First..I'm a woman model train nut....so maybe this is why I can't figure out the following: I have the Digitrax Empire builder xtra and I don't have power to the tracks even though the DB150 Track Status light is lit. I have a bus wire running underneath the layout with a "run" switch attached to the front of my layout to turn the train on after turning on the power system. I used Mode 39 to clear the DT402 throttle thinking this might help and I have done nothing to the DB150 since then....this didn't help the problem. Question #1: Does something need to be programmed back into the DB150? I noticed after not using the layout for a couple weeks that the "run" switch on the front of the layout was in the "on" position...did I wear out or short out this switch because it was in the "on" position even though the power supply was "off"? I'm also using a 3.3amp power supply because I have a small layout...could this be the problem? could it have shorted out?...I've read it should be a 5amp although the train track worked with this 3.3amp power supply before the problem began. Any ideas to try? Thanks
OK, so, I'm not a Digitrax guru by any stretch of the imagination, but, I have the same set, only mine is older, and I have the DT400 throttle.
When you turn power on to the DB150, it beeps once, right? Then the throttle comes to life.
On the throttle you press PWR and the Y or the "+" button to turn on track power.
There is a little dot that appears when power is on, and if the dot is flashing, one of those buttons is stuck, press the Y or + again.
I didn't read in your description of the problem, that you did that, turning track power on with the throttle.
Mike.
My You Tube
Mike... I can't remember if I did that or not.....I will try it and see what happens.
Thanks
GoCartI have a bus wire running underneath the layout with a "run" switch attached to the front of my layout to turn the train on after turning on the power system.
Besides what Mike suggests, which is something that trips me up occasionally (could Digitrax have made that little dot any smaller!) you mention the "run" switch which I presume you added between the layout and the DB150.
Sometimes a toggle switch will fail. Can you check for power at that switch?
I use the little Digitrax "Loconet Tester" as a troubleshooting light. I soldered two short pieces of brass wire to each of the wire pairs to act as "probes".
http://www.digitrax.com/media/apps/products/accessories/lt1/documents/LT1.pdf
See if you have power there, maybe the switch went bad?
Good Luck, Ed
I'm not a digitrax guy either. While a switch could die at anytime, it didn't short out just sitting there with no power flowing through it.
I'm guessing the red light wouldn't be on the DB150 if there was a short on the tracks, like a pair of pliers?
The DB150 is a 5 amp system, but you are running it with a 3.3 amp power supply. That doesn't seem like it would cause a huge problem.
With a voltmeter, you could see if the DB150 is putting out power, if so, is the switch putting out power, if so....the electrons are stopping somewhere down stream.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
The toggle switch "Run" is on the DB150. You either have it set to run or sleep. Leave it on run.
The toggle next to the run switch is the gauge. Down is HO, middle position is N and top position is O/G
There is no power to the tracks until you turn it on using the throttle, pressing the Power button, and then pressing the Y or + button.
Connect the DB150 and the PS515 ( or what ever power source you have, it's the wal wart looking thing) to a power strip. When your done operating, turn off track power by pressing the power button, and then the N or - button.
Then turn off the switch on the power strip. Done.
When you go to run trains again, turn on the power strip, the DB150 will beep once, then your ready to turn tack power on, and run trains.
When you power up the DB150, and it beeps more than once, you need to count the beeps, than look at the manual and see what the different number of beeps is telling you. It can beep from 1, (which is good and what you want) to 9 times.
Good luck! Wiring is one of the most frustrating aspects of model trains for me. Having experienced multiple electrical issues, I can understand the frustration.
Sympathy aside, perhaps there's a local hobby store you can show pictures of the wiring or a local NMRA club. Having someone local answer question is easier since they can come over. I have a mentor and it's been a stroke of divine intervention anytime he offers suggestions.
Did this layout ever run while you owned it?
I don't know why you need a nether toggle, there's already one on the DB150. Nothing more is needed that's not already on the DB150.
So what happens? does the dot come on? it's just above the speed indicator. Does it flash? Does the throttle come on? Does the DB 150 beep, once?
Take some good pictures of what you have, including any "extra/added on" wiring" and show us.
Someone made it harder than it needs to be. You can undo all of that.
If you have a DC power pack, I'd try taking the wires between the on/off switch and the DCC system and connect them to the DC outputs of the power pack and see if you an run an engine, or at least get evidence of the track getting power. If things work OK with the DC power pack, then the wiring of the layout is fine and the DB150 has a problem. If it doesn't work with the DC power pack, odds are the DB150 is fine but the layout wiring has a problem. Might be something as simple as an old piece of rubber electrical tape coming off a soldered joint, allowing to touch something and cause a short circuit.
