Bad Soldering Issue on HM7000-8TXS Cable Harness Black Wire

[Ighten 1707822464]

Should have spotted it before I fitted it into my first TT to be honest but I had a flash , a puff of smoke and not much else and on closer inspection noticed the black wire wasn't soldered at all to the PCB.

Anyone any idea how long it takes Hornby to actual issue a returns note for a swap.

[96RAF]

So is this a loco fault or a decoder failure as a result of a loco fault. In either case they need to go back to Hornby.

You may wish to amend your post title to something more descriptive of the fault before Fishy justifiably has a go at you.

Ref the returns, ring them up and they give you the returns number there and then.

[Fishmanoz]

Fishy took one look, gave an exasperated sigh and moved on to a post that actually told him what it was about before he opened it.

Don’t keep it a secret, tell us what your topic is about please.

[ColinB]

Usually about 3 days to a week. An unsoldered wire shouldn't cause it to blow up. An unsoldered wire that touches the chassis will do that.

[Ighten 1707822464]

Weird.. my title was far more detailed when I posted it.. decided in the end to simply resolder the unsoldered wire from the male 8 pin tsx to the tsx decoder PCB.. slight QC issue I think here.

I suspect what happened was as soon as the loco made contact with the track and the decoders loose black wire was flapping around during this operation it simply shorted.

I have now re soldered all the pads as they looked like they were done (let's be kind and say) in a hurry at the end of a long shift. (Though looking through magnifying glasses they look to be automated solders). I now realise though that it must have had some contact initially otherwise I wouldn't have been able to program it but it could only have been hangin on by a thread.

[Fishmanoz]

Ighten, the problem is still a secret because it begs the question soldering where/how/which.

My title would be “Bad Soldering Issue on HM7000-8TXS Cable Harness Black Wire”.

[Fishmanoz]

And despite the flash and smoke, is it now working since resoldering?

[Ighten 1707822464]

Yes..

Fully working now can remove it and put it to one side for my Lima class 47 project. The TT set is going as a raffle gift, just thought I would - ahem - check it first.

[Fishmanoz]

Fantastic, well done. Must have been DCC volts from the black pickup wire shorting to something. And definitely not to orange or grey as either of those would have been fatal.

[Ighten 1707822464]

Yes fortunately it was just the black that was not soldered onto the PCB.