Electronics and DCC

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Last post 09-16-2008 4:09 PM by cacole. 4 replies.
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09-16-2008 3:35 PM
Offline loathar
Top 10 Contributor
Joined on 08-05-2004
Amish country Tenn.
Posts 9,982

Life Span of a Decoder...

OK, I'm now down to 50% success rate on my MRC decoders. Of the two I own, the first one I installed just failed. It was an old AD 350 that I got for free and lasted one and a half years so I wasn't too bummed out. I think it got a short from a wiring error I caused with a pinched wire.

Just wondering, with this lasting as long as it did and my first NEC lasting 6 hours before it smoked, anybody have a guess at a "typical" life span of these things? Should I just be expecting to replace these things after X amount of time regardless of manufacturer??
09-16-2008 3:54 PM In reply to
Offline gandydancer19
Top 500 Contributor
Joined on 01-12-2007
Eastern Shore Virginia
Posts 950

Re: Life Span of a Decoder...

If the decoder is a good one (Soundtraxx, LOK, QSI, or other GOOD decoder (not MRC)), and it has been installed correctly with no exposed bare wires, they should last almost forever.

If you are having trouble with your decoders smoking after you install them, you may be doing something wrong.  If you can't find out what, it may be worth having them installed professionally.
09-16-2008 3:58 PM In reply to
Offline loathar
Top 10 Contributor
Joined on 08-05-2004
Amish country Tenn.
Posts 9,982

Re: Life Span of a Decoder...

The NCE was a factory install. The replacement I installed seems to working fine, but I guess time will tell.
09-16-2008 4:03 PM In reply to
Offline jeffrey-wimberly
Top 10 Contributor
Joined on 06-21-2004
Sundown, Louisiana
Posts 12,582

Re: Life Span of a Decoder...

Both of the MRC decoders (non-sound) that I tried both smoked within half a day. I've had good service from other decoders I've installed, included a second-hand Bachmann decoder that's been going for about two years now.
09-16-2008 4:09 PM In reply to
Offline cacole
Top 25 Contributor
Joined on 07-23-2003
Sierra Vista, Arizona
Posts 8,601

Re: Life Span of a Decoder...

I have installed nearly 100 non-sound and sound decoders over the years, and MRCs are the only ones that I have ever had a problem with.  The very first decoder I ever installed was a Digitrax and it is still going strong, just like the Energizer bunny.  I have used Lenz, Digitrax, NCE, TCS, and SoundTraxx and LokSound with not a bad one in the batch.  MRCs struck out with 4 out of 5 bad ones.
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