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Digitrax DB150 booster short circuit audible beeps. Lengthly but need help!

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  • Member since
    December 2019
  • 1 posts
Digitrax DB150 booster short circuit audible beeps. Lengthly but need help!
Posted by kccapgun on Monday, December 16, 2019 3:49 PM

I am having a problem with my Digitrax DB150 power booster. I have had unit little over 2 years. It is powered by a PS615 power supply. I use a PM42 power manager with 4 DB4's. I also have 2 SE8C signal decoders. Everthing was wired correctly and all 8 sections worked fine. All Tortise and Blue Point switch machines worked properly. I have connectors on all switch machines. Trains ran and machines switch properly.

For the last couple months I have been landscaping and not running trains. Last week I tried to run but could not get track power. Kept checking and found when I powered up, DB150 unit beeps 5 times. Checked manual and stated 'Booster short curcuit.'

I started by pulling connectors on all switch machines. Still 5 beeps. Pulled connectors on all cards, still 5 beeps. Disconnected ALL outputs from DB150 and only had power input, still 5 beeps.

Unit only has about 50 hours of running. What has happened? Need HELP!

  • Member since
    December 2015
  • From: Shenandoah Valley
  • 9,094 posts
Posted by BigDaddy on Monday, December 16, 2019 5:35 PM

Welcome to the forum.  I'm not a digitrax guy so that's about all I can do.  Your initial posts are moderated.

I can say your post is somewhat similar to this one

As you disconnected it from all outputs and it, I guessing there are only two solutions, a system reset or send it for repair.

Reset instructions

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

  • Member since
    January 2014
  • 1,500 posts
Posted by ROBERT PETRICK on Monday, December 16, 2019 6:28 PM

I suspect something to do with scenicking and/or landscaping.

Maybe a metal tool left on the track someplace. Maybe a track nail wedged in a turnout. Or maybe just a tiny piece of rail flew across the room and bounced off the wall and landed someplace sensitive when trimming track during installation. Could be loose wires coming into continuous contact under the benchwork someplace. Could be that the common ground for the Tortoises or push buttons wires ganged together and plugged into the terminal on one of the SE8Cs came loose and was maybe inserted into another (wrong) terminal. Maybe a blown fuse. Maybe the feeds from the PS615 power supply got reconnected backwards.

Did you try disconnecting the track A/B wires entirely and attaching two solitary leads to a single isolated section of track?

Did you count 5 short beeps? And did your manual list 5 beeps? My 210 unit gives 4 short beeps followed by a single short beep. The 4 beeps indicate short; the 5th beep indicates the system has cleared the short.

Could be a lot of other things I'd check before sending the unit in for service. Most problems turn out to be human error. Your last sentence sounds a little ominous though.

Robert

 

LINK to SNSR Blog


  • Member since
    December 2019
  • 27 posts
Posted by Alco_Pop on Monday, December 16, 2019 6:51 PM

I have Digitrax

I read somewhere in the manual that a power booster needs to be isolated by insulated rail joiners on both rails ?. I know you said you had trains running earlier but maybe there is a short bridging both sections? 

Phil

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: Bradford, Ontario
  • 15,797 posts
Posted by hon30critter on Tuesday, December 17, 2019 12:41 AM

kccapgun
Disconnected ALL outputs from DB150 and only had power input, still 5 beeps.

Have you considered contacting Digitrax? If you have disconnected all outputs and done the reset then the problem has to be in the DB150 itself.

https://helpdesk.digitrax.com/

Dave

I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!

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