Tomasz-1303413 Posted Thursday at 12:56 Share Posted Thursday at 12:56 After installing multiple 8 pin and next18 decoders I finally ran into one that didn't work. Plugged it in, seemed fine, linked and updated, lights and sound worked but no movement, then of a sudden it let out a bit of smoke. Yikes. Unlike one time before when I accidentally shorted out the motor and got an overcurrent warning in the app, this time no warnings. The body of the loco was still off so I know there were no short circuits. Plugged the analog bridge back in and the loco works fine. The decoder still connects and still has lights and sounds but no movement. I emailed Hornby support but considering I'm in US, not sure anything can be done 😕 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTSR_NSE Posted Thursday at 13:11 Share Posted Thursday at 13:11 (edited) Might be worth performing visual & continuity checks on that loco’s decoder socket underside & wiring. Bad soldering may not cause DC/blanking plate any issues but can be deadly to decoders. Edited Thursday at 13:13 by LTSR_NSE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomasz-1303413 Posted Thursday at 13:17 Author Share Posted Thursday at 13:17 visually it looks fine. I don't think I have the dexterity required to manually check the pins on a next18 socket. But I should get a test board. Also from now on I'll test the decoder in a known good loco first before mounting it in a new loco. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted Thursday at 14:04 Share Posted Thursday at 14:04 Normally if it is the loco, it goes immediately. It gives a buzz and then the dcc controller gives an overload error. If the lights and sound worked then I really doubt it was the loco. Check the capacitor across the motor if it has one. They have a habit of going short circuit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomasz-1303413 Posted Thursday at 14:59 Author Share Posted Thursday at 14:59 So I'm an idiot. One thing I didn't check was the ESU next18 to plux22 adapter. It turned out to be bad, despite looking fine to my eye. I tried another one and despite releasing some magic smoke the decoder actually works fine. I'm actually amazed it still works, points for Hornby decoder design to withstand a bad connection and keep on ticking. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted Thursday at 17:27 Share Posted Thursday at 17:27 2 hours ago, Tomasz-1303413 said: So I'm an idiot. One thing I didn't check was the ESU next18 to plux22 adapter. It turned out to be bad, despite looking fine to my eye. I tried another one and despite releasing some magic smoke the decoder actually works fine. I'm actually amazed it still works, points for Hornby decoder design to withstand a bad connection and keep on ticking. I hate to say this, but probably in a short time it will fail. I may be wrong but I have had a couple of decoders that have done that and they eventually fail, but you may be lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomasz-1303413 Posted Thursday at 17:32 Author Share Posted Thursday at 17:32 Only time will tell, so far seems to be running ok, but needs some speed tuning... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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