Lucky escape....maybe

Slawman

Slawman

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Perhaps a smile for some of you who enjoy a laugh at others misfortune :devil:

In the vein of my "fiddle with it to see how it works" approach to DCC, I recently bought and setup three single channel Massoth decoders to run a few hard to wire switches on my layout.

After a while re-setting and adjusting some of the CV values I thought might be relevant to my requirement I ended up assigning each of them a relevant address and installed them. Not before quite a bit of frustration was had.

I am happily playing away a few hours later when I smell something burning.

After a little investigation I realise one of the devices hooked up to one of the new decoders is too hot to put my hand on. It is also not performing well....Open it up to find a pool of molten plastic which used to be the rear retainer and one of the side clips.

I had set one of my CVs to “constant” which I am now assuming (another one of my strengths), fed a constant 22v into my switch motor. Funny enough it still switched fine with this setting.

Perhaps the most amazing bit of all is that after re-assembling it all it works just fine (for the time being).

Live and learn….
 
I'm just so glad that I'm analogue only!
 
It's only the same as picking an on/off vs passing contact switch for a solenoid motor, analogue can burn things out just as easily ;)
Digital can be as simple as two wires to an analogue loop or as complicated as a fully automated, logic control analogue setup.
It's not the dark art some would have us believe by doing things the complicated way ;)
 
Yes. Believe it or not I blew more stuff up with analogue.

Give me time though......
 
I think I can probably weld track with my latest analogue controller..

24Volts at 140Amps (165Amps peak, until something acts like a fuse)! :eek::eek::oops::giggle:
 
PhilP said:
I think I can probably weld track with my latest analogue controller..

24Volts at 140Amps (165Amps peak, until something acts like a fuse)! :eek::eek::oops::giggle:
Click to expand...
Actually, I have a 1950's 28v ac 100 amp transformer type arc welder. I need to see if I have a good bridge rectifier so I can use it for my trains. I've got some 70 amp bridges here, but I don't see any 100 amp ones. And over there is an old capacitor pack from a mainframe power supply.

I wonder...
 
PaulRhB said:
It's only the same as picking an on/off vs passing contact switch for a solenoid motor, analogue can burn things out just as easily ;)
Digital can be as simple as two wires to an analogue loop or as complicated as a fully automated, logic control analogue setup.
It's not the dark art some would have us believe by doing things the complicated way ;)
Click to expand...

I know what you mean (managed to burn a point motor ou) but what I meant was that I could not get my head around all the CV stuff - it really does seem like a dark art (and expensive one) to the uninitiated.

Just reading about it on this Forum is (and was) enough to put me off DCC for life!
 
Most of the manuals are the problem but the real bit is usually at the back, the cv list.

You get the three way switch in an analogue loco, in a digital one you get 100 + and they call them a CV but you don't need to change them all, most will only change 1 ;)

There are two basic types of CV:

A sliding switch
Something like the address, volume or light cv is just selecting the level by putting in a bigger or smaller number.

An on/off switch
The second type CV like cv29 can choose from just one or a few options, so it may switch the direction of travel (1) and whether it works on analogue (4) add the numbers together (1+4=5) and tell cv29 it's 5 and you've just switched on those two.

On analogue you can do the same by swapping the wires on the motor for direction or adding resistors for lights. It's just a different way of switching, usually with less taking apart too, of doing stuff we did with pure analogue ;)
 
140 Amps? That's just asking for trouble. I use a Heller DCC booster of 15 A, and that's already much, but it has a really good over current protection. I can even adjust it's sensitivity. Always keep in mind that you need some kind of protection.

About the CV's and 'dark magic', when you find it really hard to understand CV's and how to adjust them, I would recommend to buy a Lokprogrammer, a computer interface. Every option is than shown graphically and easy to understand. The software does the CV changes for you, without you notice it. They are not cheap, but when you stick to one company for decoders, it's just a must-have. And it will pay itself back if you count in all the blown up electronics you would have without it. :D
 
Digital need not be complicated, many people will only change the address and your dealer will do that if you ask nicely. It works.
On the other hand, as with analogue, where you can have sections and live frogs and dead frogs and switchable sidings, you can make it as complicated as you like. It is all part of the hobby - some people like fine scale, some like 140 amps, some like dabbling in the dark arts of CVs. All can be enjoyable if that's what you like but equally, most can be ignored.
 
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