Two decoders started acting funky this week - Weird decoder issues Share  Email this topic  LinkBack Topic URL  Retweet this Topic  Share Topic on Google+  Like this Topic  Share on Facebook  Digg this Topic  Reddit this Topic  Share on Tumblr Options  Watch this topic  Print this topic View » Normal Threaded

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johnhendry		#1 Posted : 21 January 2025 16:39:11(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 06/11/2024(UTC) Posts: 52 Location: Georgia, Atlanta		We had some weird stuff happen this week. First our class 1200 started behaving erratically (not starting and then racing off as if it's at full power... running very jerky and not able to reverse at all). We deleted it and reregistered it. Same thing. Reset it through the CS3. Now it's running ok but no reverse at all. THEN, our V160 basically did the same thing. The V160 is now not responding to anything at all (lights come on, sounds are working but nothing at all from the motor). Any ideas??
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marklinist5999		#2 Posted : 21 January 2025 17:17:22(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 10/02/2021(UTC) Posts: 3,888 Location: Michigan, Troy		Turn off all functions, set speed knob at 0, shut down your CS3 from the system menu page, and restart and see.
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johnhendry		#3 Posted : 21 January 2025 18:25:30(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 06/11/2024(UTC) Posts: 52 Location: Georgia, Atlanta		Tried restarting a few times already. Even deleted and reregistered the locos.
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rhfil		#4 Posted : 21 January 2025 21:43:54(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 05/09/2014(UTC) Posts: 676 Location: NEW HAMPSHIRE, Somersworth		Put both of them on a programming track - one at a time - and do factory resets. Referring to the Marklin numbers would make trouble shooting a bit easier. If the problems persist the next step is to start looking at the CV numbers. Are the re-registrations with the mfx handshake?
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rbw993		#5 Posted : 22 January 2025 00:02:02(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 19/08/2008(UTC) Posts: 1,049		Are you using a booster? I had one go bad and it caused similar weird behaviors.
		Modeling Immensee, mile/km 0 on the Gottard. SBB Era V.
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johnhendry		#6 Posted : 22 January 2025 02:35:22(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 06/11/2024(UTC) Posts: 52 Location: Georgia, Atlanta		No booster. The V160 is a 29820. I did the factory reset and now I have all the functions except motor. No movement at all and no motor sounds so it doesn’t seem to be sending any power.
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rhfil		#7 Posted : 22 January 2025 15:13:38(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 05/09/2014(UTC) Posts: 676 Location: NEW HAMPSHIRE, Somersworth		Do the 9V battery test. Connect a 9V battery or voltage generator to the slider and wheels. If it does not move you have a motor problem. If it runs you need to check the decoder settings to see if the motor cv for the motor is correct. If it does not run you might open it up and see if the motor is jammed or if a wire is loose.
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Pasquiles		#8 Posted : 22 January 2025 18:00:51(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 04/06/2019(UTC) Posts: 55 Location: Luxembourg, Luxembourg		Originally Posted by: rhfil Do the 9V battery test. Connect a 9V battery or voltage generator to the slider and wheels. If it does not move you have a motor problem. If it runs you need to check the decoder settings to see if the motor cv for the motor is correct. If it does not run you might open it up and see if the motor is jammed or if a wire is loose. Yes, I had that one, wire was loose and I needed to solder it.
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mike c		#9 Posted : 22 January 2025 18:03:39(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 28/11/2007(UTC) Posts: 8,226 Location: Montreal, QC		Are those the only two locomotives that you have? If you have others, are they functioning normally? If those are your only locomotives, we will need to assess whether the issue is with the locomotives or with your Central Station. First question: Do you have an older analog transformer or digital controller (MS2 or 6021)? If yes, connect them to a section made up of three straight tracks (test track) Do the locomotives respond to controls on that track? If yes, the problem may be with your Central Station If the locomotives, still don't respond, there may be a problem with them. Next question: How is your CS formatted? Which system is set as default (MFX/DCC/MM) If your locomotives are all from Maerklin, you might consider trying to change the selection to MFX/MM or MM only See how your locomotives respond. It may be that you are in the wrong mode and the decoder is not fully understanding commands Remember the settings process so that you can return to prior modes if you wish. For further assistance, I would send an email to digital(at)marklin.com and see if Curtis or Rick can help. Regards Mike C
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johnhendry		#10 Posted : 22 January 2025 20:50:27(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 06/11/2024(UTC) Posts: 52 Location: Georgia, Atlanta		Mike, thanks for the reply. We 18 locos and these are the only 2 misbehaving. We have a CS3. I’ve tried the’9V battery test’ but none of my locos (even the ones running normally) responded to that (one pole on the slider and one on the wheels or other ground). They are all Marklin locos. I can see the CV settings but I’m not sure what to check. I’ve performed a couple of resets through the CS3 to no avail. Wheels turn and motor turns without too much much effort. My dad oiled the commutators recently and although there doesn’t look to be any excess oil we’re wondering if that’s shorted something in the motor?
