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Offline michelvr  
#1 Posted : 04 October 2019 15:29:47(UTC)
michelvr

Canada   
Joined: 06/07/2012(UTC)
Posts: 1,287
First time ever I found my Marklin SBB 421 374-0 turtled and dead on the tracks!



Metaphorically speaking this is a play on words and the picture is staged but in all honesty it is as dead!

I tried to run it yesterday but I was not able to acquire it so I put on the programming track, no response. Not sure the cause but after investigating, I found that the decoder is kaput! I removed the decoder and put a spare ESU decoder on it and it works!

I’m not sure what happened? This electric locomotive lives on my layout so somehow the decoder had an issue with something.

This is my trusty 2012 first Märklin electric locomotive from a starter set. Unfortunately I already had it repaired two years ago which meant that it had to go back to Märklin in Germany. Luckily I was able to find the problem and it will need a new decoder. I'll go to my dealer and buy a new replacement Märklin decoder next week.

Just thought I’d let you know!

Regards,

Michel
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Offline RayF  
#2 Posted : 04 October 2019 16:10:40(UTC)
RayF

Gibraltar   
Joined: 14/03/2005(UTC)
Posts: 15,838
Location: Gibraltar, Europe
Electronic circuits can die at any time. That's why mission critical systems always have back-ups in military, aerospace and other 'serious' applications.
Ray
Mostly Marklin.Selection of different eras and European railways
Small C track layout, control by MS2, 100+ trains but run 4-5 at a time.
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Offline skeeterbuck  
#3 Posted : 04 October 2019 18:04:43(UTC)
skeeterbuck

United States   
Joined: 15/12/2015(UTC)
Posts: 523
Location: Maryland, Baltimore
Ray, I agree that electronics can die at ant time, but there needs to be a reason for their death. ( i.e. short circuit, static electricity etc.)
Offline kiwiAlan  
#4 Posted : 04 October 2019 18:10:46(UTC)
kiwiAlan

United Kingdom   
Joined: 23/07/2014(UTC)
Posts: 8,082
Location: ENGLAND, Didcot
Originally Posted by: skeeterbuck Go to Quoted Post
Ray, I agree that electronics can die at ant time, but there needs to be a reason for their death. ( i.e. short circuit, static electricity etc.)


Yeah, the reason is component failure through age. It doesn't need to have any outside influence to cause this.

As (another) electronics engineer I have seen this happen many times.

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Offline michelvr  
#5 Posted : 04 October 2019 18:39:19(UTC)
michelvr

Canada   
Joined: 06/07/2012(UTC)
Posts: 1,287
Originally Posted by: kiwiAlan Go to Quoted Post
Originally Posted by: skeeterbuck Go to Quoted Post
Ray, I agree that electronics can die at ant time, but there needs to be a reason for their death. ( i.e. short circuit, static electricity etc.)


Yeah, the reason is component failure through age. It doesn't need to have any outside influence to cause this.

As (another) electronics engineer I have seen this happen many times.



I agree as my other Re 421 is still going strong and it is an older Märklin locomotive that was also in the layout.


Offline skeeterbuck  
#6 Posted : 04 October 2019 19:12:03(UTC)
skeeterbuck

United States   
Joined: 15/12/2015(UTC)
Posts: 523
Location: Maryland, Baltimore
Originally Posted by: kiwiAlan Go to Quoted Post
Originally Posted by: skeeterbuck Go to Quoted Post
Ray, I agree that electronics can die at ant time, but there needs to be a reason for their death. ( i.e. short circuit, static electricity etc.)


Yeah, the reason is component failure through age. It doesn't need to have any outside influence to cause this.

As (another) electronics engineer I have seen this happen many times.



I didn't say it necessarily needed to be an outside influence although the examples I quoted were. The point I was trying to make it that they fail for a reason. They don't just fail for the heck of it. Smile
Offline mike c  
#7 Posted : 04 October 2019 22:33:43(UTC)
mike c

Canada   
Joined: 28/11/2007(UTC)
Posts: 7,880
Location: Montreal, QC
The first thing that I did when I received any locomotive with an OEM ESU decoder was to use my Lokprogammer to save the profile for that locomotive. Once that was done, it would be possible to replace any decoder with a basic Lokpilot (or Loksound) and load the original settings. Some OEM models may have had limited functions, but I have not encountered any situations where the locomotive failed to respond as designed on a swapped out decoder.

Regards

Mike C
Offline pederbc  
#8 Posted : 04 October 2019 23:14:32(UTC)
pederbc

Sweden   
Joined: 11/06/2007(UTC)
Posts: 180
Location: Eslöv, Sweden
Is it an Mfx decoder? I have had the experience once that an Mfx loco appeared dead. I tried to do a reset, value 8 to CV 8 on the programming track. It worked! At least do try it.

The best, Peder
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Offline michelvr  
#9 Posted : 05 October 2019 15:19:08(UTC)
michelvr

Canada   
Joined: 06/07/2012(UTC)
Posts: 1,287
Originally Posted by: pederbc Go to Quoted Post
Is it an Mfx decoder? I have had the experience once that an Mfx loco appeared dead. I tried to do a reset, value 8 to CV 8 on the programming track. It worked! At least do try it.

The best, Peder


Peder,

Thank you very much for leading me onto the right tracks and YES this locomotive does have an MFX decoder! I had set my command station to DCC for testing some N scale 2 rail locomotives. When I hooked it back up for my Märklin layout I totally forgot to change it back to Motorola. It registered and works fine!

I thank you very much!BigGrin

Sincerely,

Michel
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