Hi all,

From www.drehscheibe-online.de

Here a very fresh information from Märklin:

Exchanging Booster Booster 60 174 60 173 in

A technical detail of the Marklin model railway technology was for years the use of a common return wire for all applications. The so-called mass rail was a common reference potential, both for running and for the solenoid circuits. With the introduction of the Central Station 60213 Our technicians have abandoned this principle. From that date was for the Central Station and Booster set 60 173, the call for the return conductor may not be permanently connected to each other. Both the outward and the return line had therefore to be separated at the transition between different service areas. This demand has in many model railroaders, however, led to confusion. Many circuits that are based on a system of common ground could now be used only limited. For a non-technical as the resulting obstacles were not to see through many times. A fact that we had with the introduction of new technology certainly wrongly assessed. 60 174 with the booster so the amendment was withdrawn. This device is so constructed that the common ground can be used as the return line back. It uses an electrical isolation, these connections between the units is prevented. The current Central Station comes complete this isolation. To our customers who are still using the previous 60 173 booster to provide an opportunity also for your system, the principle of the common return conductor reintroduce we exchange for recognition as a goodwill gesture without any legal claim the booster 60 173 in the current version 60174th In other boosters (6015 or 6017) this exchange is not necessary.

Another product information:
The booster 60 174 60 173, in contrast to the booster be used in future with the new switching power supply 60 101 with a maximum output of 100 VA.

Important:
The common ground refers to all supplies that are directly connected to the rail. Switching power supplies or transformers to the power supply to the Central Station or the booster purposes may not be associated with the additional rail mass, otherwise the internal processing of the digital voltage is shorted. Therefore, these devices may only be for the supply of these devices are not used to supply any other loads on the model railroad. A device without galvanic separation may remain in the future in the overall system. Therefore, a replacement of the Central Station or 60 214 60 213 not necessary and is therefore not done by us. We want to emphasize that the current technology is at the booster 60 173 no shortage. It concerns with the exchange operations, a voluntary performance of our company in order to harmonize the technology used to achieve.

For further questions please contact us Monday to Friday from 10.00 bis 18.30 clock clock by calling 09 001 608 222 available.

Greetings
Stephan

Dr D

Hi all,
Yes,it is auto-translated.I thought it was important news and posted it here.

Dr D

Here's the English version of the communiqué:

"Dear Madam/Sir:

This technical newsletter deals with our current digital system. Exchange of the 60173 Booster for the 60174 Booster.

The use of a common ground for all applications has been a technical detail of Märklin's model railroad technology for many years. The so-called rail ground was a common ground for train operations as well as for solenoid accessory circuits.

Our technicians made a departure from this guiding principle with the introduction of the 60213 Central Station. Starting with this point in time the requirement was made that ground connections for the Central Station and the 60173 Booster should not be connected with each other continuously. The hot as well as the ground connections at the transition between different power consumption areas therefore had to be separated.

This requirement led to irritation among many model railroaders. Many circuits that were based on the system of a common ground were now only usable under certain limitations. For a non-technician or a lay person the hurdles resulting from this were in many cases impenetrable. A factor that admittedly we evaluated incorrectly during the introduction of the new technology.
This change was therefore rescinded with the 60174 Booster. This unit is designed so that the common ground can be used again as a ground return in the track. Galvanic separation will be used for this. Galvanic separation will prevent undesired connections between the individual components. The current Central Station will also come from the factory with this galvanic separation.

We are exchanging the 60173 Booster for the current 60174 version in a goodwill gesture so that customers still using the earlier 60173 Booster will have the possibility to reintroduce the principle of the common ground on their layouts. We are doing this exchange without recognition of any legal claims. This exchange is not necessary for other Boosters (6015 or 6017).

Naturally, this exchange program also applies to stocks of the 60173 Booster that you might still have in your shop.
When your customer comes to you with one or more 60173 Boosters, please handle it as a warranty claim and sent these units to our repair department in Göppingen. We will send you exchange units in the next product shipment to you.
One more product note: The 60174 Booster, in contrast to the 60173 Booster, can also be used in the future with the new 60101 switched mode power pack with its maximum output of 100 VA.
Important: The common ground refers to all power supply units that are connected directly to the track. Switched mode power packs or transformers used to supply power to the Central Station or the Booster must not be connected directly to the track ground also, since otherwise the internal format of the digital voltage will be short-circuited. Therefore, these units may only be used to supply power to these components (Central Station or Booster); they must not be used to supply power to other users on a model railroad layout at the same time.
A unit without galvanic separation can also continue to remain in the total system. For that reason it is not necessary to exchange the 60213 or 60214 Central Station and such an exchange will not be done by us.
We would like to emphasize that the earlier technology in the 60173 Booster does not represent a defect. The issue here is an exchange program done voluntarily by our company in order to achieve a harmonization of the technology being used. We would be happy to answer additional questions Monday through Friday from 10:00 AM to 6:30 PM (Central European Time) at our telephone number."

