I inherited an N scale layouth with Digitrax DCC. I followed the previous owners pictures and setup wiring. I put a DCC locomotive on the track and nothing happened. I put a DC locomotive on the track and the headlight lit, but again no movement. I should mention that the handheld control blinks. I figure there has to be a short somewhere but how do I go about locating it?
I assume the "blink" is that little black dot at the top and to the right on your throttle? The blinking dot means that track power is "suspended". Press the Power button and then the Y/+ button. You may need to press the Y/+ again until that dot stays on.
When power is suspended, DCC powere is being applied to the track but there are no DCC packets being sent with it. This is why the light will light but the train won't move.
Martin Myers
Took you seven years to break the ice an make your first post, welcome to the forum.
The easiest fix is to inspect the track work for tools you've laid across the track, pliers, rulers, coupler gauges. After that we need a lot more info. Not to be condescending but do you know about DCC loco addresses?
I'm not a digitrax guy but it looks like blinking can be normal. What Digitrax unit do you have?
What did the "wiring setup" require you to do?
We can only imagine what is underneath the layout in terms of circuit breakers, reversing loop units, and how the layout is wired. Divide and conquer is the usual advice for diagnosing shorts.
The pictures might helpful to the group in coming up with suggestions for you on where to start. There are specific instructions to post pics in the forum in one of the sticky posts in the general forum.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Pennsy1361 I put a DC locomotive on the track and the headlight lit, but again no movement.
the headlight being on suggests that there is power on the track and therefore, no short
what is the decoder address in the DCC locomotive and is it selected on the handheld?
what did you do on the handheld to control the DC locomotive (is it address zero)?
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading
ANd what, precisely, is blinking. If, as mentioned, it is a little dot in the upper right of the throttle display, you are in sleep or emergency stop mode.
Make sure the toggle on the front of the main unit is set to the run position. If the dot in the throttle is blinking, press the Power button and then press Yes to turn the power on. Blinking dot has power to the track but no DCC signal, so the headlight of a non-DCC loco will light up if placed on the rails but no control of any locos.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.