Piko DCC system fault...

[andyspencer]

evening all

Just wondering if anybody has had an issue with their Piko central station? My friends unit was happily working on our new club track, when it decided to pop the fuse in the power supply. The power supply was a 5A gaugemaster unit, but with a 2A fuse fitted. Wondering if it was just the fact of an incorrect fuse, it was replaced with a 5A. This also blew, so after removing all of the models from the track, tried again. The next fuse then popped. Finally we disconnected the track feed cable and tried again. The fuse popped on power up with nothing connected to the track connection... We opened the unit up, and nothing visual looked as burnt/damaged and there was no burnt smells. The unit was second hand so sadly for my friend, there was no warranty... Any advice? Do Piko have a repair type service on these units?

 

[stockers]

I would contact Piko in Germany direct.

www.piko.de

 

[Neil Robinson]

Your query reminded me of this topic.
https://www.gscalecentral.net/threads/piko-35010-and-lgb-50110.308277/page-2 in particular post 27
As the unit in question is second hand it may be one of the older units that have an AC or DC input as opposed to the DC only input despite the labeling.
The suggestion is that Piko discovered the need for change, if so it may be the ac rectification part of the electronics that's the weakness. Even with a DC input this would still be in circuit and may cause a short if faulty.
Could you isolate any rectifier and smoothing and feed the rest of the unit with smooth, linear DC? N.B. in my book the DC output from a Gaugemaster branded controller isn't smooth, linear DC .

 

[Gizzy]

Is the fuse in the mains plug or in the output supply of the Gaugemaster power supply unit?

Try it powered up without the PIKO Unit connected.

I believe Gaugemaster have a lifetime warranty on their PSUs....

 

[andyspencer]

Is the fuse in the mains plug or in the output supply of the Gaugemaster power supply unit?

Try it powered up without the PIKO Unit connected.

I believe Gaugemaster have a lifetime warranty on their PSUs....

The fuse was the output side of the PSU, and when not connected it was fine. It only blows when connected to the central station...

 

[andyspencer]

Your query reminded me of this topic.
https://www.gscalecentral.net/threads/piko-35010-and-lgb-50110.308277/page-2 in particular post 27
As the unit in question is second hand it may be one of the older units that have an AC or DC input as opposed to the DC only input despite the labeling.
The suggestion is that Piko discovered the need for change, if so it may be the ac rectification part of the electronics that's the weakness. Even with a DC input this would still be in circuit and may cause a short if faulty.
Could you isolate any rectifier and smoothing and feed the rest of the unit with smooth, linear DC? N.B. in my book the DC output from a Gaugemaster branded controller isn't smooth, linear DC .

Cheers Neil, I'd forgotten about this topic. I remember reading it at the time. I'll try and get the cs from my friend at some point and look at the rectifier end of things to see if anything jumps out as poorly on the multi meter. If not, Piko may have it back.