Pete172 Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 Hi, Hope someone can help.. One of my R8247 decoders has stopped working for no apparent reason. I had four of these mounted under my layout and all were working fine. I have since added a fifth decoder tonight, programmed it into Railmaster and started up the layout. Decoders 1,2,4& 5 work, but number 3 decoder does not work now (checked ports 1,2,3,4 and they don't change any points)whereas it has been working fine since it was installed about 8 weeks ago. I have checked the wiring and nothing has changed, no wires disconnected or shorting. Can the decoder have lost it's address or something similar ? Any suggestions would be much appreciated... Thanks, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St1ngr4y Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 I've had similar problems with R8247 decoders. One in particular would lose its address and when examined via the Elite's programming port, the decoder address had been zeroised, giving port addresses of -3, -2, -1 and 0 ! However, I was able to reset the address to what it should have been, and it works ok again. Trouble with R8247's is that it is awkward to reset their address if they are mounted at the opposite end of the layout to the Elite or a programming track. I use a long cable which can reach any of my remote decoders from the Elite. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete172 Posted August 21, 2013 Author Share Posted August 21, 2013 St1ngr4y said: I've had similar problems with R8247 decoders. One in particular would lose its address and when examined via the Elite's programming port, the decoder address had been zeroised, giving port addresses of -3, -2, -1 and 0 ! However, I was able to reset the address to what it should have been, and it works ok again. Trouble with R8247's is that it is awkward to reset their address if they are mounted at the opposite end of the layout to the Elite or a programming track. I use a long cable which can reach any of my remote decoders from the Elite. Ray Well that's interesting ! So, I fired up my Elite & Railmaster tonight and read the decoder settings which turn out to be same as yours -3,-2,-1,0, and it had "lights on" against one of the ports, though I never set it for this. I have tried writing the correct settings and reading them back(to check them) several times tonight, but I can't get the decoder to accept the correct settings. I dropped Hornby Cust Care a email today, so hopefully they can suggest something to fix this, though I suspect the decoder is done.. P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallard203 Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 Is it possible to reset R8247 back to Factory defaults? I have similar issue and thought a hard reset might fix issue. Had a quick scan through manuals but can't see anything obvious. Cheers John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St1ngr4y Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 Writing a value of 8 to CV 8 resets most loco decoders, but I've never tried that with a R8247. I was told that address corruption like this can be caused when a short circuit on the layout causes a spike, and that a power bus suppressor / terminator would overcome this. I obtained a pair of these from DCC Concepts. I have one installed on my bus, and since its installation - touch wood - I haven't had a R8247 lose its address. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilbo2 Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 (Remember to read CV513 for the address details.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 Or just rewrite the address you want to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete172 Posted August 23, 2013 Author Share Posted August 23, 2013 Fishmanoz said: Or just rewrite the address you want to it. Hi folks, I tried to re-write in the correct port numbers several times, but when I read them back the unit was not storing the port numbers correctly. So in the end, after many hours, I took the unit back to my model shop and they exchanged it. The new unit is now working perfectly. Makes me wonder what could have caused the memory loss in the first place, as there were/are no shorts on the layout. I have read somewhere that DCC Bus end terminating filters can help reduce "spikes" in the DCC signal, so I have now bought these and will fit them tomorrow before I resume building/testing my layout. Thanks for your help. P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 Bus filters certainly should help but there has also been many reports of faulty decoders being replaced too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete172 Posted August 24, 2013 Author Share Posted August 24, 2013 Fishmanoz said: Bus filters certainly should help but there has also been many reports of faulty decoders being replaced too. Hi, Bus filters fitted tonight, tested loco running and points with my Elite, all seems well ! Just hope it remains like that .... P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete172 Posted August 24, 2013 Author Share Posted August 24, 2013 Fishmanoz said: Bus filters certainly should help but there has also been many reports of faulty decoders being replaced too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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