Seacommander Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 Hello Brew Man. Just wondering if you have solved the abnormal behaviour of your Elite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brew Man Posted November 13, 2021 Author Share Posted November 13, 2021 Not yet disappointed_relieved. The reason I've not posted more recently is, I've been laying some new track and connecting it all up via a DCC bus just in case the problem was being caused by a dodgy power connection. Sadly the other day, having completed one of the two main loops I ran a loco and some coaches and the display went after about 30 minutes. It was only running at half speed too. So it is not directly connected with current overload. The next step is to replace the display and driver board. hopefully that will fix it it, if not it's head scratching time again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seacommander Posted November 13, 2021 Share Posted November 13, 2021 Good luck Brew Man; I hope it all gets sorted out. Some of these things can get very frustrating.As I mentioned in an earlier post, I traced my Elite's similar display problem to a fluorescent light switching on that was plugged into a twin outlet that also had my Elite connected. I suspected transients to be the problem when the starter was striking. I connected a scope to the low voltage output of my power supply and captured an example of the transients which I believe were upsetting my Elite. Hopefully the image I attach will be displayed - if not I will need some help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted November 14, 2021 Share Posted November 14, 2021 I shall let the experts comment further on your findings S-Cmdr, but that is a nasty spike. Interesting to see there is still a 50Hz ripple at 1.12v, showing the 4-amp power brick is not that well damped to start with. It would be interesting to see what effect having the power supply output under load would make. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brew Man Posted November 30, 2021 Author Share Posted November 30, 2021 A quick update:Yesterday I swapped the display module and its driver board, both kindly donated by Rob. I ran two trains, one on each of the two loops for about an hour with no issues. That of course doesn't mean the fault has cleared as previously it has appeared seemingly randomly. I will continue to test over the coming days/weeks and report back. I'm keeping everything crossed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brew Man Posted December 12, 2021 Author Share Posted December 12, 2021 Update - Well I've been running trains and light engines for varying lengths of time for almost two weeks and the problem has not repeated. This gives me some confidence though I am reluctant to say it is definitely fixed - might be superstitious of me I know.It's looking good so far though. I will post again if the problem recurs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 That spike should be taken out by the input capacitor. It could be a dodgy electrolytic. several years ago there was a bad batch of capacitors that was coming out of China. The reason a lot of PC were failing. Of course it could be a dry joint, "lead free" is renowned for it. Glad you have fixed it though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brew Man Posted December 12, 2021 Author Share Posted December 12, 2021 @ColinBNot sure what you're referring to, Colin. The problem appears to have gone due to replacing the display module and back board. No electrolytics there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 So the display module and back board didn't contain any capacitors. In that case I stand corrected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brew Man Posted December 13, 2021 Author Share Posted December 13, 2021 It probably has some surface mount caps but no electrolytics as far as I can see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 Either way it doesn't matter you have fixed it now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brew Man Posted December 13, 2021 Author Share Posted December 13, 2021 Either way it doesn't matter you have fixed it now. Ooooh! don't say that, I walk past it very softly in case it comes back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brew Man Posted April 27, 2022 Author Share Posted April 27, 2022 An update! After replacing the display and back boardin my Elite last November I have been running trains trouble free since - until a few weeks ago when glanced at the Elite and saw it had done it again persevere. It seemed to coincide with me applying a heat gun to some heat shrink tubing but I wasn't 100% sure. Anyway I thought, 'keep an eye on that'. Shortly after that I installed four Gaugemaster Solenoid de-couplers at the start of my sidings, (what a pain they are to fit). Time to test - BANG! up came the fault. Every time I activated any of the de-couplers the display on the Elite disappeared, except for the clock, just as before. Aha! spikes on the line reflecting back to the the mains, (the mains being the only point in common with the track and accessory supplies). How to remedy? I first tried a snubber across the 19V line supplying the de-couplers to no avail. So then it was a case of lying on my back with a soldering iron to fit a suppression cap across each of the four solenoids. I used 0.1uF capacitors the same as the ones you find strapped across loco motors. After getting back up and thinking, 'this had better work' I tested each of the four de-couplers repeatedly - and success! the fault was cleared.So it turns out seacommander's diagnosis all those months ago was correct. I think though that the initial cause is due to a failed component, probably a capacitor in my Elite as nobody except seacommander seems to have seen such a phenomenon before. However, knowing what causes it is half the problem solved.I now have a high degree of confidence that I have tracked the problem down, though I hope I don't have cause to eat those words. I am still left pondering though as to what was causing the issue initially. At the time I was running two particular locos, one of which is still on the track, the other is in dry dock after having failed mid-circuit. Maybe it was that one. It was sold as a 'Noisy Runner'. Maybe that is a clue.As a cautionary note, I would strongly advise anyone installing solenoid de-couplers or any other solenoid operated device to include a suppression capacitor from the outset. The Gaugemaster installation guide makes no mention of one, though being a inductor, it is bound to generate spikes when activated. It doesn't happen with my points but that will be due to my CDU swamping any such spikes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rog RJ Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 It's more usual to fit reverse biased diodes across point motors but capacitors can be an alternative solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brew Man Posted April 27, 2022 Author Share Posted April 27, 2022 The problem I see with a diode is it would only suppress negative-going spikes, leaving any positive-going ones in tact, whereas a capacitor will catch both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 There were a lot of dodgy capacitors around several years ago, vert many computer motherboard failed for that reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 As BM knows I can help with Elite mobo component IDs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brew Man Posted April 27, 2022 Author Share Posted April 27, 2022 Yes indeed Rob and thanks. I might leave well enough alone for now and see if it happens again. Now that I've identified the problem as a transient spike issue it shouldn't be too difficult to identify any repeat causes. Ha! why did I say that thinking_face Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now