I'm trying to get a friend's Bachmann F7a to run. He recently picked it up at an excellent price (used), and neither one of us can get it to do anything. I am unfamiliar with sound decoders, so I addressed this problem on the Bachmann forum, but no luck.
At this point I think the decoder is not working.
So far, I removed the shell, and the installtion of the Soundtraxx decoder looks fine: all wires are soldered to the tabs (no plastic clips), everything is neatly run and securely held inplace with transparent ( kapton?) tape; and when I energize it, a bright red LED (?) lights up. The only sound it makes is that of the prime mover idling. I tried to reset CV-8 using the the procedutre that I obtained from the other forum, did not seem to work. I tried to read CV values, no luck. i tried resetting the engine ID to '3', no way to tell if that worked. (I am using an MRC Prodigy Advance2 system; I tried to program it on both the Main and on the Program track. Maybe my system is not robust enough for a sound decoer locomotive?). The locomotive does not respond to any input AFAIK: doesn't move, no headlight, just the idling sound (which sounds good, but...)
That's why I think that maybe the decoder is Kaput.
IS there anything else that I should try before I pass it back?
Mr. Mick
It looks like the decoder doesn't "see" the motor.If it's the case,the loco won't move and the decoder won't program nor aknowledge.If this is the case,both head and tail lights should blink I believe thirteen times upon powering the track.
First check wiring to motor carefully,wich you say yo did.A common occurence so check again.
Then the motor may be dead.Disconnect one lead to protect decoder and try powering the motor with a DC power supply or a 9V battery.
Tsunami decoders have an overload protection fuse integrated to their circuitry in case of motor overload (shorting).If the fuse has blown,the decoder will have to be sent to Soundtraxx for repair.It would also tell that the motor is likely faulty and should be checked thoroughly before re-installing the decoder.It can have a shorted spot on the armature or else,I've had such thing happen to me.
If you throttle up, do you hear an increase in engine revs? If you do then it's a motor issue. (Especially if the headlight functions work)
Otherwise if decoder not responding to commands:
If you switched to address 3, be sure to reset CV29 to use the short address.Here's a useful "Trick/Tip" To program on the main with a wonky decoder:
Don - Specializing in layout DC->DCC conversions
Modeling C&O transition era and steel industries There's Nothing Like Big Steam!
No headlight. When programming, the loco made a chattering sound when I tried to program a CV after I hit 'send'.
I tried again to reprogram the decoder, no luck. the decoder does two things when it is placed on the main line (and not selected by a cab); first, a red LED on the circit board lights up, after about 4-6 seconds, you hear the sound of the diesel in idle mode. No matter what I tried, I could not get any other response - e.g., headlight, increasing RPMs on the sound of the engine idling, movemenmt of any type, readpback of any CV's or address, etc. It may be time to have the mfg look at it.
Thanks to all for the suggestions. ( I did not checkthemotor becasue I did not want to cut the soldered power leads to the decoder)
MrMick:
I have had similar experiences in the past (engine idle sound only) and each time I discovered that I was doing something wrong and the decoder was fine.
When the locomotive made a chattering sound did it move at all, even just a fraction of an inch? If there was any movement, even just a partial rotation of a motor weight, then the decoder is connected to the motor.
Did you cycle the power off and then on after doing the reset? If not, no reset.
The easiest way to cycle the power is simply to tilt the locomotive to one side so the wheels on one side are not in contact with the track for a few seconds.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Hi:
Its Dave again.
I did a little research on the red LEDs that are on the Tsunami decoder. There are two. One is to indicate that the decoder has power, and it will stay on all the time. The second is for diagnostics and it will flash if there is a problem. If the headlight is hooked up it should flash too.
If you are seeing a solid red light and nothing is flashing I think that is a good sign.
Here is the manual:
http://www.soundtraxx.com/manuals/quickstart.pdf
LED explanation is on page 12.
Good morning, Dave,
I removed the shell last night and tried a few things, none worked. But, no flashing LED, at all; a chattering noise when I sent a command to a cv; no headlight action at all. I will take a look at the manual you linked and see if there is anything there. I have also thought about contacting Tsunami and seeing what they might have to suggest.
