Ok, I'm stumped. I just picked this up today (the model without sound as I wanted to add a Tsunami based on what you folks have advised). When I connected the tender to the engine and put it on the track, my Digitrax Zephyr goes bonkers (indicating a short). I checked the pack's wires and put on a DCC loco which functioned perfectly.
I put the 4-8-4 back on and same thing. I am lost as to what is causing the short. Item was brand new in original shipping box - I did notice that one of the screws that locks one of the drives to the wheels was off which I tightened back on - very poor quality control.
Anyone have any ideas what to do? Worst case scenario, I can bring it back for an exchangebut I'd prefer to see if I'm doing something wrong. I could possible open up the tender and see if I can add a decoder but I wouldn't want to fry a decoder unneccessarily.
Thanks in advance,
Ok will do. Out of curiosity, how do you open the tender to get at the on board decoder and available space for speakers? There's a handful of speakers on the bottom of the tender and I couldn't easily figure out which screws to open.
Thanks David. I just exchanged the engine. Hopefully I can get the tender off without snapping anything. Now I just tneed to figure out which speakers I should get to go with the Tsunami Heavy Steam. Any suggestions re make/model?
I'm not familiar with your particular model however, in general, the trucks on the tenders can possibly get turned around which would cause a short. Also, if the individual wheels are put back into the trucks with one or both insulated wheels on the wrong side you would get a short as well.
I'm 0 for 2. The same thing happened with the new engine and I'm at a total loss. Engine plug is connected to the tender (I believe it only connects one way, meaning you can't reverse the plug), all wheels are on the track (the tender wheels don't spin 360 degrees so no short there). My Digitrax Zephyr works with DCC and DC engines.
I think I may have a 20 y/o DC controller laying around - I can give that a shot. Outside of that, I guess I should start working on taking the tender apart to see if I can play around with the board.
Anyone else own this model and can share some experiences?
Thanks,
If I understand you correctly, you get a short when trying to operate the engine on DC. If this is really the case, it probably won't run correctly on DCC either. If it were me, and I was zero for two, I think I'd take the engine back to the hobby shop I'd bought it from. Any worthwhile hobby shop will have a test track where you should be able to run your purchase prior to leaving.
Why would you want to open up something you just bought (and which should run), poke around, and possibly void a warranty? Even if you identify the problem, if you need a new board or other item you'll assume the hassle of making it right. That should be someone else's responsibility.
Got home tonight and dug up an old Life Like DC power pack. Swapped out my Digitrax Zephyr for the DC pack and the engine works perfectly. Thanks to all (CAZEPHYR and David esp) for their help.
Now I'm off to ordering the heavy steam tsunami and some proper speakers and then playing with the CVs...
As they say..."The sun shines on a dog's as* every now and again...."
For non-DCC it SHOUDL just have a dummy plug with lighting diodes on it. However, maybe they are taking a cue from Bachmann and adding capacitors and choke coils to prevent RF interference - which might appear as a short to the Zephyr. Since it runs OK on DC, there's obviously something screwy about the motor circuit that does not like running on Address 00 with DCC.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
To put this thread to bed, I was exchanging emails with Athearn customer service. They ultimately informed me that I cannot use my engine in 00 mode on a DCC controller (even though all other DC locomotives work on my Zephyr).