Hello All
We have a new DB150 booster that is not energizing track power in booster mode. Jumper is in between ground and prog A. The track light also does not come on. We replaced it with another and it worked fine.
Any ideas what it could be?
Springfield PA
Power supply working? Mode switch in the run position? Known good Loconet connection to the rest of the network?
Try it standalone in command station mode - no Loconet conenction, no track connection, and plug a throttle right into it and see if it turns track power on.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Thanks
All of the above was fine. I swapped it out with another one and all was fine.
I'll have to try running it as a command station next week when I'm in there.
Hamltnblue Hello All We have a new DB150 booster that is not energizing track power in booster mode. Jumper is in between ground and prog A. The track light also does not come on. We replaced it with another and it worked fine. Any ideas what it could be?
A DB150 does not have a Prog A output. It has a CONF A output. Are you sure you have a DB150?
It is also essential that the Loconet connection be made with a data cable, not a telephone cable. While it doesn't always matter, Pin 1 to Pin one matters in this particular application.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
Phoebe Vet Hamltnblue: Hello All We have a new DB150 booster that is not energizing track power in booster mode. Jumper is in between ground and prog A. The track light also does not come on. We replaced it with another and it worked fine. Any ideas what it could be? A DB150 does not have a Prog A output. It has a CONF A output. Are you sure you have a DB150? It is also essential that the Loconet connection be made with a data cable, not a telephone cable. While it doesn't always matter, Pin 1 to Pin one matters in this particular application.
Hamltnblue: Hello All We have a new DB150 booster that is not energizing track power in booster mode. Jumper is in between ground and prog A. The track light also does not come on. We replaced it with another and it worked fine. Any ideas what it could be?
Yes it's a 150. We have 6 of them on the layout. I might have gotten the terminal name mixed with the DCS100 but it's the one to the left of the ground terminal. I also installed a new BDL 168 which is very picky with locoonet and it runs fine.
As noted though I simply moved the plug and loconet cables to another unit and it fired right up.
I'll try to run it as a command station then do a full reset to factory and try again before sending it back.
On a side note we now have 32 detection blocks running. Only about 110 or so more to go.
If you can just drop in a different one and it works then logic would seem to indicate that the non working one is defective.
I was hoping for a setting that I didn't know about.
DB150 does have option switches. Try closing option switch 39 to reset it. Remove the jumper before resetting. If that doesn't work, it probably needs a trip to Florida.
Martin Myers
True - mine went flakey on me ONCE for some unknown reason. The only way to fix it was to remove the booster only jumper and plug my DT402 right into it and reset OpSw 39. After that I put it back in booster mode and reconnected the Loconet and all was fine, and it hasn't hiccuped once since.
Much like a decoder, it's probably best to reset any new piece of equipment before installign it - who knows what state factory testing has left things.
I'll give that a try
My DB150 stopped working properly after a power outage, and I thought it was fried. I was going to send it back to Digitrax to be repaired, but thanks to this timely thread, I reset it , and it works perfectly! Once again, this forum and its very talented participants comes through! Thanks guys!
Errol
__________________________________________________
Modeling Canadian Pacific's Okanagan Branch In The 1950's
WHen in doubt, RESET! That goes for just about anything, including command stations and decoders. When that fails to work, it's time to consider using the warranty. But a simple reset fixzes things quite a bit of the time.
Hi, Came across this thread as I have a similar issue. DB150 have been perfect, switched it on today and I get the dead track and five bleeps as if 'stuck' in booster mode. I;m running it from a PC via a USB LocoBuffer. I cannot see how to reset it though. What jumpers are people referring to here, I opened the box and its just a surface mount board - not a single jumper! Advice would be appreciated, I was supposed to be using this at an exhibition soon but its looking not good.
Cheers
BigBear - Welcome to Trains.com!
Darren (BLHS & CRRM Lifetime Member)
Delaware and Hudson Virtual Museum (DHVM), Railroad Adventures (RRAdventures)
My Blog
Thanks Darren, pleased to be here ;)
The jumpers are from config A to the ground terminal on the connector on the front - this makes the DB150 a booster and disables the command station feature. If you have no other command station such as another DB150, a DCS100, or a Zephyr, you do NOT want to do this, you need ONE command station in your system. Having none - nothign will work.
5 beeps usually means no signal on Loconet in booster mode. If you have not jumped COnfig A and ground, it could also mean there is a short in your Loconet cable. Do you have a throttle, DT400/402? Disconnect everything, including the track wires, just leave the input power connected. Plug the throttle into one of the Loconet ports. Power it up. If ti still beeps, try putting the mode switch to OP and then select Switch, 39 on the throttle and hit Closed. Now put the Mode switch back to Run and turn off the power supply. Then turn it on again. OpSw 39 does a reset on the DB150 in case the memory got scrambled. If that doesn;t work, verify that your power supply is actually working. If that's all fine, then a vacation to Florida is recommended (for the DB150, not you).
If it actualyl worked with nothign but the power supply and a throttle connected, try reconnectign your track and testign again. If that's OK, reconnect the Loconet cable. If the problem reappears, try a different Loconet cable to the Locobuffer.
Oh, Locobuffer USB - make sure you did not accidently enable the Loconet Termination in the Locobuffer. Since you have to open up the Locobuffer to do that, it's pretty hard to do by accident.
Randy, Thanks for the reply. I did as you suggest but it seems to be the same with our without Loconet; the power supply seems good. Sadly for me I bought the system without a throttle so that I could use it with PC software. It was working a treat. Ah well, looks like that vacation to Florida, maybe I can shrink myself down and get in the box!
Regards
Peter