Perfect! My two boosters will be on their way to Märklin this week!

Yup, that crazy idea came from ESU didn't it? And its great to see marklin looking after their customers so well with this offer.

Cheers....

Mike.

Nothing in the website but this is not April's Fool day yet...

https://files.me.com/laalves/vf6dbj

https://files.me.com/laalves/5djsad

.................................

Must be soon we can finally be rid of ESU and its stuff. At least Marklin are standing up and doing something positive.

dave

AFAIK this is correct.

ESU is to blame for the Godot booster (60172) and the CS1 (60212), but blame Märklin for 60213ff and 60173f.

The new 60214s have the insulated PCB, the old 60214s don't.
With #60215 you can be sure to get the new PCB.

A free exchange programme - that's Märklin as we know it.

What I was referring to was the galvanic isolation. Didn't that concept come in with the CS1?

I've been using my CS1 with a common ground for years...

Nope. With other transformers.

And I don't read anything in the ESU documentation that says that you can't do this.

There still is no common ground between "digital" transformer/power supply and track, neither with CS1 nor with CS2, neither with MS1 nor with MS2.

But 60215+60174 can now be used with M track with centre rail insulation only.
CS2 60213+60173 introduced the requirement of outer rail insulation.

Took 'em some time to get it right. Should have been right in the first place, so they wouldn't waste money on a booster exchange programme.

Yup, that's the thingy. ESU's fault

Cheers....

Mike.

Hello All,
Just talked to my Marklin dealer concerning the recall on the 60213 booster. He informed me that he was aware of this but has not been informed from Marklin officially. I think I will mail back my boosters back directly to Marklin repair instead of waiting for the dealer to accumulate several units and do a bulk return. Has anyone shipped there boosters direct to Marklin?
Thanks
Nelson77
Westminster, Md

Hello Robert,

Does the PDF say to turn it back to the dealer or ship it to Walthers? My problem is I bought my 60214 booster in Germany and my CS2 from Micro Macro Mundo in South Florida.
Any info would be helpful. I reinstalled my 60217 today in order to continue the work on my layout.
Thanks
Nelson77
Westminster, Md

Hello Robert,
Thanks for all the information. I just called Walthers and spoke to Dennis. Dennis is in the parts department and also handles warranty claims. I asked about the 60173 booster. He was not aware of any recalls from Marklin regarding this booster. I also asked if he had any in stock. He informed me that there are not discontinued but he does not have any in stock. I wonder how long the replacement will be. He is to inform me as soon as he knows something. I will update the form when I hear any news regarding this.
Thanks
Nelson77
Westminster, Md

Sounds funny that they would do a replacement program and not have any to quickly replace. I have three of them and would like to send them back at the same time. I guess I may need to take down my floor layout for a while ... :0(

Robert

Hello.

I am sorry to be thick but can someone explain in simple terms what this is all about. I have a early CS2 and the new switched power supply 60v running the mid level and a booster running the lower level. I am using c track. I have 2 spare boosters which I can send back and then send the one I am using back when the others arrived . Do we know how long before we get the replacements .

Charles.

Hello Robert.

What difference is it going to make to our layouts. It would be a major upheaval as the section were the CS section and the booster section join is all finished.
Many thanks

Charles.

Information about booster exchange sheet in the 2/2011 club package.

Do the 60174 connect to the old version 60213 CS2?

Many thanks I will send them in for a exchange unit.

Charles

Recvieved a leaflet about the Booster exchange with my Insider 2/2011 mailing yesterday. Simply it says return your 60173 to your dealer or Marklin and you will reeive a 60174. That said it refers to 60214/5 CS2s only

Exactly what you are thinking! The slider will act as a momentary bridge between both sections, which is something you do not want to happen. That is why Marklin have the rocker isolators, which is a plastic device that sits over the transition point. When a loco/car with a slider comes along, the front end of the slider is lifted so that only the rear is on the centre rail. As the loco moves forward, the slider front will come down and make contact with the other powered section, by which time the isolator will have lifted off the rear of the slider so that it is no longer making contact.

There were some previous instances where the rockers were not needed, and it was ok to have sliders momentarily bridging both powered sections, but I don't know if this applies to 60174/60214/15. Are the rockers available as a separate catalog item?

...I got some of these insulation rockers ....They were inside my first Swiss mega starting set with 6021.....it is a kind of brown color flexible ribbon on which you could cut about 6 pieces....It works well (not bad), avoiding flickering of the front lights, even at slow speed...( at very slow speed : I don't know)
But I'm looking for the reference number as well....
May be I'll try to make them myself with Tamiya Putty....

They are not needed between 6021 and 6017.
They are needed between CS1 or CS2 and 6017.
They are not needed between CS2 and 60174.
They write that in their FAQ list (and it's German only):
http://www.maerklin.de/f...&Search=true#Post224

For information about centre rail rockers (including spare part numbers), copy this URL to the address field of your browser: