DCC acting up

[SteamGene]

I got DCC mostly installed on Thursday and it ran fine with the two locomotives previously reported.  Suddenly they wouldn't respond to the throttle.  I shut everything down, and Friday morning I turned the system back on, tried the locomotives, and they worked fine.  I added C&O H-5 1524 (USRA light Mallet) and it ran fine.  Then again, after several hours they refused to respond to the throttle.  Background sound - pumps, air leak, appliances turning on and off, etc, continued to work.  But nothing with the throttle.
I tried again this morning.  Track power on and sound was on, but no response to the throttle.  I tried another locomotive, VT&P T-4, Number 354 (USRA heavy Santa Fe) and it didn't respond either.  I'd called Tony's and got "It's something wrong with the locomotive."  I don't think so.  Not all four. 
Any idea?  I'm using Digitaxx with the DSC100 (?) command station and a DT400R throttle.
Gene
(BTW, wife went in not knowing I'd already been in and heard the locomotives simmering and got worried - or so she claimed. 

[richG]

I would put only "one" loco at a time on the track. Don't know if you did that. Also join the Yahoo Digitrax group. Over 7000 members. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Digitrax/

Rich

[SteamGene]

That's how I started.  But I can remove all four, or three, or try a new one.  I'll do that.  OTOH, the 400 now displays "Ra=00" which is a code I can't find anywhere.
Gene

[richG]

I have the NCE Power Cab and I am not familiar with the Digitrax. Probably not any help.

Rich

[tomcat623]

Gene, check your engines at the power supply track section. I had the same problem. turned out it was hairline cracks in the soldered track joints

[tomcat623]

it seems that the cracks would open up after running a while, after being off for a while they would work again. Super close inspection revealed the problem.
Good luck, Tom

[SteamGene]

Tom,
The problem with your idea is that each locomotive is on a different track.  It's hard to believe that four tracks lost current at the same time.  But I can check tracks for voltage.  OTOH, as i said, I'm still getting sound out of them - just not sound I can control like bells and whistles.
Gene

[tomcat623]

Sorry it didnt help, I sure hope its something simple and cheap to fix. Let us know what you find out. Good luck
Tom

[SteamGene]

Well, they seem to be working again, with the possible exception of the BLI light Mike.  The USRA heavy Santa Fe also works.  I took them all off, put the heavy Mountain back on and BAM! sound and movment.  I think there are DCC gods with strange powers and desires.
Gene

[SteamGene]

Confirmation - taking them all off the track and putting them on again solves the problem.  Now the question is "why?"  Also, the BLI light Mike seems dead.  I will have to check it.
Gene

[SteamGene]

Hmm - B LI Mike came back to life, but now, even after taking every locomotive off the tracks, I have no control - sound, but no control. 
Where is the post by Nigel?
Gene

[Tim]

Gene

You may have toreset the BLI to the as delivered settings.
That has been my experience with them.

The problems you have experienced with your system are not new
but are not well documented.

The problem is noise on the track buss, it can cause wacky operation
of the decoders, (usually temporary) and can sometimes cause a loco
to forget it's programming.

A good fix is to terminate the track buss (s) with a RC circuit as follows.

At the end of each buss pair , attach a 100 ohm 1w resistor in series with
a 0.01 ufd 100v ceramic capacitor, between the legs of the buss.

Noise can also occur on the control buss in extreme cases, (very long
runs).

The power buss is usually the guilty party.

My E-Mail is in my profile if you have more questions.

Tim Anders
Souderton, Pa

[SteamGene]

Thanks, Tim.  I'll try that.  The longest run I have so far is for East Penninsula, which is probabl about fifty feet total for the buss wire.  I'm assuming that the length is the total length and not just the length that already has drops attached to it.
Gene

[jsmvmd]

Dear Tim,

Terrific answer!  I will consider doing as you suggest when I take the plunge into DCC.

Not to waste your time, but have you any links comparing Digitrax, CVP, NCE, Dynamis, etc.  I do not have the opportunity to try these systems hands on, and it is making my choice very difficult.

Best Wishes,

Jack

[Tim]

Gene

The noise filter goes at the very end of the buss.
If you have more than one buss put one at the end of each.

At 50ft run, you may want to consider adding a booster at about 25ft.
It depends on how heavy the load will be near the end of the buss run.

Jack

The Digitrax Zephyr and NCE powercab are directly comparible, as are the
Digitrax Super Chief and NCE Power Pro. The Digitrax systems are more
technically oriented, whereas  the NCE systems are more user friendly.

CVP has two systems, Easy DCC & RailCommand, Easy DCC is NMRA
compatible and can run any decoder as the above systems.
RailCommand requires it's own decoders.

MRC Prodigy is also worth concidering, but lacks expandability

The rest aren't worth looking at.

Tim Anders
Souderton, Pa