I converted to DCC about a year and a half ago. I have an NCE Procab w/Radio and 5 DCC BLI Locomotives. I have had several decoder problems that were either corrected by a hard reset or replaced decoder. I've had to reset my NCE Cab once. One time a circuit breaker went bad.
What is the norm? do we expect to have several decoder, system and/or component problems a year? Are certain decoders more reliable than others? How about components (Boosters, circuit breakers or Auto reverses) or Systems (Wireless or Wired).
For those of you that have been in the DCC world four years, can you provide any input?
Gary
Gary,
Decoder/DCC issues are rare for me. I think it depends on your system and the decoders you purchase. Even the best manufacturers produce a few clunkers.
So, if it isn't apparent, Gary, motor-control is higher on my list than sound.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
I'm just 5 years into my DCC experience. I have not (knock on wood) had a system problem with my NCE 5A system, 3 OG circuit breakers, nor more recent PTB-100 program track booster or LokProgrammer.
My memory is not so hot on decoder experience in terms of reset needs and such. Most of my resets are done when I've been manipulating the decoder settings and decide to start over. I did have a couple (of 20-some) LokSound Selects go out that they kindly replaced. Perhaps one the decoder's fault and one my fault...who knows. I have a few other locos with Paragon2 and Tsunami steam decoders as well.
I have not noticed that decoders have often got confused after sitting awhile unused, but I may not be rotating my locos enough on / off the layout and may find that out.
I have certainly done my share of causing shorts by running into an improper turnout setting, etc. I have not tended to see this affect the decoders that I recall, perhaps due to the OG-AR and OG-CBs acting fast enough to not confuse (or damage) the decoder.
I do not hesitate to reset a decoder when in doubt about anything. While I have JMRI Decoder Pro and the LokProgrammer, I tend to do a few basics with one of those (such as turn off analog) and do much of the rest with my throttle...address change, speed matching, etc. I do have a file and notes for each loco. At some point I may get more into Decoder Pro or LokProgrammer use.
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
In my personal experience, I have fried a couple of decoders through inexperience early on or through carelessness. But that on the job training period is now long over for me. I did have two failures with the DASR decoder right out of the box about 5 or more years ago, and NCE acknowledged a faulty production run.
That said, decoders should not fail over time in my experience. Once tested and running, they should last a good long time, if not forever.
As far as the other hardware (command station, boosters, circuit breakers, auto-reversers, I have never had one go bad once placed in service on my layout.
As far as decoder resets to factory defaults, it seems that I have to do that quite often. I will never understand what causes a decoder to require a reset in the absence of some form of catastrophic occurrence such as a short, derailment, etc.
Rich
Alton Junction
I have been doing DCC for over 13 years now. I have yet to have any decoders fail, or even be DOA. I've had other issues, like the P2K cracked gear problem, but now I just replace them before the loco goes into service. Definitely no decoder failures.
I have some long run times on some of my locos, hours at a time at club shows. All I've done to them is clean the wheels and put a spot of grease on the gears and oil on the bearings. The diesels run in a 3 unit MU, 2x GP-7 with a Trainmaster samdwiched in between. No special speed matching done, they run fine and close enough as is.
In the past I used a bunch of NCE D13SRJ decoders. I have a couple of Digitrax ones still floating around, the rest are all TCS for motor only, or Loksound for sound. One QSI - the Trainmaster. Not one failure in 13 years <knocks furiously on wood desk>. So IMO - decoders should be quite reliable and not constantly have problems. Remember though you had problems with a bad circuit breaker causing (probably) just half the DCC waveform to get through. Who knows what effect that had on your decoders.
Oh - and I never have had to reset any of mine once they were programmed. At once point I was doing a reset on every new install BEFORE programming it but I haven't on the last bunch, or on factory installed ones. Stuff's been in storage for a while now, guess I will see if it all still works or if anythign has lost its mind.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Ok so mixed results but for the most part it seams that DCC stuff is pretty reliable. Great to hear.
What I gather from reading this forum is that a small percentage of members seem to have the largest percentage of DCC issues. Makes me wonder what the problem really is.
I've been a DCC user for 14+ years. All Digitrax equipment, but a real smorgasboard of loco and decoder brands.
Never had an equipment failure in those 14+ years, but I did have an old Atlas 341 (made by Lenz) decoder give up the ghost.
Digitrax here, since 2010, Super Empire Builder, no problems.
One decoder fail on a loco bought on Ebay, and a decoder way out of date, from 2002 ?
Replaced decoder, all is good.
Mike.
My You Tube
Most of the problems you're going to have are with "you", not "it".
The "it"s do happen, but they're unusual.
When I say "you", I don't mean you're defective. I mean that you haven't found the answer to your problem.
I had huge problems programming my three T55 diesels. Until I found the answer.
