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ESU 53900 Decoder Tester speaker wattage

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  • Member since
    February 2019
  • 255 posts
ESU 53900 Decoder Tester speaker wattage
Posted by Hawks Rule on Monday, September 11, 2023 6:07 PM

Hello All,

I have an ESU 53900 decoder tester, which I have been using to test various decoders from eight pins and so on. About six months ago I purchased an ECONAMI 21 pin sound decoder to use on a Bowser DCC ready diesel locomotive.

Yesterday, I picked up  A Bowser DCC ready 2I pin engine.

Today, I was ready to install the 21 pin decoder into my Bowser engine. Before I install any type of decoder, I always like to test them on my decoder tester.

Sadly, when I plugged in the 21 pin decoder into the decoder tester, the blue light went off, and there was a smell something burning. I immediately unplugged everything, and it looks like I fried the decoder. After that, I phoned the soundtraxx repair department to find out what exactly what I had done wrong. According to the rep, if any decoder tester has a speaker that is 1 W or less it will affect a 21 pin sound decoder from soundtraxx because they are rated between 1 to 2 W.

The good news is they can repair it for about $45.

So my question to anybody out there is have you had the same problem as I did?

Also, if it has to do with a 1 watt speaker, I hope that ESU is aware of that problem.

Any thoughts?

 

  • Member since
    May 2020
  • 1,057 posts
Posted by wrench567 on Tuesday, September 12, 2023 12:48 AM

  That sounds fishy to me. The amp is supposed to operate at 1 to 2 amp. It should have damaged the speaker before the amp.

 I can see it if the impedance is wrong. Does the decoder tester have a 100 ohm speaker like ESU used in the early days?

     Pete.

  • Member since
    February 2019
  • 255 posts
Posted by Hawks Rule on Tuesday, September 12, 2023 7:45 AM

wrench567

  That sounds fishy to me. The amp is supposed to operate at 1 to 2 amp. It should have damaged the speaker before the amp.

 I can see it if the impedance is wrong. Does the decoder tester have a 100 ohm speaker like ESU used in the early days?

     Pete.

 

Hello Pete,

The decoder Tester is the ESU 53900 and has a speaker select switch with 3 settings:

OFF -100Ω -8Ω positions.

Most speakers are 8Ω, so I leave on that setting.

 

  • Member since
    May 2020
  • 1,057 posts
Posted by wrench567 on Tuesday, September 12, 2023 9:11 AM

  I would check that with a multimeter. I don't have that tester. So I'm not familiar with the circuit.

 Still. If the soundtrax decoder is that easily damaged, then that would put a damper on my future purchases of said product. When I started in DCC many years ago. I bought a plug and play decoder from an industry leader. I plugged it in an 8 pin socket on a new DCC locomotive. Placed it on the program track and instantly saw the smoke roll out. I sent the item to the maker and their response was that it was mis-installed and would not be covered under warranty. More than a decade later and hundreds of decoders, I still don't have anything from that manufacturer. The locomotive is still in my fleet sporting another plug and play decoder from a different maker.

    Sorry for the rant. I don't like weak products sold as TOP OF THE LINE.

        Pete.

  • Member since
    February 2019
  • 255 posts
Posted by Hawks Rule on Tuesday, September 12, 2023 4:02 PM

Hello Pete,

Here is what my ESU Decoder Tester looks like:

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  • Member since
    February 2019
  • 255 posts
Posted by Hawks Rule on Tuesday, September 12, 2023 4:12 PM

Here is another version of the 53900 with a round speaker and 16 Ohms instead of 8 like mine.

  • Member since
    February 2019
  • 255 posts
Posted by Hawks Rule on Tuesday, September 12, 2023 4:12 PM

Here is another version  of the 53900 with a round speaker and 16 Ohms instead of 8 like mine.

  " />

  • Member since
    May 2020
  • 1,057 posts
Posted by wrench567 on Tuesday, September 12, 2023 6:02 PM

   They look sofisticated. I never really found a need for one. Maybe if I was programming dozens of decoders a week.

     Pete.

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