I need help with my new NCE Power Cab [SOLVED]

[electrolove]

I'm testing out my new NCE Power Cab.

I have my Atlas GP-40 on the track with the 4 function decoder installed from factory. I can turn on the light and also switch directions for the light, front and end. So I have contact with the loco. But when I try to run the loco it will not move. I also hear a little noise comming from the loco. The noise is there all the time, it begins when I turn on my Power Cab. Must be the decoder that makes that noise. When I move the speed wheel on the NCE the noise will follow the wheel, kind of. Can someone please tell me why the loco doesn't move?

[rrinker]

Hmm, is it an older Atlas decoder-equipped loco? A lot of those needed a jumper changed inside to operate on DC or DCC, they didn't have decoders that did auto conversion. Another possibility is that the decoder is set up for 14 speed step operation. Good way to tell - if you have the lights on, as you slowly advance the throttle, do the lights blink on and off?

--Randy

[cacole]

Try to reprogram the decoder's address and see what happens, but first try the factory default address of 03 and see if the loco will run.

[jfugate]

Electro:

You also need to try more than one loco. Sounds like there may be something wrong with your Atlas loco and or decoder -- I am speaking in terms of a jumper or decoder setting. Doing a decoder reset might help -- what kind of decoder do you have? If it is an Atlas decoder, those might be pretty wimpy decoders and you may have to do some special gyrations just to set certain CVs.

Try another loco and decoder. If both locos act up, then the problem may be your NCE setup. Without another loco to test with, it is hard to tell remotely like this.

[electrolove]

I just tested the other GP-40 I have and exactly the same thing happened.

The decoder I have is the 4-Function Dual-Mode Decoder that are factory fitted in the Atlas GP-40 locos. This is the loco, Rio Grande, Item # 9733

http://www.atlasrr.com/HOLoco/hogp38403.htm

QUOTE: Originally posted by jfugate

Electro:

You also need to try more than one loco. Sounds like there may be something wrong with your Atlas loco and or decoder -- I am speaking in terms of a jumper or decoder setting. Doing a decoder reset might help -- what kind of decoder do you have? If it is an Atlas decoder, those might be pretty wimpy decoders and you may have to do some special gyrations just to set certain CVs.

Try another loco and decoder. If both locos act up, then the problem may be your NCE setup. Without another loco to test with, it is hard to tell remotely like this.

[tstage]

QUOTE: Originally posted by electrolove

I'm testing out my new NCE Pro Cab.

I have my Atlas GP-40 on the track with the 4 function decoder installed from factory. I can turn on the light and also switch directions for the light, front and end. So I have contact with the loco. But when I try to run the loco it will not move. I also hear a little noise comming from the loco. The noise is there all the time, it begins when I turn on my Pro Cab. Must be the decoder that makes that noise. When I move the speed wheel on the NCE the noise will follow the wheel, kind of. Can someone please tell me why the loco doesn't move?

Electro,

I'm confused. The first part you say the "loco will not move". Another part you say, "When I move the speed wheel on the NCE the noise will follow the wheel." Are you talking the encoder wheel or the locomotive wheel? I'm assuming that we are meaning the encoder wheel.

Final thought and one I have to ask: What is your decoder address #? Did you assign it a 2- and 4-digit address on your programming track?

Tom

[Anonymous]

I have also found that Atlas pre-programmed their engines to respond to the last two digits of the engine number. Not 3 as most decoders out of the box respond to before programming.

[electrolove]

tstage:

"When I move the speed wheel on the NCE the noise will follow the wheel." What I mean is the speed wheel on the NCE. The loco will not move at all.

grumpybob:

I know that most decoders out of the box are assigned to 3. And that's seems to be the case here as well. As I said in my first post I can turn on the light and also switch directions for the light, front and end. That means that I have contact with the decoder on address 3.

So the problem must be something else.

[selector]

The "noise" from the encoder wheel is not sounding too good. My Digitrax throttle emits no noise...at all...ever... except it beeps when certain inputs are done by me. If two engines behave the same way, the odds suddenly shift to the throtlle being the problem.

I hope I am wrong, EL.

[electrolove]

The noise is NOT comming from the decoder wheel. It comes from the loco. Probably the decoder in the loco. When I said that the noise is follow the speed wheel on the NCE I mean that when I move the speed wheel, the noise in the loco follows it.

There have been lots of talk about decoders that are not quiet. My guess is that this is what happens. So the noise from the decoder in the loco may not be a problem at all, maybe just a decoder that is not quiet. But I have no experience with decoders so I'm not 100% sure.

But the loco should move regardless of that.

QUOTE: Originally posted by selector

The "noise" from the encoder wheel is not sounding too good. My Digitrax throttle emits no noise...at all...ever... except it beeps when certain inputs are done by me. If two engines behave the same way, the odds suddenly shift to the throtlle being the problem.

I hope I am wrong, EL.

[jfugate]

Electro:

With the shell off the loco and changing the throttle setting, what do you see? Are the loco flywheels moving at all (as in rocking back and forth slightly)?

The noise in the loco, does it go up in pitch as you increase the throttle?

This sounds like the decoder is confused and thinks it may be on analog. Can you reset the loco's CVs? Can you read back CV values on the programming track? Can you change the loco's address on the programming track?

