So, I have this used GN Athearn rtr f7 that I picked up used at a train show. I had an econami decoder installed, and the loco works fine on my club layout, but the sound and motor control is jerky and interrupted even on straight sections of my 18" radius layout. The guy who installed the decoder tweaked a few things, and I took apart both trucks and cleaned the contacts, but there is no improvement. Cleaned the track too. Anyone else having this problem? Any ideas on a fix? Thank you for any feedback!
I'm beginning to realize that Windows 10 and sound decoders have a lot in common. There are so many things you have to change in order to get them to work the way you want.
I'd do a full reset on the decoder first. See what happens. It's pretty easy to get a CV in wrong and have the loco act up. This also generally (but not always) verifies whether it's the decoder or the wiring that has an issue.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Maybe you should check the power to your track. Are using individual sections of track, with rail joiners at each connection? Are the joiners nice and tight? Do you have feeders supplying power at different spots around the layout?
Mike.
My You Tube
As Mike suggests, we can't tell if this is your only loco on a layout you just put together or it's the only one of 50 other loco's that doesn't run right on your flawlessly running layout.
In a thread about loco's surging, it was suggested that Back EMF was often the culprit.
Also the wheels need to be clean too.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
What are you trying to do with it? Can you remove the shell to see where the short is occuring?
Thanks everyone for the feedback! I believe I have done a factory reset. Yes, I am using rail joints and I do suspect a solder joint or two, but my old atlas, two bachmanns, and kato motored b unit all work fine on the main layout and test strip of track I had, but the a unit does not. Can you install keep alives in econami decoders?