I think the rewards of DCC (and sound) far exceed the irritations. With rare exception, from now on every new loco on this "railroad" will be DCC/sound. And I have started converting: first up was a brass GN gas electric. Ran it at a show recently. Worked great. No failures. Several approving statements!
It's worth the aggravation. Sorry to be detail un-specific. Haven't had that many problems.
Ed
I've been doing DCC for 13 years now, with a Lenz System 100. It has stood the test of time, although the original throttle could use some repair, but that's mechanical.
I've had one decoder go catatonic, but my LHS was able to revive it with a QSI programmer he had in the shop. It had suffered a short.
I lost 2 decoders to a shorted motor in one of my subways. I had to replace the motor. I can't blame the decoder for that.
I had one bad decoder that never worked. Soundtraxx replaced it free of charge.
Overall, it's been a great experience.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I use decoders in all of my locomotives, without sound.
I've never had a problem with any of my DCC locomtives.
What kind of problems are we talkng about?
I have had two (2) full decoder failures. The first was my fault, but BLI replaced their QSI (at the time) decoder for nothing. The second was on one of BLI's PCM Y6b. It operated flawlessly for years, and then one day it ran but produced no sound. It now has a QSI Titan in it. Otherwise, my mixture of ESU LokSound, QSI variants, and Tsunami have all been fully reliable, now on 12 years.
I have reset my DB150 from Digitrax exactly once, and that was because our guru Randy said it's a good idea to do that once a year or so...just cuz. My Digitrax equipment has run flawlessly for 11 years.
Do sound equipped decoder locomotives tend to overheat and die?
You are on to something when you say it's you and not it. One thing DCC and finer locomotives did for me was find a whole mess of poor track work. For some reason 282's would glide through track that SD units shorted, derailed or just stopped. CLEAN has a different MEANing with DCC and looking back I would say it is now clear it wasn't the decoder.
I also know ALOT more about laying track now than I did 25 years ago when I did it. That resulted in replacing about 1/3 of my track work.
Running at a DCC scale 5 mph is very different than running a DC layout where Atlas locomotives were very forgiving of dirt spots and even uneven track.
Sometimes, what you think is a decoder problem is not at all as I recently found out from some very knowledgable and kind forum members.
ATSFGuy Do sound equipped decoder locomotives tend to overheat and die?
Well, I have a PCm Reading T-1 that I used to let run around the layout slowly for hours while I sat at the workbench building kits, for background sound. That same locos has run hours at a time pulling trains around the club layout. My Atlas Trainmaster with sound has also done the same, MUd with a pair of P2K Geeps. The first year i participated, the temps in the venus hit the high 90's at least - there was little ventilation and no air conditioning. They have since installed a geothermal cooling system and it stays a bit more comfortable in there. I doon't recall ANYONE'S locos dying even on the hoot days. At least not because of decoder fault. No problems with the DCC system either, except one of the power supplied failed one time and we didn;t have a spare 15V one so one of the 12V lighting ones was pressed into service - trains just ran slower in that section of the layout.
There are some power issues, but that's not the DCC system. The older sections still use short fitter tracks to connect them, and those joiners wear out rapidly, making the 3-6" fitter pieces effectively dead. Unless you run a large steam loco, it's almost required to run two units to power every train even when a single unit can pull the cars, just so one will always be running to push or pull the other over the dead spots.
A few years ago I bought 8-10 Digitrax decoders. They were fine for about 3 years and then the majority of them started failing. Bad batch?? I have since started using NCE and TCS decoders exclusively. These are basic decoders without sound. Now the only problems I have I caused and a reset of the decoders fixed it. My NCE Power Pro 5 amp system has been flawless since it was installed a few years ago.
About 18 months ago, I started installing RailPro decoders and controls on my layout. So far, no problems. The RailPro system is what DCC should have been.
SouthPenn A few years ago I bought 8-10 Digitrax decoders. They were fine for about 3 years and then the majority of them started failing. Bad batch?? I have since started using NCE and TCS decoders exclusively. These are basic decoders without sound. Now the only problems I have I caused and a reset of the decoders fixed it. My NCE Power Pro 5 amp system has been flawless since it was installed a few years ago. About 18 months ago, I started installing RailPro decoders and controls on my layout. So far, no problems. The RailPro system is what DCC should have been.
Is Rail Pro a decoder?
No, it's a direct radio system. Power comes through the track, or a battery if you have room. The control signals from the handheld go right to the loco via RF signals.
I don;t get the "what DCC should ahve been". DCC is 20 years old. 20 years ago your cell phone, if you had one, was the size of a small brick. Look at any of the DCC manufacturer sites, they all have links to documentation on their discontinued products - check the size of those decoders. And those were motor only, not sound, With limited features - in some cases only shoort addresses, and in most cases nothing like BEMF or silent drive. And they cost $60-$70. There's no way you could have made Railpro or any of the similar systems 20 years ago. The frequency band it uses, I don't think was even approved for that sort of use back then, either.