Prodigy advanced help...

[mainrod1361]

OK well i have a prodigy advanced DCC system and i was running trains and a minute later they both lost power. Well i guess they didn't loss power cause the lights where still on but they would not move. I can't figure out whats wrong cause they where both working fine then they stopped

[tstage]

mainrod,

First off: to the forum!  Good to have you aboard!  

Where on your layout did your locomotives lose power?  Was one of them at a turnout?

Sounds to me like a short.  Try removing one of the locomotives off your layout and place the other at a different location on your track.  See if you can't replicate the problem again with only one locomotive.

Tom

[mainrod1361]

i tried moving the engine to a different spot and the same thing happened all i can control is the light function

[tstage]

mainrod,

I take it that these are both non-sound locomotives?  Did you program either one of your locomotives to an address other than "3"?  If you did, see if one of them will run on address "3".  I'm just curious if your decoder reset somehow.

Also, you didn't answer where on your layout your locomotives stopped. 

Tom

[mainrod1361]

Well like I said before the head light functions when i have the road number programed so I'm guessing that the decoder was not reset. They both stopped working when i cleared a switch with one and the other was not sitting on a switch. I moved both engines to the section of track where the system is connected to the rail and they still don't respond

[tstage]

mainrod, 

If it happened at a turnout (switch) then it probably was a short of some kind.  What decoder(s) do you have in your locomotives?  You may need to reset them to factory default settings - which means you will have to reprogram the loco number back in.  (I'd just use address "3" for now until you figure out what the problem is.)

Here's the reset code sequence for all the major decoders:

http://www.tonystrains.com/technews/dec_rescue.htm 

It'll be halfway down the page in the link above.  Let me know if that helps or not. 

Tom

[mainrod1361]

Nope didnt work, I even tried unpluging the feed wires and connecting them to a sperate track and still nothing.

[tstage]

Do you have any other DCC-equipped locomotives that you can test?  Does your PA manual say whether or not your PA throttle can be reset?

Tom

[Rotorranch]

Emergency stop button pressed? (I haven't used one, so I'm not sure if the PA has one or not.)

Rotor

[mainrod1361]

no and the manual has a bunch of troubleshooting steps but they all involve the locomotive actually running which mine aren't. Thanks for your help though

[tstage]

I'm stumped then.  Mainrod, if and when you actually find out what the problem is, please do update this thread.  I'd be curious what the answer is.  Thanks.

Tom

[tstage]

mainrod, 

I took a quick look at the MRC PA manual online.  At the bottom of page 3-2 in the Troubleshooting section (below the heading During operation all locos stop responding), it suggests to "turn base unit power switch off, wait 3 seconds and turn the power back on".  It's worth a try...

Tom 

[dadret]

Try disconnecting the power from the AC source.  If that does not work, you might reset all the CV to the factory defaults and reprogram the loco address.  I've done this before with my PA when all else fails.