GoCart First..I'm a woman model train nut....so maybe this is why I can't figure out the following:
First..I'm a woman model train nut....so maybe this is why I can't figure out the following:
YIKES!!!! Please...don't go there. There's no need.
The DB150 light means only that it is putting power out at its outputs. It doesn't mean that power is getting to all 'wired' parts of the layout. That switch...for example...did you ever test it under load? Did you test for power in series between the outputs of the DB150 and the switch? If there's power there, then maybe it's the switch. Remove it, temporarily connect the four ends...properly...and then test track power again by trying to run a locomotive.
The power supply should match the stated max throughput of the device metering and manipulating it...all of them along the line, in series, but starting with that first most expensive component. There's nothing inherently wrong with a larger power supply if everything goes well and the normal expected draws take place everywhere the power is distributed. But that one hard short.....KAAAH-POW!!
For lower amp power supplies, it only means you won't get to run all the trains you might have intended before the power supply limits out. The DB150 won't care because it won't be over-driven.
I'm impressed. I have never taken my Powercab on vacation.
I was trying to get a feel if this was a layout you just bought at a garage sale or functional. A guy who worked at Caboose ought to know a caboose from a hole in the ground, and the difference between a good solder joint and a cold joint. The switch falling off sounded a bit dubious.
Hopefully the electrician is a friend and not charging you electrician rates. A Harbor Freight voltmeter is only a couple bucks. I started another thread about my HF failures, but when it works, it is adequate.
Personally, I welcome women into the hobby. I started med school in 1973 and that was probably the year in medicine, where women no longer were an oddity, but accepted as peers. The youtube railroad webcams are full of women who are active participants.
Not so much in this forum. I'm looking at a female avatar right now as a "User Online" according to her profile, she had a test post for trains.com, but has never posted. There are a couple others that post in the Toy Trains forum, I think. Monon Railroader has a woman card. You should pm each other. She is more electrically aggressive than you are.
First off, hopefully you have a Harbor Freight tool store near you (or an equivalent low cost tool supply). Go there and get their basic multimeter - it's about $5 if you have no coupons - sometimes you can get them free with a coupon. Then you cna check this yourself. Just set it to the 20V AC setting and check across the rail A and rail B connections. If you have power there, check across the rails at various palces around the layout.
However, that description of a large toggle switch on ont he DB150 - frankly, some peple shouldn;t attempt repairs. There's no reason not to use the proper switch that would fit in the case as intended, if trying to DIY the repair. hey CAN jsut be sent to Digitrax for repair - though probably not now after it was modified. ANyway, using an oversize switch means it very wll may not be connected properly, or the switch could be touching part of the circuit board and shorting somethign out - lots of things could be wrong.
But - if the red track power LED is on (actually, it should be orangish - if you look at it from various angles you should see red AND green - if not, address 00 is probably not at speed 0. The OpSw 39 reset requires that toggle on the case to be moved from Run to Ops - assuming it works. That woudl clear any possible address issues. If the light really is red and green together, then all is good so far.
As mentioned - there is the little dot in the upper right of the DT40x throttle. This needs to be on solid, not flashing. If all else fails, simply hit the pwr button and then Y for yes. If the dot is blinking - the track power light will be off, but there is no DCC signal on the rails, so you can;t control trains. If you hit pwr on the throttle and then N to turn it off - the LED shoudl go out. If this does nto happen - something's broken. If it does turn off the LED, hitting pwr and then Y shoudl turn it back on. Look for the dot, if it is not blinking but on solid, it should be fine.
If this all worked before, and now doesn;t, and the track power LED is red and you see no hint of green - it's possible the output of the DB150 has fried and is only putting out half of the DCC signal. Trains MIGHT run but they would run at half speed. But possible not at all.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Good catch, Randy! Yes, even if the red/orange LED is on, and not flashing, it means the power is being put out at the terminals...supposedly. But for the 400 series throttles, at least the way I do it, you must press the pwr button, and then y for yes. Even then, for me, it's only then that the power LED stops flashing and goes steady, and at that point I know there's power at the outputs and to the rails.
But.................there's one more step that I seem to have to go to, and that's to hit the top F function button and that enables the encoder knob throttles. Now, I may be entirely incorrect in this part, but it's a habit I seem to have adopted along the way, it never varies, and I never have any problems. The odd glitch means I have to depower the DB150 and start over if a loco won't respond, but it's rare, and that also works very reliably.
There are three phases of that little power dot on your throttle. If it is not on, track power is Off. If it is blinking, track power is in "suspend" mode. Suspend mode puts power on the rails so the track status light will be lit on your DB150 but suspends DCC packets so that trains will not run. If the dot is on steady track power is on and trains will run.
That blinking dot has caused many a railroader to think their layout is broken. To find it easier, turn on F11 and F12 on your throttle. The black dot is located between the 11 and 12 on the screen.
Martin Myers