To all,

I have been having some problems with various decoders intermittently being unresponsive when connected to my 60174 booster. I am using a CS2 and Booster set up for a two level table layout. The booster is isolated from the CS2 via the third rail per the booster instructions. When the CS2 is connected to one level and the booster is connected to the other, some switches on the boosted section intermittently fail to respond when activated. The offending switches are New Installation type decoders. At first I was worried that the solenoids were failing but they tested fine. When I disconnect the CS2 feeder wires from the track, the switches connected to the boosted section function fine. When I connect the CS2 to the section that is normally boosted (with the booster disconnected of course) the switches function fine. All my switches are set for 200 ms. I tried extending the signal time for the offending switches to 300 ms without improvement. My fix was to swap the new installation switches with old installation decoder switches. I have also found that some locomotives (a class 258 from a Marklin 29852 starter set) intermittently fail to respond when on the boosted section or have ghost behaviors (operating when no command is sent), however the locomotive functions fine on the CS2 connected section.

I don't know if there is some configuration I need to do to the Booster to correct this problem. Does any one else have these issues and can offer some advise as to how to correct the problem.

Thank you for your help and recommendations!

Thank you for your reply. No shorts or crossed wires that I could find. Two switches with new installation decoders were misbehaving.

Thank you for the suggestion.

Thanks again for the thoughts. If the problem was with the registration, I would expect the switches to malfunction when connected to the CS2 circuit but that is not the case. As far as power, I am using a 60 VA 60055 for both the CS2 and Booster. The reading from the boosted section is 20v.

Does the booster need to be configured in some way using the CS2? The only function I find is in the information section when in configuration mode where a CAN-BUS test can be done with a user selectable value (default is 200, I presume ms).

Thanks!

From the symptom description it sounds like there is some sort of electrical connection or current movement between the main and boosted section that causes the signal from the CS to show up on the boosted section and maybe the slight delay of the booster putting the signal down resulting in two things driving that section.

It depends. If the CS's overload detection can see the overload, it will detect it and shut the overloaded booster off. If not, unpredictable things happen. This can be the case if the wiring does not match the power supply. Märklin recommends 3 A for H0.

Check the power supply settings of the CS2 to see if they match the power supply in use. For 3 A that is usually the 60061 (US version may differ). Some people use 60101 to get 5 A, but that requires special wiring to work safely with H0. Either way, if your power supply is 60061 your CS2 power supply settings should reflect that. Check the same thing for your booster's power supply settings.

Regarding the problem in this thread: I would take a closer look at the wiring of the booster sections and the CS2 section to make absolutely sure that now power flows where it shouldn't.

If only the CS2 is connected to the layout - no boosters - just the CS2. What happens if the train goes into a booster section (supposedly unpowered)? It should stop.