help i have a digitrax dh123 at in my athearn sd40-2 was running fine and after a short time went thru the reverse section and quit. rear light coams on but no other works. took out decoder and put back original dc works fine. did i fry the decoder? or what rick
Try a different decoder.
- Luke
Modeling the Southern Pacific in the 1960's-1980's
wish i had another one to try. this was my first dcc attempt and so easy just unplug the old and plug in the new. i have a zepher digitrax and a reversing circuit ar1. every time it went thru the reverse circuit it would kind of make a beep and run thru it. then the last time it just quit running. funny thing is the zepher didn't blink or anything still said 03 on display but the engine reverse light stays on and will not move.
An easy way to not buy a decoder is to set up a DPDT(Double Pole Double Throw) switch. They only cost 5 bucks from Radio Shack and you can control what current (DC or DCC) is going to the track. I just set one up, and it works very well. Many MRR's have one or more, the latter for larger layouts.
how do you hook that up? the digitrax reverser was easy to hook up but not sure if it worked right becuz the engine quit. why did the engine rear light stay on when the engine was going forward into the section? anyone??
David: 1. I wasn't talking about a auto reversing unit
2. I don't use blocks, so I only need one DPDT
3. I wasn't giving bad advice.
Getting back to your question, I assume you tried running the engine on the non-reversing section of the railroad prior to removing it. What, if anything, happened then? If the answer is that the engine still did not run, then you could try going through the resetting procedure for that particular decoder to see if you can get it back to the factory default values.
You also said something about a "beep" every time the engine crossed into the reversing section. I think to decoder you have is non-sound, so I don't know what would be beeping. Are you sure that the sound you were hearing was not the sound a momentary short makes? I don't know anything about the particular brand of reverser you have, but from what I've read on this forum there may be some sensitivity adjustments you can make to eliminate that momentary short if that is what is really going on.
ok so we don't use the dpdt switch. still want to know what happened to the unit or decoder? won"t work on dc and have no more dcc decoder engines to try.
oh yes i tried running it again out of the reversing section got nothing, but the rear headlight was lit up.
So did you try resetting the decoder?
sorry i gave you the impression i did reset the decoder. no i didnt. not sure how to anyway. as it is set to normal 03 setting i did not think i could. .
I think the following link is to the instruction for your decoder, http://www.digitrax.com/ftp/dh123d.pdf
To reset the decoder, you have to set CV8 to a value of 9 (see page 3 of instruction). If you can reset the decoder, it should put the decoder back at the default address of 3. If you can't reset the decoder, my opinion would be that it is fried. I don't know how your Zepher system does it's programming, so you'll have to read the instructions for that. If you can't figure out how to do it, respond. There are a couple smarter than me folks on this forum that should be happy to guide you through the process.
i tried resetting but got no responce on the program track and headlight on reverse is still lit on the main track. not sure how to get the settings it shows on the manual .
rdettmer
I am afraid your decoder is toasted. The Beep you heard is the decoder taking a large cuurent flow when it shorts out. They can only take so much before the circuit is fried.Make sure the insulated gaps in your reverse turn are in the proper places. Also like a previose poster had said check the sensitivity of the reverser unit. It may be set too high and not switching polarity fast enough. The booster on the Zepher is 2+ amps. The decoder is 1 amp. since the momentary short happens in the decoder that gets fried before the booster trips. Set the reverser to its fastest and most sensitive setting and do a quarter test all around your layout to see if your booster trips.
Pete
I pray every day I break even, Cause I can really use the money!
I started with nothing and still have most of it left!
according to the instructions on the decoder and the booster i set the values back to 008 and still got nothing to run. even on the program track. so i guess i will try to buy another one and try again.
installed a new decoder dh123 d not a dh 123 at. now the engine goes forward and reverse but no headlights come on. i guess the other decoder is toast. thanks to anyone who responded and helped me on this. bought a new engine today/dcc ready can't wait to try it.
put the new decoder in got the headlight to work press a button it came on. put engine in run went around track. went thru first reverser ok a little hesitation then went around to the next one heard the beep again so did not run it anymore ran thru ok but did so last time also. new engine with sound wow love it will not let it go thru reverse until i figure out why the beep . seems to be wired ok and track between insulated joiners is longer than 30 cars so should not short out in reverse section. maybe i got a bad digitrax reverser? anyone???????
Did you try adjusting the reverser? If it's set too high it will allow the booster to trip first, defeating the purpose. You want the lowest setting that reliably works. Too low and it will reverse if you look at it sideways - not really but it will try to reverse multiple times for one pass over the gaps.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.