and a plan. Since the loco runs on DC that is a good sign that you didn’t fry the decoder and the wires are all OK. The fact that you cannot reset the decoder sung the CV8=8 reset suggests the loco is nit getting your OPS mode programming commands. The most likely reason for this is that you inadvertently changed the address or CV29 which controls whether the short or long address is active and the decoder will not respond. For this reason you need to get it on a service mode programming track since that will reprogram CV8 no matter what the address or CV29 setting, as long as the decoder is not fried. If that doesn’t work you can still try reprogramming the address and CV29 but it will not be a good sign. You are kind of hamstrung without a service mode programming track so take a little time to set one up, it can be done in just a few minutes and the bonus is you can read back the CV settings. If none of that works then take a good look at the decoder for any blisters, holes or other signs of a melted shrink wrap. Also give it a close sniff for the tell tale smell of burnt electronics, commonly referred to as a cat pee smell. Good lick a d let us know if you get it sorted out.
I have an HO Intermountain D&H Heritage ES44AC with a Soundtraxx MC-IM84 dual mode non-sound decoder in it that is malfunctioning after many years (5+). The lights come on and oscillate rapidly with throttle increase stabilizing at max throttle, but the motor will not respond. There are no wires disconnected or loose near as I can tell with the body off and decoder un-mounted. I've never run it in DCC mode, just DC. (I have a Digitrax Chief set but haven't taken the DCC "plunge" yet.) Any suggestions about repair or replacement would be most appreciated.
Do a factory reset by programming CV8 to a value of 8. That usually takes care of situations where CVs have been inadvertently changed due to intermittent shorts on the layout, etc. If that doesn’t work you’re probably going to need a new decoder. If you are not clear on this see my video #105 on resurrecting a dead decoder.
I have a bit of a problem with my Broadway Limited Paragon 3 4-8-4 Niagara. You see, I bought this engine just over two weeks ago. It ran it on my local club's layout where it ran fine for a lap until it ran away on me. I had no control over the engine. It was until the other day when I took it into a hobby train shop where I was told it suffered a short circuit. while they were testing it, they factory reset it and it stopped running away but another issue rose up. Once reprogrammed to its address, the engine's sounds and functions work but when you try to get it to move, it doesnt move at all. The motor was tested and it does work but it will not move at all with responding to commands from the controller. Everyone that I have gone to still have no clue what is causing this issue. What I did find is that the motor decoder and the regular decoder could be on different addresses. Any idea of what can be done to resurrect my Niagara?
I don’t know what you mean about 2 decoders, I have never heard of them having more than 1. If the reset did not cure it then it is likely part of the motor power circuit cooked. If it is still under warranty send it back to BLI and even if it is not you still may need to get them to repair it.
@@TheDCCGuy I thank you for your quick reply and I guess I will need to send it to BLI or have my local model railroad store fix it if they can find a motor power circuit board. I did take apart my engine and saw the part that needs fixing.
Is it a blue line?
@@dennisbailey6067 it’s a paragon 3 model. I do now have plans to send in the model.
Super video. Thanks Larry.
My nce is stuck with the voltage and cab address
I had the same problem with my N scale ScaleTrains UP ET44AC 2571.
your videos are top notch. well done.
I have watched your excellent videos. I have tried using NCE to factory reset an Athearn Genesis dcc sd70ace as well as with decoder pro. So far spent about four hours on it. As a result I get sound but still no movement. Pressing the wheel certainly notches up the sound. It's as if the train brake is on and it won't allow me to move. Any advice please?
There are a lot of potential problems and reason so first tell me some more. Have you determined the type of decoder in it? They have used both SoundTraxx and LokSound. Also how old is it and are you the first owner? If you are first then did it originally operate correctly? If so what precipitated the failure? it sounds as though some component if the motor power output circuit has failed sin e you say the decider sound does notch up so it is responding to commands, just not providing power. If that is the case then it will need repair or replacing. Hopefully it is still under warranty.
cant we repair faulty dcc? i have TTS Dcc, and its make a small sound when put at track and its show short circuit on maltimaus
Check your locomotive thoroughly for short circuits, especially the wiring. You could also check the decoder with a magnifier and look for stray wires that might have fallen on it. Other than that if it has a bad component or damaged circuit trace then it likely would cost more to repair than replace. Sorry but good luck.
