Whoops..... ESU magic smoke

beavercreek

beavercreek

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Whilst adding DCC to an LGB 0-4-0 caterpillar diesel, I have managed to get the puff of acrid magic smoke.
The diesel is an older design and has the three prong contact system with one track feed going directly to the motor.
I had intercepted the feed and made a fourth 'prong' feed so that a decoder could be fitted.
Even though I checked that the track feed was clean with a multimeter.....one wire touched another contact during the running testing and caused a puff to emanate from the decoder (a version 3.2).

Thinking it was totally destroyed I inspected it and one of the four large rectangular transistors/ICs is damaged.
Never the less I carried on with the testing after sorting the errant cable.
The decoder works...the sound mostly seems to operate as it should and it responds to all Navigator functions...BUT the motor will not work in reverse.... which it does when fed straight.

Hey ho.........

Looks like the decoder will need to have some TLC from ESU...that is if can be fixed.......
Does anyone know how much they charge for repair?
 
Sorry to hear that, Mike, sounds like a very similar end result to when I fried the driving stage of an LS by accidentally swapping two wires - did pretty much the same thing, sound still works but the motor driver doesn't.

When converting a 3-pin LGB gearbox for DCC, and rather than try to add a fourth pin I simply solder a yellow wire direct to the motor terminal, which has been bent away from the white pin - and I always put heatshrink over the white pin so there is no chance of an accidental contact.

Jon.
 
Yeah Jon I did that (except I used electrical tape to insulate) but I had to bend the 'prongs' over for the clearance for the speaker enclosure and this seemed have forced the white prong through the tape.
Anyhow it is well insulated now....even if it is a little late. ........still it will work in one direction.......be thankful for small murphys.......

Apparently the ESU cost is €55 for fixing an loksound XL plus the shipping....ironic really.... as that what the board cost me!
 
The smoke is what makes transistors and ic's work, once you let the smoke out it stops working.
 
Paul Spann said:
The smoke is what makes transistors and ic's work, once you let the smoke out it stops working.
Click to expand...


IC perhaps could stand for 'internal combustion'..........certainly did when my one went....there was a little red glow as the smoke escaped.......
 
Lucas replacement Smoke LucasReplacementSmokeKit1.jpg
 
I did this with an LGB decoder once. Fortunately there was a chap in our local club who was good at microelectronics & he replaced the output transistor for me. Alas he is no longer a club member.
 
beavercreek said:
Yeah Jon I did that (except I used electrical tape to insulate) but I had to bend the 'prongs' over for the clearance for the speaker enclosure and this seemed have forced the white prong through the tape.
Anyhow it is well insulated now....even if it is a little late. ........still it will work in one direction.......be thankful for small murphys.......

Apparently the ESU cost is €55 for fixing an loksound XL plus the shipping....ironic really.... as that what the board cost me!
Click to expand...

These days for Bench time thats not a bad price, but as you say you can get another one for same money, thats the reason very little gets repaired these days
 
sparky230 said:
These days for Bench time thats not a bad price, but as you say you can get another one for same money, thats the reason very little gets repaired these days
Click to expand...

It was a used one and as it was a V3.2 from an OEM loco, with the 12 prongs per end, not the screw terminals, it was cheap.......... hopefully a replacement will become available.....
 
Just thinking out aloud, as a bodge to get round it, could you wire a miniature relay between the motor output and the motor, with the coil connected to an Aux output. Map it to say F1, and get forward with F1 off and reverse with F1 on?
 
Mike.

You don't appear to be doing too well, in the chips and smoke section of late ::)

BTW

Any word on the other chip yet?
 
I managed to fry one of my early LGB Chips while installing it. Cant remember how now probably similar to your little cooking job, but was in the days of good old German LGB in Nurenburg. Posted it back to them and they sent an replacement FOC. Ah happy days. How I miss the LGB of Richter and Co.
JonD
 
Nodrog1826 said:
Mike.

You don't appear to be doing too well, in the chips and smoke section of late ::)

BTW

Any word on the other chip yet?
Click to expand...

Hi Gordon.
The Massoth board wasn't problematic through smoke emission...it was 'confused' and needed to be 'straightened out'.
But I did post, on the 'Garden Rail Outlet' thread, that Mark had sent me a replacement decoder even though Massoth had not sent my one back to him.
This is him back to his usual good level of service

As far as the ESU one is concerned...As it had only cost me about €55, and that is also the price for fixing it would cost (plus the postage), I may not send it away....
I like Andy's idea of somehow rigging a relay which is triggered by a function output, to use the fact that the decoder seems to be fine except not working in reverse....
 
beavercreek said:
I like Andy's idea of somehow rigging a relay which is triggered by a function output, to use the fact that the decoder seems to be fine except not working in reverse....
Click to expand...
Drive the relay off the front or rear light output - they're usually directional anyway unless you're running US style with dimmed lights or some other effect? No need to use up another function.

As I mentioned on another thread, I replaced one of the output FET chips on a Lenz Gold Maxi a few years ago after blowing it, it worked but the decoder was never quite right afterward.
 
beavercreek said:
Hi Gordon.
The Massoth board wasn't problematic through smoke emission...it was 'confused' and needed to be 'straightened out'.
But I did post, on the 'Garden Rail Outlet' thread, that Mark had sent me a replacement decoder even though Massoth had not sent my one back to him.
This is him back to his usual good level of service

As far as the ESU one is concerned...As it had only cost me about €55, and that is also the price for fixing it would cost (plus the postage), I may not send it away....
I like Andy's idea of somehow rigging a relay which is triggered by a function output, to use the fact that the decoder seems to be fine except not working in reverse....
Click to expand...

I see Mike, just I thought the first one was a smoke issue, rather than it needed a good talking to. ::)

Wonder how long they will take to sort out my smoke issue one that Mark is forwarding on, not that I am in a hurry for it back.
 
Andy..or Nick.......or another electronics guru....
Please could you show me the type of relay and how it would be wired up using the aux out to achieve the 'alternative' forward/reverse functionality.
Remembering that I am of fairly limited brain!
The decoder is a sound decoder so already has various sounds mapped to the functions buttons on a controller besides lights etc.
 
beavercreek said:
Andy..or Nick.......or another electronics guru....
Please could you show me the type of relay and how it would be wired up using the aux out to achieve the 'alternative' forward/reverse functionality.
Remembering that I am of fairly limited brain!
The decoder is a sound decoder so already has various sounds mapped to the functions buttons on a controller besides lights etc.
Click to expand...

Presuming you have lights which are direction dependent? - What voltage are your bulbs?? We can work out component values for driving the relay then..
I would use Normally Closed contacts for forwards, and only fire the relay when going backwards.

You will need five connections:
The outputs from the decoder which would normally feed the motor. - 2 wires.
The outputs from the relay TO the motor. - 2 wires.
A feed from the 'rear' light, to fire the relay. - 1 wire.

You (we?) can wire directly onto the pins of a relay, and you just sticky-pad it down..
Don't have first-hand experience of the ESU decoders, so you would need to know which wires are which there.. But as you fitted it!! ;)
 
Six wires surely? You'll need to connect the relay coil to function common and the function output.
 
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