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rhfil		#11 Posted : 22 January 2025 22:44:28(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 05/09/2014(UTC) Posts: 676 Location: NEW HAMPSHIRE, Somersworth		If he oiled the commutators, not sure why anyone would do that, he must have opened it up. You should check to see if you have continuity across the motor. Also from the slider to the wheels. It might be possible though unlikely that the oil is grounding the motor and preventing power from getting to the motor. I would get a can of compressed air and blow out the oil around the motor though I doubt if that is the problem. If you find resistance from the slider to a set of wheels that is where you should connect the 9V battery. Resistance shows continuity and a motor. Are the two locos of the 29820 set the ones that are not running?
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johnhendry		#12 Posted : 23 January 2025 03:48:14(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 06/11/2024(UTC) Posts: 52 Location: Georgia, Atlanta		Okay, so it was just the commutator pins that he lubricated (without opening it up). I checked the continuity and things seemed to be ok. I went to the most obvious thing and took the motor apart and cleaned any excess oil. There was a bit but I’ve seen way more in other motors that were working fine. Anyway, put it all back together and she’s purring along! Seems like a bit of oil must have been shorting something. Thanks for all the help guys! Second one seems more straightforward. I’ve found two broken wires. Green and brown. Now I need to figure out where to reconnect them. I’m going to post a photo. It’s an Electric Class 1215 (37121).
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johnhendry		#13 Posted : 23 January 2025 03:50:07(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 06/11/2024(UTC) Posts: 52 Location: Georgia, Atlanta		Trying to figure out where to attach the two disconnected wires. It’s a 37121.
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rhfil		#14 Posted : 23 January 2025 21:18:04(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 05/09/2014(UTC) Posts: 676 Location: NEW HAMPSHIRE, Somersworth		Did that engine ever run? It does not appear that there is solder on the tips of those wires which would suggest they were never connected to anything. If there were I would think that they were connected to the two outside solder points of that board. There are three connected but two blank.
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johnhendry		#15 Posted : 23 January 2025 21:23:19(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 06/11/2024(UTC) Posts: 52 Location: Georgia, Atlanta		Yes, it ran beautifully. I cleaned the tips after it looked like both broke off. I’m just not sure which goes to which pin.
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rhfil		#16 Posted : 23 January 2025 22:09:33(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 05/09/2014(UTC) Posts: 676 Location: NEW HAMPSHIRE, Somersworth		You need to find someone with the same loco or the same decoder to tell you which wire goes where. Send your picture to Marklin Dudes. marklindudes@gmail.com
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mike c		#17 Posted : 23 January 2025 23:50:10(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 28/11/2007(UTC) Posts: 8,226 Location: Montreal, QC		I agree that in the photo, it looks like there is no solder residue on the wires in your hand. Can you take another photo with the wires in focus? I found this on the web: https://wiki.3rail.nl/in...tlicht_schakelbaar_maken It shows the green to the second terminal and the brown to the outer This article seems to refer to modifications to make the taillights switchable, so I cannot guarantee that this depicts the original settings IMHO the modification discussed only refers to the yellow wire and yellow wire with diode Regards Mike C
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johnhendry		#18 Posted : 23 January 2025 23:59:57(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 06/11/2024(UTC) Posts: 52 Location: Georgia, Atlanta		Yes, there was no solder on the wires because I had restripped them. I found the same picture so I’ve attached the blue and green in the same order and now we’re back to where we started. Everything is working EXCEPT reverse. No activity from the motor when I switch direction. Everything else is good now.
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cintrans		#19 Posted : 24 January 2025 00:52:11(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 11/07/2018(UTC) Posts: 217 Location: Aruba (general), Oranjestad		Does it go in reverse when the lights are switched "off"? Jean-Pierre
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johnhendry		#20 Posted : 24 January 2025 01:18:37(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 06/11/2024(UTC) Posts: 52 Location: Georgia, Atlanta		No. No reverse lights on or lights off.
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rhfil		#21 Posted : 24 January 2025 01:51:32(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 05/09/2014(UTC) Posts: 676 Location: NEW HAMPSHIRE, Somersworth		Could the factory reset have done a reset with those two wires off?
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johnhendry		#22 Posted : 24 January 2025 02:55:14(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 06/11/2024(UTC) Posts: 52 Location: Georgia, Atlanta		That’s a good point. It said it did, but I’ll try it again now that we’re connected up again.