Electro -- you need to use a loco with a *different brand* of decoder to see if your NCE system is bad. Using the same brand of loco and decoder could mean the loco/decoder mix has the wrong settings. Without using a completely different loco (different brand of loco) and a different brand of decoder, it's hard to tell just where the problem is.

Read back CV29 and tell us what its value is. I suspect it is set wrong.

[jfugate]

Electro:

I also found this on another forum:

QUOTE:
The Lenz Atlas decoder should allow you to turn the headlight on/off with F0. These decoders are not the silent running type and have a buzzing to them. The buzzing is much more noticeable at slow speed as you have no motor noise to over come the buzz.

Perhaps that is what you are hearing. But with the shell off, you should be able to tell if the motor is trying to turn or not. You really need to try a completely different loco/decoder combination, since I suspect it's something about the Atlas loco and decoder.

[electrolove]

Sorry I mixed it up. It's not a Pro Cab, it's a Power Cab.

I have tried to read CV's. The result is a message saying 'CAN NOT READ CV'

I also discovered that every time I power up the Power Cab (insert the power supply into the wall socket) the loco moves about 1 inch forward.

[jfugate]

Electro:

Assuming you can't read CVs on the programming track from either of your locomotives, then it sounds like your PowerCab system may have problems.

You're using a power adapter, right, to connect the system to a Swedish wall outlet?

[electrolove]

Yes, I have a power adapter that looks like this:



I asked Larry at NCE before I ordered the Power Cab and he said that this will work because the power supply can handle 100 to 240 v. The Power Cab powers up fine and everything looks ok.

QUOTE: Originally posted by jfugate

Electro:

Assuming you can't read CVs on the programming track from either of your locomotives, then it sounds like your PowerCab system may have problems.

You're using a power adapter, right, to connect the system to a Swedish wall outlet?

[modelmaker51]

Did you move the jumper plug under the dynamic brake hatch. The locos are jumpered for regular DC operation out of the box.

[electrolove]

No, I have not done that. I did not know that they was in DC mode from the factory. Can you please explain where I find this jumper. Must I remove the shell? If that's the case, how do I remove it without destroying anything?

Is it's normal to be able to turn the light on and off in DC mode? That's was the reason I did not think about it at all.

I found something interesting on the net about this, is this what you mean?

http://www.gatewaynmra.org/dcc/engines/atlas-gp38ms.htm

QUOTE: Originally posted by modelmaker51

Did you move the jumper plug under the dynamic brake hatch. The locos are jumpered for regular DC operation out of the box.

[tstage]

Electro,

Did you receive a manual with your Atlas locomotives? Turn the locomotive over and see if there are any screws on the bottom side. More than likely they will need to be removed. However, sometimes all you need to do is to pry each side the shell outward with your fingers to clear the tabs and the shell slides right off.

Tom

[electrolove]

I will open my loco tomorrow and look at the jumper. It's late in Sweden and time to sleep, so tired...

Good night my friends.

[cacole]

You don't need to remove the entire shell, just part of the top of the locomotive to gain access to the jumper. Near the rear of the locomotive cab there should be a grill that protrudes outward from the sides. That is the dynamic brake cooling radiator. Remove it and the DC/DCC jumper should then be exposed.

[ianalsop]

Sounds very much like the loco is set for DC running. I've received my new PowerCab this afternoon and have just (very briefly), put a Proto 2000 GP7 that has no decoder onto the track. With that I also get a buzzing noise, so try the jumper switch.

One other thing - have you set up the loco(s) in a consist? If so try the DEL LOCO button.

As a last resort, I have two Atlas SIlver locos into which I've fitted 8-pin Lenz SIlver decoders - easy job and they work great.

[tstage]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ianalsop

Sounds very much like the loco is set for DC running. I've received my new PowerCab this afternoon and have just (very briefly), put a Proto 2000 GP7 that has no decoder onto the track. With that I also get a buzzing noise, so try the jumper switch.

ianalsop,

The Power Cab won't (can't) run non-DC locomotives. That's one of the cons of the system. [tdn][:(]

BTW: [#welcome] to the forum! Good to have you aboard! [:)]

Tom

[electrolove]

I'm happy today, what a wonderful morning... [:D]

I opened the loco and it was in DC mode. After I changed the jumper to DCC mode everything works. The noise that I reported yesterday is gone and it's a wonderful running loco. I have three of these GP-40's so I must change the jumper on the other two as well.

I'm happy to report that it's possible to use a NCE Power Cab in Sweden with the help of a adapter like this:



But I want to give a ********** WARNING ********** regarding the adapter. I got a very nasty 220 v electrical chock today. When I took out the power supply from the wall socket, the adapter separated from the power supply and stayed in the socket. At the same time my finger slipped and touched the metal between the adapter and the power supply by mistake. That was NOT FUN but I'm still alive. [B)][B)][B)]

And my wife was a little angry on me, I know she loves me so it's a good thing ;-)

Thanks modelmaker51, you really made my day. Thanks to everyone else as well.

[Adelie]

Watch out Electro, I have an ex-wife that would have been angry at me for such a thing, too. But her anger would have been because I was still standing afterwards instead of being carried away by the coroner! [(-D]

Glad it was a simple fix.