I installed a Digitrax DH165L0 plug and play decoder into a LifeLike P2K GP-7. I programed the 2 digit locomotive address into the decoder and everything seemed well. Afterward I placed the loco on the track. When I advanced the throttle to speed step 1 the engine began running at a moderate speed. I continued all the way up to speed step 99 and the loco continued running at the same moderate speed. I could not control the speed of the loco with the throttle, but the engine did stop when I returned the throttle to zero. I am using a Digitrax Chief with a Big Boy booster to control the railroad. I have never had this problem before.
Do you think this is a bad decoder or a programing problem?
Thanks in advance,
Dale Latham
It could be an artifact left over from factory testing, such as an odd speed table, or some other such thing.
I'd suggest doing a reset on the decoder (CV8=8) and see if that helps. If not, send it back for a replacement. Digitrax has a 1-year "No Worries" warranty on all their products.
The first thing you should probably do is reset the decoder to factory defaults by programming a value of 8 into CV 8. Sometimes really weird values are left in decoder CVs as a result of factory testing, and resetting them clears everything out.
Also make sure you have your throttle set to 28/128 speed steps. If it is set to 14 speed steps, that can cause erratic operation with a 28 speed step decoder.
Thanks so much for the input. I did a decoder reset and it works fine now. I thought that's what I would have to do.