OBTW, the track that I use for troubleshooting and programming is on my bench, controlled by DPDT switches; each time after I tried resetting the CV8/CV30, I flipped the switch to deenergize the track, counted to 7 and reenergized the track. The DPDT switch selects either program power or mainline power from the DCC system, and it is independant of the layout power,which I leave switched off for all this troubleshooting.
Are you trying the reset using programming on the main, or just program track? Lots of systems cannot program a Tsunami on the program track without a booster, but if you use Ops Mode to set CV30=2. Of course you need to know the address, although on Digitrax I can select address 0 and then the Ops Mode programming is broadcast to everything on the rails, maybe you can do the same. That way you can be pretty much assured that the reset is actually taking place.
Also set CV19=0 too, in case someone previously put this decoder in a consist. That would cause it to not respond (unless you hit upon the consist address).
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I think you're problem is two-fold - You're system won't program a Tsunamis on the prorgram track without a booster and you don't know the address of the loco to program it in ops mode ("program on the main"). As Randy mentioned, on Digitrax you can program a loco in ops mode using address '0', which is the broadcast address, which I don't believe you can do with MRC. Without this ability, you have to know the address of the loco to program it in ops mode.
MrMick...Maybe my system is not robust enough for a sound decoer locomotive?..
To be clear, it's not a matter of your system not being "robust" enough, it's a matter of some sound decoders not conforming to NMRA standards. The problem is the capacitors on the decoders drawing to much current at power up and looking like a short to the command station. One thing I would try is to program the reset CV on the program track severeal times in quick succession, or power up the loco using the main track output then quickly switch to program output and write the reset CV. The idea is to get the cap charged and then program the CV before the cap has a chance to discharge. I don't know if one of these might work or not, but it would be worth a try.
JacktalIt looks like the decoder doesn't "see" the motor.If it's the case,the loco won't move and the decoder won't program nor aknowledge...
Slight correction - if the decoder doesn't "see" the motor, it WILL still program, but it will not acknowledge.
Sounds like it is though, he said it makes noise when programming. At least, it sounds liek it is acknowledging, but it still may not be taking the programming. If it doesn't read back, odds are it isn't actually taking either.
rrinker Sounds like it is though, he said it makes noise when programming. At least, it sounds liek it is acknowledging, but it still may not be taking the programming. If it doesn't read back, odds are it isn't actually taking either. --Randy
My thanks to Don H., Randy, CSX Robert and Dave. Your continued encouragement and good advice helped me to restore the locomotive to operation. Here is what I did:
- I read the manual, good info, particularly about the red LEDs. Otherwise, no help in diagnosing the problem.
- I re-read what you guys had suggested, and decided to go the Zero route.
1. placed engine on program track, selected programming mode, and programed ADR to 0000. Red light flashed on for approx. 2 sec.
2. Programmed CV-30 to "2". Red light flashed on for approx. 2 seconds.
3. Deenrgized track. waited 5-7 sec - reenergized track to Mainline power; red light came on steady immediately. (same as before) After 7 seconds, the idling sound came on.
4. Cycled the headlight - headlight came on, along with a second, steady red LED! Loco did not move but my heart jumped! Then dvanced throttle, but no movement.
5. Re-read all the above comments; then, with Ops programming, set CV-19 to "0". 2nd red LED blinked and the loco jerked ahead 1/4 inch!
6. Using Ops Programming, reset address to 0705; 2nd red LED blinked and the loco jerked ahead another 1/4 inch!
7. Exited program mode, and selected loco "705", loco responded to throttle, bell, and whistle functions! It seems to have come to life!
I can't thank you enough for continuing to send in suggestions and advice.
Mr. Mick:
Congratulations! DCC is really simple, except when it isn't!
*hits head* Why didn't I think of CV19
Congrats on figuring it out.
I'm not really surprised,it comes with buying use stuff.You have no way to know what kind of tinkering has been done to it by the previous owner.Generally,you won't have problems but sometimes....
Two years ago,I bought a used N scale Tsunami equipped Cabforward that ran fine but had messed up sounds.I've had it over a week trying many things including resets to no avail.Some sounds were missing and those wich were there didn't respond to proper commands.I then started checking every CV one at a time to discover that CV30 was set so that the loco would be operated with an eight function only throttle and,strangely though,that giving a value of 2 to CV30 will reset all other CVs but won't change this setting...it has to be changed separately.