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johnhendry		#23 Posted : 25 January 2025 06:02:20(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 06/11/2024(UTC) Posts: 52 Location: Georgia, Atlanta		Ok, did a full reset now that the motor is reconnected and I have no motor activity at all. Lights and sounds work. 🙈🤷‍♂️
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Goofy		#24 Posted : 25 January 2025 10:37:10(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 12/08/2006(UTC) Posts: 9,277		Originally Posted by: johnhendry Ok, did a full reset now that the motor is reconnected and I have no motor activity at all. Lights and sounds work. 🙈🤷‍♂️ Looks like you have problem with the decoder. All models from the starter sets do have lesser quality and i too did had problems with the cheaper products by Märklin. Specially MS2 from starter set 29000! That´s way i do only buy individual products.
		H0 DCC = Digital Command Control
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marklinist5999		#25 Posted : 25 January 2025 13:57:42(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 10/02/2021(UTC) Posts: 3,888 Location: Michigan, Troy		Goofy, what is the lesser quality decoders in the starter sets? Maybe the little 🐜 ants that turn the armature are afraid to show up for fear of being sent away.🤡👹
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cintrans		#26 Posted : 25 January 2025 15:47:22(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 11/07/2018(UTC) Posts: 217 Location: Aruba (general), Oranjestad		Originally Posted by: johnhendry Ok, did a full reset now that the motor is reconnected and I have no motor activity at all. Lights and sounds work. 🙈🤷‍♂️ What I would do in such a case, to confirm if the decoder is the issue or not, is take the decoder of your V160, that is working fine now, and put it in this lok and see if all (driving) is OK Your CS3 will recognise the lok as a V160, but that is no problem the motors are the same as far as I can see on line. Risk however is, if there is a short circuit in the wiring or the motor it could damage your "good" decoder also If the decoder is damaged due to a short circuit that impairs the driving, most of the time you will see that the mosfets on the back of the decoder have damage. There are two of them, one for forward, the other one for reverse. They are very small and have "UP 2M3" or similar printed on them Regards Jean-Pierre PS Reason I asked for the lights is because I had a similar issue with a new Msd I installed. That lok only reversed when the lights were "off", turned out to be a default setting of one of the functions that caused the issue....
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rhfil		#27 Posted : 25 January 2025 16:07:32(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 05/09/2014(UTC) Posts: 676 Location: NEW HAMPSHIRE, Somersworth		Well I was going to tell you how to map your decoder and what the cv location was for the motor and what the values there should be but I discovered that my CS3+ no longer can do that. Now trying to find out why.
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rhfil		#28 Posted : 27 January 2025 22:43:40(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 05/09/2014(UTC) Posts: 676 Location: NEW HAMPSHIRE, Somersworth		Finally got my CS3 to read Marklin mfx decoders again. If you have not solved the problem with the second loco I can tell you what the motor cv settings should be. But you need to place the loco on a programming track, pull up the loco tab, select "Edit locos", then click on the loco icon in the list. check the three tabs. If that results in a screen shot of the cv settings let me know.
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johnhendry		#29 Posted : 28 January 2025 04:08:56(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 06/11/2024(UTC) Posts: 52 Location: Georgia, Atlanta		Yes please, if you don't mind.
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rhfil		#30 Posted : 28 January 2025 18:41:05(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 05/09/2014(UTC) Posts: 676 Location: NEW HAMPSHIRE, Somersworth		First thing you need to do is take a picture of your current settings to reset them if it goes bad. I will send you a picture of what my settings are in an email as I have had difficulty posting pictures on this site.
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rhfil		#31 Posted : 28 January 2025 18:45:05(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 05/09/2014(UTC) Posts: 676 Location: NEW HAMPSHIRE, Somersworth
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marklinist5999		#32 Posted : 28 January 2025 23:00:50(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 10/02/2021(UTC) Posts: 3,888 Location: Michigan, Troy		Not highjacking the topic, but regarding CV settings, I saw the February Walthers newsletter and add this morning. Broadway limited has a CV setting device in it. The price is $75.99 It doesn't say if it is only for DCC with Railcom or not.
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johnhendry		#33 Posted : 30 January 2025 14:51:35(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 06/11/2024(UTC) Posts: 52 Location: Georgia, Atlanta		RHFIL, that worked! We're back to the loco working in forward (not reverse) but that's a good for now. Thank you!
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rhfil		#34 Posted : 31 January 2025 21:11:05(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 05/09/2014(UTC) Posts: 676 Location: NEW HAMPSHIRE, Somersworth		I remember seeing a cv that controlled that in a video but do not remember where it was. I will try to find it or ask Marklin Dudes where it was. I think it was in one of their videos. Did not look earlier as I had no idea if what I posted would be of any help. One step at a time.
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rhfil		#35 Posted : 01 February 2025 00:37:32(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 05/09/2014(UTC) Posts: 676 Location: NEW HAMPSHIRE, Somersworth		Not sure if this is the solution but in the above picture CV NO 29 shows a dark circle. If you click on it it becomes white. Is yours white or black?
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