Last night was the first time it's ever been out of the box, and Hi-Presto, it's shorting the club's DCC layout. I've done nothing to the inside, haven't opened it up. It's still DC set up. Works on DC fine.
Took it to the trainclub again today, had an expert look at it, he couldn't find anything that looked out of place, and it ran on the test track as DC.
What's up? Is there a plug/insulator/gremlin that I need to extract? I don't have a decoder yet to plug in, I'd like for now to just be able to put it on and take off.
-Morgan
What DCC system does your club use. Not all support operating a non-decoder equipped locomotive.
skagitrailbird What DCC system does your club use. Not all support operating a non-decoder equipped locomotive.
Digitrax. I KNOW that's not the issue, as others can and have run DC on it before
Since it works on DC, it's probably the particular way they did the circuit board for directional lighting. Is this the old release, or a brand new one? For the old one, the sheet in with the instructions that talks about installing DCC will show that you have to cut traces - don't do this unless you install a decoder, I'm just trying to figure out if you have an older version or some newer one. I installed a decder in one of the old ones like that, I don't remember if I tried to run it on address 0 or just went ahead and installed the decoder.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
rrinker Since it works on DC, it's probably the particular way they did the circuit board for directional lighting. Is this the old release, or a brand new one? For the old one, the sheet in with the instructions that talks about installing DCC will show that you have to cut traces - don't do this unless you install a decoder, I'm just trying to figure out if you have an older version or some newer one. I installed a decder in one of the old ones like that, I don't remember if I tried to run it on address 0 or just went ahead and installed the decoder. --Randy
I'll look into that. I did check the instructions, it did say something about removing the board,. It's one of the grey limited edition boxes, if that gives you a timeframe. There is a nine-pin plug at the end of the long hood with a partial circuit board attached to it.
It could also be like the P2K GP18 I Bought, it worked when I tried it on DC but shorted when I installed DCC in it. It was the wheel axles that shorted against each other in the middle!! Some new gears had that sorted.
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That's the newer style then, which ordinarily should be fine other than the buzz when operated on DCC. Check the other suggestions, although I'd think a short in the axles would be a short on DC or DCC.
Graffin has a point.
I have severalGP7 and FA units.
When I installed DCC decoders. I had shorting issues that were very difficult to trace, and they ended up being those axles shorting in the center. The wheels were in guage, but on the close side.
After twisting them out to the loose side of the guage, the shorts went away.
They had previously ran on DC.