Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
If the decoder is a good one (Soundtraxx, LOK, QSI, or other GOOD decoder (not MRC)), and it has been installed correctly with no exposed bare wires, they should last almost forever.
If you are having trouble with your decoders smoking after you install them, you may be doing something wrong. If you can't find out what, it may be worth having them installed professionally.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
OK, I'm now down to 50% success rate on my MRC decoders. Of the two I own, the first one I installed just failed. It was an old AD 350 that I got for free and lasted one and a half years so I wasn't too bummed out. I think it got a short from a wiring error I caused with a pinched wire.
Just wondering, with this lasting as long as it did and my first NEC lasting 6 hours before it smoked, anybody have a guess at a "typical" life span of these things? Should I just be expecting to replace these things after X amount of time regardless of manufacturer??