MR regularly does small layouts for their project railroads as they have to,be able to fit in the elevators in their building. There have also been a number of contests to,design bedroom sized layouts. Check out the Model Railroader website to,see if they have any layouts there. They do have a track plan search feature but that may only be available,on their subscription website. Their book division at Kalmbach may have collections of small layout designs in book form.

I love to hear success stories. Glad to hear it worked for you-Larry

Glad it worked for you.

Tom-Glad you got it fixed, I don’t make this stuff up, it really works!

I hope it is still under warranty. Make sure to check the obvious but often over looked issues of broken wires, connectors, etc. Good luck-Larry

The DCC Guy Thank you sir . Claiming warranty from half across the world from where I purchased the locomotive under the current global situation is like trying to swim the across the Pacific . I think it needs to be replaced and that is something beyond my ability . Thanks and be safe .

Well, that is a problem. In this case I would disconnect the wires to the motor and the track pickups and wire them together so you are bypassing the decoder. Then try running it on DC or whatever the native power supply would be. That way you can quickly tell whether it is some issue other than the decoder. If the loco runs fine without the decoder in place then that is a sign the decoder may be damaged. Get in there close and sniff around the decoder-if it smells like cat pee then you probably have a blown component. If you don’t know what cat pee smells like I bet you can figure out how to find out!

The DCC Guy 😁 oh am familiar with cat pee haha . Even though it is a G scale item opening it up requires removing a ton of screws and being a person with eye sight mainly in the left eye makes it even more challenging . But my thanks and appreciation to you for the kind suggestion . 🙏🏼👍🏽 Note: found lots of DCC concepts Alpha meters on the British ebay web site eBay.co.uk

I doubt it would matter with this CV. NCE can be kind of picky with addresses but I don’t remember why I said 08 vs 8 in that video, probably just talking too fast.

There are a lot of potential problems and reason so first tell me some more. Have you determined the type of decoder in it? They have used both SoundTraxx and LokSound. Also how old is it and are you the first owner? If you are first then did it originally operate correctly? If so what precipitated the failure? it sounds as though some component if the motor power output circuit has failed sin e you say the decider sound does notch up so it is responding to commands, just not providing power. If that is the case then it will need repair or replacing. Hopefully it is still under warranty.

Do a factory reset by programming CV8 to a value of 8. That usually takes care of situations where CVs have been inadvertently changed due to intermittent shorts on the layout, etc. If that doesn’t work you’re probably going to need a new decoder. If you are not clear on this see my video #105 on resurrecting a dead decoder.

I am kind of surprised you are seeing these problems since this decoder is rated at 1 amp and should be safe for N-scale installs so there must be something amiss with your locos. Your locos must be operating at near the upper amperage limit for the DZ123. In an enclosed area like an N-scale loco this can create excess heat buildup and the wrapper wrinkling leading to decoder failure. Check your stall currents and make sure the locos are not drawing more power than they are supposed to. When you replace the DZ123 see if you can go to one with a higher amp rating and/or try to carve out more space in the loco.

Actually as long s you use the service mode programmiing track as I demonstrated the power cycle is automatic. With service mode there is no power on the track unless you are reading or writing a CV value. As soonas you read or write the value to the decoder power shuts off so no need for a manual intervention such as tipping the loco. If you use programming in the main then yes you may need to tip the loco to power cycle but not all decofers seem to require this-I have never dine it with a Digitrax but Lenz and LokPilot/LokSound decoders do require it.

OK, take a deep breath and step away from the locomotive ad the layout. Anytime something like this happens you need some time to calm down and then come back later with a clear head and a plan. Since the loco runs on DC that is a good sign that you didn’t fry the decoder and the wires are all OK. The fact that you cannot reset the decoder sung the CV8=8 reset suggests the loco is nit getting your OPS mode programming commands. The most likely reason for this is that you inadvertently changed the address or CV29 which controls whether the short or long address is active and the decoder will not respond. For this reason you need to get it on a service mode programming track since that will reprogram CV8 no matter what the address or CV29 setting, as long as the decoder is not fried. If that doesn’t work you can still try reprogramming the address and CV29 but it will not be a good sign. You are kind of hamstrung without a service mode programming track so take a little time to set one up, it can be done in just a few minutes and the bonus is you can read back the CV settings. If none of that works then take a good look at the decoder for any blisters, holes or other signs of a melted shrink wrap. Also give it a close sniff for the tell tale smell of burnt electronics, commonly referred to as a cat pee smell. Good lick a d let us know if you get it sorted out.

QSI and MTH both have always been quirky decoders. They have done a lot of their own thing and I have steered away from them for that reason. I know of no one who I consider an expert on MTH and only one guy who professes to know anything about QSI. Maybe he will read this comment and chime i but I have not seen him comment in a while so don’t know if he is still watching. You might check groups.io to see if there are any QSI forums there. In the end I suspect you might want to start considering which type of decoder you want to buy as a replacement.

