Forwards then backwards

[summerhols]

Really bonkers! Running in a new T9, which was fairly jerky and kept stopping. Suddenly it would go into reverse for no reason and without touching any of the controls! Once the loco had been run for about an hour it settled down and the 'running off in

 

the opposite direction' stopped! Anybody experienced similar or knows what was going on here?

 

Best wishes to all

[LMSTim]

This is not a RailMaster issue. This is a loco DCC decoder issue. I have seen it myself a few times. I've usually had it when chipping older locos and the chip was faulty. I replaced the chip each time and it solved the problem. I do also recall it happening

 

and then resetting the chip and giving it a new ID and the problem went away. I've never quite put my finger on exactly what is causing it but all of this happened without RailMaster even in the loop.

 

[Rog RJ]

summerhols said:

Really bonkers! Running in a new T9, which was fairly jerky and kept stopping. Suddenly it would go into reverse for no reason and without touching any of the controls! Once the loco had been run for about an hour it settled

down and the 'running off in the opposite direction' stopped! Anybody experienced similar or knows what was going on here?

Best wishes to all

This is symptomatic of a poor electrical path between the track and the decoder. Tiny (fractions

of seconds) interruptions in the circuit result in the chip trying to respond to a poor DCC signal which is "scrambled" and doing it's best to keep the loco running. Once the model has been running (badly) for a while the track, wheels and pickups can sometimes

get "polished" or burnished, resulting in better electrical conduction. If it's a new loco, the motor brushes and commutator will also start to "bed in" during this time.

Cleaning the track, wheels and pickups can give a much improved performance and

turning off dc running in CV29 can often cure it completly.