What you get a short circuit message on the screen? I check all the wires and found no solder touching or any wire touching. So checked the motor after removing the decoder from the motor and tested motor with dc runs fine. The I tested decoder with my dcc throttle and program track and it still say short circuit even though there is no solder touching any connections or components. The dcc system asks program anyways should I do a factory reset???
What decoder is this and what DCC system? What screen says short circuit?
NCE power cab and the decoder is Tsunami 2 pnp
Program track screen
Hello, I am having trouble with a decoder. I have an Athearn Genesis SD45-2 with DCC and sound. It even comes with a sound controller for DC operations. I know it works because it runs and makes sound perfectly on the DC track, but when I try to use my Power Cab to run it and reset it, it tells me that it cannot read the CV’s. Any idea what’s going on and how to fix it?
What address are you using? Keep in mo d that with NCE there is a difference between 3 and 003.
@@TheDCCGuy I’ve been using the long address. I forgot what I set the short address to.
Did you set CV29 for long addresses?
It has an Mrc decoder??
Hi Larry.
What happens when it reads "CAN NOT READ CV" . Not a contact problem. I have 2 ESU 53611s that do that.
What DCC system are you using?
@@TheDCCGuy This exact same NCE you're using.
@@dorapadakis2957 And are you using it with DecoderPro? I have never seen that with my PowerCab system. Try a complete power down and restart then see if it still does it. You should still be able to program it using ops mode.
@@TheDCCGuy Thank u for your reply Larry. I opened up a brand new DC loco. Use an ESU new decoder with no issues. Just plugged in the one I have a problem with, enter the values and I get to the same massage after "...please wait" PROG CV. Can not read CV.
Do not have the Dec. Pro. I did the power down. Nothing. 2 of them.
Can you help me out. I have 2 atlas MP15 .I have reset CV8 I have got it to work on the short address. Can not get it to do anything on the kind address. When programming on programming track it says cannot read CVS I have reset CV 7 to 04 did not help.
Thanks Roy
What kind of decoder is in them, what addresses are you using, and what DCC system are you using?
@@TheDCCGuy there atlas quantum system and I use NCE DCC control system . I have it set to the short address of 3 . All functions are working on the short address. It won’t do anything on the long address.
OK, I figured that was the situation. With NCE there is a difference between a short address like “3” and a long address like “0003”. You have to enter the leading 000’s with the long address.
@@TheDCCGuy I have set the long address to 1004 the locomotive number. And it will not do anything.The locomotive will work on short address of 3 . I have reset cv8 to 8 and reset cv 7 to 04 . It still says it can not read cv’s. The controls says it is in page mode when trying to set cv’s. I’m so lost .
Roy
Forget CV7, that should be the decoder’s version. Also get out of paged mode and use direct mode.
Decoder not functioning? First check consist address, then check CV 29, and then the address.
Good tips all!
Great channel, I have a Digitrax Decoder that only go's in one direction. ( N scale). Bob
Problably has a blown power transistor on the output to the decoder. Time for a trip to Panama City but definitely call them first if the factory reset doesn’t work.
Thanks, will do that.
MRC decoders (XL systems) are the ones I have found that DO NOT follow NMRA standard of the CV8 to 8, its 125 to 1 to reset. Always check your decoders manual for resetting CV's.
On my old website I had a post listing all these variants from the NMRA standard but that is no longer available. I guess I need to make it available elsewhere.
Thanks Larry!
Took 7 min to get to the point
There’s a little thong at the bottom pf the screen called a scroll button. You can use it to zip past content you are not interested in-feel free to use it, I won’t be offended one little bit!