@@TheDCCGuy Larry thanks much. The irony is I also have an A/B set of ATSF MTH F-7 units that I bought thru a friend some years ago cheap. Beautiful passenger units in red & plated stainless steel with authentic sound. The big difference is MTH has come thru for me, admitting their system had issues with NMRA SOP. They also replaced the decoder and motors as they found that there was a factory defect. They also replaced the defective automatic couplers controlled thru a CV with KD couplers. I told them that the club had banned MTH so could they tweak settings so they wouldn’t know they were MTH? They did, but instead of function 8 for sound it was press 3 twice to turn on sound🤪. Those MTH F-7 units are about the best units I have now for the Super Chief. I just ad a couple of dummy Athearn units to match and they can haul the whole train.

QSI can be reset in DC.If it has a reed sensor use a magnet.Or unplug and replug a socket on the board.Cycle power.

@@dennisbailey6067 OK thanks. So if I put the unit on the test track in DC mode then run a magnet over the board it will reset the DCC? Or if that does not work unplug the board then replug it? Please advise. Thank you.

@@railscenes4959 It will reset decoder,if done on DC or DCC.Apply power and hold magnet over loco until you hear "reset".If it doesn't have reed thete will be a plug on board.Remove,apply power,turn off,replug.

I don’t know what you mean about 2 decoders, I have never heard of them having more than 1. If the reset did not cure it then it is likely part of the motor power circuit cooked. If it is still under warranty send it back to BLI and even if it is not you still may need to get them to repair it.

@@TheDCCGuy I thank you for your quick reply and I guess I will need to send it to BLI or have my local model railroad store fix it if they can find a motor power circuit board. I did take apart my engine and saw the part that needs fixing.

Is it a blue line?

@@dennisbailey6067 it’s a paragon 3 model. I do now have plans to send in the model.

Problably has a blown power transistor on the output to the decoder. Time for a trip to Panama City but definitely call them first if the factory reset doesn’t work.

Thanks, will do that.

Check your locomotive thoroughly for short circuits, especially the wiring. You could also check the decoder with a magnifier and look for stray wires that might have fallen on it. Other than that if it has a bad component or damaged circuit trace then it likely would cost more to repair than replace. Sorry but good luck.

What decoder is this and what DCC system? What screen says short circuit?

NCE power cab and the decoder is Tsunami 2 pnp

Program track screen

When you say it stops do you mean it stops and never comes on again or do you mean it is intermittent? One issue with BLI steam is they use a synchronizer/sensor inside the loco boiler that has a tendency to die. To get things working again you have to replace this device or se d the loco back to them for the job. Finally why do you have a Digitrax decoder and a sound decoder in it? All my BLI blue box locos just have the BLI decoder.

What address are you using? Keep in mo d that with NCE there is a difference between 3 and 003.

@@TheDCCGuy I’ve been using the long address. I forgot what I set the short address to.

Did you set CV29 for long addresses?

It has an Mrc decoder??

On my old website I had a post listing all these variants from the NMRA standard but that is no longer available. I guess I need to make it available elsewhere.

What DCC system are you using?

@@TheDCCGuy This exact same NCE you're using.

@@dorapadakis2957 And are you using it with DecoderPro? I have never seen that with my PowerCab system. Try a complete power down and restart then see if it still does it. You should still be able to program it using ops mode.

@@TheDCCGuy Thank u for your reply Larry. I opened up a brand new DC loco. Use an ESU new decoder with no issues. Just plugged in the one I have a problem with, enter the values and I get to the same massage after "...please wait" PROG CV. Can not read CV.

Do not have the Dec. Pro. I did the power down. Nothing. 2 of them.

What kind of decoder is in them, what addresses are you using, and what DCC system are you using?

@@TheDCCGuy there atlas quantum system and I use NCE DCC control system . I have it set to the short address of 3 . All functions are working on the short address. It won’t do anything on the long address.

OK, I figured that was the situation. With NCE there is a difference between a short address like “3” and a long address like “0003”. You have to enter the leading 000’s with the long address.

@@TheDCCGuy I have set the long address to 1004 the locomotive number. And it will not do anything.The locomotive will work on short address of 3 . I have reset cv8 to 8 and reset cv 7 to 04 . It still says it can not read cv’s. The controls says it is in page mode when trying to set cv’s. I’m so lost . Roy

Forget CV7, that should be the decoder’s version. Also get out of paged mode and use direct mode.

Good tips all!

There’s a little thong at the bottom pf the screen called a scroll button. You can use it to zip past content you are not interested in-feel free to use it, I won’t be offended one little bit!