Decoder Reliability

S

Simon Potter

Srpott40
HI

I've Been running on the Massoth system now for a couple of years, and was every pleased with how everything was running up until this year. During the year, in one of the loco's I believe the chip has been destroyed, as when I place it on the track a "short circuit" message appears. Then on another loco, it will not respond to any commands. Both of these happened suddenly, on different days, but when the locos where running around the track.

As winter is coming i shall be giving all locos a good clean but i just wondered if anybody else had come across reliability problems with installing a digital decoder in there engines. Or if anybody knew the expected life of one of these, as with out a decoder an LGB loco seems to last for years and years.

Thanks

Simon Potter
 
What current limit, and reaction time is your CS set to? - A small decoder hit with a large current will fail quite quickly. - The Massoth CS can deliver (up to) 12Amps.
 
PhilP said:
What current limit, and reaction time is your CS set to? - A small decoder hit with a large current will fail quite quickly. - The Massoth CS can deliver (up to) 12Amps.
Click to expand...

The maximum current is set to 3A, neither of these locos had "small" chops fitted in either,
 
Hi Simon

Couple of queries - which locos have had the problems you describe, and were the decoders fitted by the same person?

To date, I've found the decoders (Massoth, LGB, ESU) I've fitted to my LGB locos over the past 10 years have performed as expected and the only issues I've encountered were a failure in the original LGB circuitry in one loco and a wire coming adrift in another due to a dodgy "previous owner" decoder install.

Hope you figure it out.
Best wishes
 
The only decoder failure I've had was my fault, I caused a short. Other than that, I've run decoders from various manufacturers (and with various power ratings) for a few years now with no problems.

Like any piece of electronics, it is possible for a component to fail on a decoder. There are folk on here who've reported decoders damaged due to shorts, even by little things like shorting of skates on Peco point frogs.

A loco and decoder will only draw the current it needs unless there is a fault or short. Simply running a lower power decoder on a command station which has a high max current won't on it's own cause the decoder to fail - after all, the whole point is to be able to supply enough current for several locos to run concurrently. However if you know you only run a couple of locos at a time then it is wise to reduce the max current setting of the system if this is possible, to ensure the system detects and reacts to any genuine short quickly.
 
Ralphmp said:
Hi Simon

Couple of queries - which locos have had the problems you describe, and were the decoders fitted by the same person?

To date, I've found the decoders (Massoth, LGB, ESU) I've fitted to my LGB locos over the past 10 years have performed as expected and the only issues I've encountered were a failure in the original LGB circuitry in one loco and a wire coming adrift in another due to a dodgy "previous owner" decoder install.

Hope you figure it out.
Best wishes
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply, the person who fitted the decoder i have every confidence in, and so I would hope that that it's not the problem.

Just out of interest does anyone run theses decoders either in the wet or late at night, as when the second one stopped working there was a dampness in the air which could somehow effect it?
 
Is the decoder dead though? Have you tried a reset? If the locos died in the same area on the layout is there a metal strip randomly shorting the track when the weight of a loco moves the track?
I had a mts decoder just die with magic smoke and I've had two ESU ones seem to die but we're fine when reprogrammed, (even a reset didn't work), with the lokprogrammer or Sprog. Also check wiring inside as if he used tape in the install it might have moved with damp or the decoder may have shifted and shorted on the weights.
 
Don't run if very wet..
If condensation has formed on the loco, then the components inside could also be wet.. Wet and electronics do not mix.
The same could be said of stock kept in an unheated shed or garage. - Over several days / weeks the amount of moisture inside the loco could build up, unless steps are taken to counter this.

I have a loco here, was left out for ?a few days?.. It is supposedly dead. - There is green growth on the outside! Or was, before it thoroughly dried out.. I have not attempted to power this one up yet.. My guess is the owner was hopeful it would work, or forgot it was there, and powered up the track..
 
My experience with Decoders is pretty well as the other guys. No problems now for getting on 12 Years with some LGB ones.

I did the other week forget to bring one of my Train Line Malletts indoors and it did Rain heavily overnight. To be sure I left it on a shelf indoors for a week before running it and it was OK when I powered it up again phew. Learnt from my experience of dropping my Psion Organiser in my Pond at Luton and powering it up immediately, dead unsurprisingly. Had I put it in the Airing Cupboard for a day or three and taken out the Batteries it would probably have been fine. You live and learn.

However if you have been running in the Rain or when it is Cold with Dew, probably best to bring the Loco indoors overnight and let it have a day or so to get fully dry.
JonD
 
Do you store your locos indoors in a dry environment ?

Very important to do so - if stored in a shed eventually moisture will corrode the boards and the loco won't function.
 
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