Just wondering what the average life span of decoders is, also does normal heat from decoders reduce the lifespan of the decoder?
Heat is the great enemy of electronics, and decoders give off quite a bit of heat, more when they are getting a lot of amperage through them, and hotter still when they don't have any vented space around them.
They do fail. I have had two fail, a LokSound and a QSI, both early models. Actually, BLI replaced my QSI-equipped Niagara's decoder in 2006...forgot about that one, and did it for nothing. So, that's two QSI decoders and one LokSound so far. Not so bad out of 27 locomotives with ages between 10 years and two months.
The only decoders I've had fail, so far, have been a couple of NCE DASRs that failed after ten+ years of heavy use, and a Digitrax DH163 of about the same age and duty.
Out of a pool of 60+ NCE and Digitrax decoders, I'm pretty happy with those results.
-Fritz Milhaupt, Publications Editor, Pere Marquette Historical Society, Inc.http://www.pmhistsoc.org
With 10+ years of DCC usage, I've had one Atlas decoder fail (a 342 made by Lenz, IIRC). It was replaced by a Digitrax DH163A0.
That's out of a mix of (in no particular order) Atlas (Lenz), TCS, NCE, Digitrax, QSI, Soundtraxx (both LC and Tsunami), ESU, and one BLI Blue-line.
But my usage wouldn't be considered heavy or intensive by any means. I have 80+ locos with decoders, but only need 6 or 8 on the layout at a time. So there's a fair amount of rotation on/off the layout.
Thats encouraging news guys, I have 75 dcc equipped engines and only a few have had decoder problems,maybe they will someday put some kind of a heat sinc on them to disipate the heat. May God Bless.
the old train man:
You can easily add your own heat sinks to a decoder installation by simply placing a piece of brass sheet above or below the decoder. Obviously it has to be insulated, and the thicker and bigger the better. Other metals will work as well if you have them available.
Also, the better the heat transfer capability of whatever you are using to mount the decoder to the heat sink, the better the heat sink will work. Things like double sided foam tape will reduce the heat transfer whereas silicone or epoxy will do a better job of transferring the heat.
I have largely solved the problem by deciding to use Loksound Select decoders almost exclusively. They don't seem to generate the heat that other brands do. Loksound suggests that heat sinks are not necessary.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Thanks Dave, I needed to know that. May God Bless.