Hey all,
I have recently purchased an Econami ECO-100 steam decoder. After instaling the decoder into my loco, the blue light on the decoder it self would come on and also a red flashing light. approx 6-8seconds later, the decoder would heat up to the point where I couldn't hold it. I am very new to all this, I understand there is a pilot light which is closest to the middle, I believe this is the light that flashes.
Can anyone explain what may be causing all this?
Welcome.
We need more info. What is the DC stall current at twelve volts DC?
The Econami 100 is good for one amp stall current.
What scale is the loco?
What is the loco model?
Did you use the program track first time?
DCC controller?
The red light is a fault code. Look up how many flashes you see. SoundTraxx has the documents.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
If it IMMEDIATELY overheats and goes into shutdowm likely the motor wires are shorted or the motor is not truly isolated from the rails.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
What Randy just said is why we have to know exactly which loco you have. A picture might help also.
Most DC only locos have the two motor terminals picking up power and are not ready for a decoder until you make sure the terminals are not connected to pickups or frame. A visual will show this but some locos, you need to use an ohm meter. I have one loco that was like that. All the others, a visual showed me I had to cut the wires to the terminals.
Also, using a program track might have indicated you had a misswire. That happened to me once because I switched the orange and red wire when doing my first hard wire. Poor lighting at the time. My NCE Power Cab using program track option saved me.
Send an e-mail to Soundtraxx just to be sure. I've installled a couple of Tsunamis and if I recall correctly, the do run very hot and they do have a red light on when powered up, but it was not a problem indication.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I have the same decoder in the Diesel version. Before I hooked the sound up, I only attached the motor wires and wheel pickups before testing. Usually of concern is the motor being electrically isolated from the frame. Is that the case? Have you made sure that no wires can ground to any metal parts on the chassis?
This being a steam locomotive, I have no experience with what sort of things might cause a short, but I assume in the older locomotives that the frame might be a ground.
What model is this, from what manufacturer, and when was it purchased?
Julian
Modeling Pre-WP merger UP (1974-81)
When the red light flashes, it is a problem indicator. IIRC Soundtraxx has something on their website somewhere that explains what it means - different patterns of flashing indicate different types of problems (short circuit, overload, etc.)