Questions about dcc install.

[stang_crazy]

Well this is more less about some of the specifics of putting a decoder in.

I know if the engine your installing your decoder in draws to much power it can smoke the decoder. What is a good way to tell if it will work or not, also is there any leway in those #s?

Any good sites explaining this type of stuff.

the reason im asking this stuff now is because i recently took a decoder from a athearn genesis and put it in a walthers unit, I was using the walthers as a test bed, since the athearn it was going in was down and apart. The sound worked great but nothing would move. I moved a few wires and the motor started to run (wire was loose), then all the sudden a puff of white smoke came out of the decoder. So what happened im not quite sure.

needless to say it was dead.

 

[lmackattack]

sounds like the wrong wires crossed. Most decoders MFG will have a spec for what they can be used with. they will say N and HO or HO only G scale etc... just check the model of the decoder with the MFG reccomended scale that it should be used with.

 

[diburning]

once the magic smoke is released, the decoder is dead.

To test the voltage that the motor draws, put it on a track, hook up an ammeter in line with the power pack. Some power packs have ammeters built in. Throttle to the highest speed setting, and hold the locomotive so that the wheels don't spin. That's the stall current. That's the rating that you should go with when selecting a decoder.

With older Athearns, it may help to take apart the motor and clean the brushes and all of the contacts. That will help reduce the current draw.

 

[Espeefan]

I take scrap wire of the proper colors and solder a lead of each color to the proper wire as I remove the unit. This way, there is no doubt about what goes where. Some of those factory installs (early BLI is bad about this) use all black wires, or different colors completely.

I hate it when you let the factory installed smoke out!

 

[tankist]

let me get this straight
so are you all saying that it is not a given that any HO decoder sustain any HO motor?

 

[Espeefan]

It certainly is not. Especially when dealing with older models. Most HO decoders will run most if not all modern (HO sized) can motors, but the older open framers are a dice throw. That's why all the decoder instructions talk about testing for stall torque.