Wobblinwheel Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 After making my own missing parts for "Caerphilly Castle" (Hornby has yet to deliver), I installed Hornby's "basic" decoder (from Mallard), and put her on the track. Upon applying power, it took off (no throttle), changed direction a few times, and took off again. For a short distance... the motor sounded as if it was getting DCC current (buzzing sound). All this in about 5 seconds! Upon decoder removal, I noticed the heat-shrink cover over the decoder had "heat-shrunk". Fried chip, no fish....Re-installed the dummy plug on the decoder, and loco runs great.....on DC. Any ideas what happened? I ordered a new "cheap" Digitrax decoder for $18, but a little aprehensive about plugging it in!! This decoder ran fine in "Mallard"!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poliss Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Check the decoder socket for metal whiskers shorting out the holes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2e0dtoeric Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Or maybe you pushed the decoder in too hard, so the pins went right through and shorted on the chassis? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wobblinwheel Posted April 27, 2015 Author Share Posted April 27, 2015 I looked for signs of shorting around the socket. No melted insulation anywhere and no signs of current contact to the chassis. Does the fact that the loco runs fine on DC indicate the loco is OK? By the way, when the loco "took-off", it went BACKWARDS! At first, anyway...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Sounds like what can happen if you put a DC loco on DCC track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wobblinwheel Posted April 27, 2015 Author Share Posted April 27, 2015 Very much like that, WTD...'cept it had that CHIP stuck in there! Key word here is "had".....Since the Hornby chip is only a few months old, do you suppose I could email them and get a QUICK replacement? Under "warranty"?? teeheeheehahahaTEEHEEHAHA! I don't know about you, but I thought THAT was funny...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 If the chip wasn't connected properly for some reason maybe it would have the same effect as a blanking plate and make the loco DC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Behaviour sounds like DC runaway to me, which is usually caused by bad DCC signal due to dirty wheels track etc. Try subtracting 4 from CV29 to turn off DC running and see if that cures it. But it sounds like a really bad case that may indicate the chip on the way out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wobblinwheel Posted April 27, 2015 Author Share Posted April 27, 2015 Whatever happened, it fried the chip in about five seconds. Believe me, it's SHOT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RB51 Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Very much like that, WTD...'cept it had that CHIP stuck in there! Key word here is "had".....Since the Hornby chip is only a few months old, do you suppose I could email them and get a QUICK replacement? Under "warranty"?? teeheeheehahahaTEEHEEHAHA! I don't know about you, but I thought THAT was funny...... Not such a bad idea WW. I had some Hornby chips misbehave "out of the box" and sent them back to Horby for checking in case it was a bad batch - and they were all replaced w/o question. They may want to see the chip in question of course but it's worth a go. R- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wobblinwheel Posted April 28, 2015 Author Share Posted April 28, 2015 On initial power-up, it clearly seemed the decoder was passing DCC current directly to the motor. Hence, the buzzing and rapid "take-off". I'm thankfull it didn't destroy the motor! Obviously, I had absolutely no control of the loco, except to kill the power, which I did, but not soon enough. I guess......I'm just hoping it was a bad decoder, and not the loco. I don't want to "fry more chips"! I'm outta fish, anyway...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graskie Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Do you call it fish and fries over there, WW? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wobblinwheel Posted April 29, 2015 Author Share Posted April 29, 2015 Do you call it fish and fries over there, WW?Well, we never call fried 'taters "chips" over here. One reason is..."buffalo chips"? I'll give you three guesses..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graskie Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 What we properly call "crisps", I do believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graskie Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 And we get "cookies" dumped onto our PCs, but actually eat "biscuits." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 We don't have buffalos, so no confusion there, we don't have crisps, just chips whether they come out of a sealed packet or from the fish shop with vinegar. But we do have wedges and have to make sure we don't confuse them with wedgies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graskie Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 You're making me so nostalgic. My 100% loss of taste is still with me after about 5 months now. I persevere in the hope it will return one day. Can't buy it back for all the gold in the world, can I? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Not good Graskie, I can't help either. Just remembered too, we do have buffaloes - feral water variety in the NT, so hard to distinguish from the locals (did I just suggest Territorians are feral...........never!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2e0dtoeric Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Of course there are Buffalos in the NT. Croc Dundee put one to sleep by humming to it, so he could get his truck past! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Must get him back to hum to the rest of them, then ship them all back where they came from. They cause enormous damage to the ecosystems up there. And clearly the crocs aren't keeping up with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wobblinwheel Posted May 1, 2015 Author Share Posted May 1, 2015 "Buffalo chips" are what the Buffalo leaves behind as "recycled grass". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wobblinwheel Posted May 1, 2015 Author Share Posted May 1, 2015 Do you call it fish and fries over there, WW?Well, we never call fried 'taters "chips" over here. One reason is..."buffalo chips"? I'll give you three guesses..... I completely forgot about "Potato Chips"! The flat (sort of) crispy things made from thin-slice taters. We eat a LOT of those over here. I don't. That's not what you guys call "chips" is it? I was thinking it was what we call "French Fries". Am I right? Fried fish is kind of a "Southern" thing around here. Reminds me of my second wife....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Talk about divided by a common language...English:Crisps - usually potato based are flat or corrugated, either round, square or triangular (these are knock-offs of Mexican cardboard snax).Chips - of irregular (proper chips) or square cross section in various sizes (thickness and length) - the skinny square ones being French Fries. Can be made from real potato or regurgitated factory mush. Various ways of cooking them supposedly to make them healthy for you - as if.French Fries - see above.Wedges - triangular cross section cut from real potatoes. Can also be cooked in various ways as a health aid.Biscuits (pronounced bis-kits not bis-quits) - sweet usually crispy things (not to be confused with real crisps - see above) in a multitude of shapes, sizes and flavours, which can be dunked in tea or coffee where they are apt to break off to form a sludge in the bottom of your cup. It is possible to overdose on bisquits so please eat in moderation - leaving the rest for me. NT Buffaloes - please hang on to them for us Oz - we'll send for them when we need them. You chaps from the colonies please feel free to append your translations below: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2e0dtoeric Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Don't forget those small items that our Colonial friends call 'erasers'. Our usual name for them means something totaly different over there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 I think you have that back to front 2e0, definitely called rubbers over here, except in overly polite society. In such society, the alternative meaning wouldn't be used anyway. And if we have our way, you won't be able to wait for the buffalo, unless you are looking in your butcher's deep freeze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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