I had my tsunami TSU-750 heavy steam decoder on my Bachmann 4-8-2 Heavy Mountain. Over the weekend, the motor control stopped working. I tested the voltage on the motor wires, and it was a little low. Not sure why. So I took it out and put it into my N scale EM-1 I have, and same thing - no motor control.
Great, now I have to get another tsunami. I refuse to go ESU any more because it just sounds weird.
Try a decoder reset. CV8=8. If that doesn't cure it, the first locomotive may have a mechanical problem that overloaded the decoder and burned out the motor drive circuitry, or you were pulling too much weight behind it.
If a LokSound sounds weird you don't have the proper sound files loaded.
I already took the decoder out. Maybe if I have time I'll attempt it. Can I reset it if the motor is not hooked up? In other words, can I just hook up the red and black wires to track power and reset it that way?
From a logical perspective, I'm confident that resetting it won't do anything. It was only pulling 11 cars when it quit. Not sure how resetting it is going to magically make the motor control work again, but I'll give it a try.
It may or may not take programming without a load on the motor wires. It definitely won't read back. Clip lead it to a spare motor, or if you have one, a 100 ohm resistor. A 14V light bulb may also work.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
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How long have you had the decoder? Do you have the same problem in forward and reverse, or just one direction?
I had a Tsunami (might have been a 750) that I put in an IHC steamer. I emailed the Tsunami people and they suggested a few tests, after which they said the decoder was bad, I sent it back and they replaced it. It's been working fine ever since.
Meanwhile, I would suggest putting a basic cheap decoder into the engine and running it for a few weeks, at least. That way, if there is something wrong with the engine that caused the decoder to burn out, you'll discover the problem for a modest cost, and if it runs fine you'll be able to tell the Tsunami people that the engine is OK.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
You can return it to Soundtraxx for repair. if out of warranty, Soundtraxx will still repair it for a relatively nominal fee. Then, if you can no longer use it, you can sell it for more than the repair fee. That beats tosss it out.
Rich
Alton Junction
I guess it wouldn't hurt to try to have them repair it if I can't reset it.
Soundtraxx will either repair it or replace it.
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N scale dude.
I did not test the stall current on this as it was already DCC equipped. There is simply no way hauling 9 cars caused this thing to not run the motor any more.
Since the Heavy Mountain is DC now, I'm more apt to find out. I doubt it's more than 0.5A.
The TSU-750 Tsunami is very sensitive to heat. There is a small heat sink inside the shrink wrap - the side that is totally flat. If you are having problems with your loco running for a bit then stopping and starting again and running, probably you are tripping the thermal protection inside the TSU-750. You need to get the heat out of it! Stick the heat sink side of the decoder to something large and metal if at all possible. If allowed to overheat too often, you can permanently damage it.
Mark.
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Yes I'm well aware of that, but I'm stuck with space constraints in N scale. I never had a problem with it starting and stopping due to thermal overload before.
Was it starting and stopping, or just plain stopped working altogether?
Sound likes it may have blown the motor drive fuses, if so it needs to be repaired or replaced.
The Thermal shut down will let the decoder will come back to life after it cools down. Takes about 10 to 15 minutes.
If it is a thermal problem you need to heat sink the decoder so it can cool.
The sounds still work fine. Lights come on fine too. Just the motor control is shot.
Please explain how hauling 9 40' freight cars will fry the motor control because of overdrawing the engine controls. Really. I'd like to hear it from you.
That being the case I would bet that the fuse is blown. Or fuses if both directions don't work. Send the decoder into SoundTraxx.
They now replace the fuse with a resistor. Or at least that is what I have been told.
Better check to make sure that there are NO wheel to motor contacts. The decoder does not like this and will open the fuse.
If a modern Bachmann Spectrum N scale loco draws more than half an amp stalled, it's broken. Unless it IS broken, no way is it overloading a TSU-750. Yeah they have heat issues (which is a huge defect) but at well under their max capacity they shouldn't.
A short between the motor output and the track, now that's another story.
How do you test the motor for stall current.
Do you hold in on the track so it cannot move at the maxium speed setting?
That's the plan.
It draws .57A at 12V using a Tech 4 DC controller.