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Locked Re: DS51K1 turnout decoder - detection

 

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OK, clearly the RH turnout decoder is dead.? The thing to investigate is why, so the problem doesn¡¯t repeat.

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Looking at the RH turnout photo, I would be concerned that some of the wires could catch in the movement of the T-shaped switch element.? That could have shorted the decoder (and thus it burns out).? In this context a ¡°short¡± is connecting one of the track wires (red/black) to one of the turnout motor wires (orange/grey).? The connection need only be momentary and the decoder is at risk of destruction. ???

Looking carefully at the photo, I¡¯m drawn to the grey wire which looks dangerously like it¡¯s conducting centre could be touching the moving switch element.

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For future installations, be careful how you route the wires around the switch area ¨C the LH one is better because the motor wires (orange/grey) come in from the outside, so are far less vulnerable. ??If you can also route the red and black away from the switch, that would be better.

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If you remove the burned out decoder from the turnout, you can then test whether the turnout motor still works ¨C I think there is a good chance it¡¯s OK.???

To test it, get a 8 to 12v DC power source ¨C a small 9v battery is ideal - ?and two wires from the power source.? Place one wire on one of the turnout motor terminals, and momentarily touch the other wire to the other terminal. ?(DON¡¯T hold the wires on for a long time, Kato turnout motors are only designed for a momentary pulse). ?

The turnout may buzz a little, and may throw.? Now swap the wires round on the turnout, and momentarily touch the second wire again.? This time it should throw.? Repeated swapping of the wires will cause it to throw left-right-left-right.?? Assuming it throws reliably both ways as the DC wires are swapped, then the turnout appears to be working correctly.?

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I cannot see how there would be any wider damage to the track ¨C the worst would be to take out the turnout motor coil, and I think that would be unlucky.?

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  • Nigel

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From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of rizimine@...
Sent: 01 June 2019 21:13
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [jmriusers] DS51K1 turnout decoder - detection

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Sorry for the lack of response. I had a very busy week and I did not get time to check messages or work on the project.

First things first, I have some good news to share. And some bad news.

1. I decided to skip over to my left turnout (I had been always working on the right turnout so far) and see if it would work. I always suspected that my tinkering with the decoder (wrong power inputs) could have caused some damage to the decoder or the turnout control itself. So, a fresh start would be nice. And it WORKED. Here's the left turnout with the DS51K1 wired in. I connected it to the track, did the same steps as before to give it an address and it just worked. I was stoked.

2. I then decided to take out the right turnout and see if I could just remove all wires and connect again. Which I did. I was almost ready to buy a new turnout and decoder but things won't reach me until next week (my local hobby shop doesn't have the decoder in stock), so this was more of a last resort thing. Things went better and then south.
a. I connected the newly wired turnout with the yellow wire connected to the track and powered it on. I could immediately hear a noise coming from the turnout. In hindsight, I should have checked what it is.?
b. I programmed a new address to this turnout. And threw the switch. And it SWITCHED. I was ecstatic.
c. But my happiness was shortlived. I could not close the switch. And the track powered off by itself. Dumb me should have investigated more here.
d. Dumb me proceeded to try to power the track again manually and try to throw. This time, there was a ticking noise from the turnout but it wouldn't move.?
e. I powered the track off and removed the turnout.?

Which is when I saw that the decoder had burnt itself. It had also scorched the paper I was having the track on. Here's a picture of the turnout with new connection and a burnt out decoder. At this point, I don't know what to do. I am going to assume that the turnout and decoder are toast and I will get new of both to use. I can only hope that this did not do other damage to the track.

Thanks a lot for the help everyone. If someone has input on the decoder burning out and what could have possibly happened, I would appreciate it.??

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