Boo Hoo :( There goes my Chrissie Present

[Woodie]

Boo hoo.... boo hoo... :cry: :cry: :cry: and a big baby WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!! :cry: :cry: :cry: And a big child temper tanty to add to that too. Not even a red lolly is gunna fix this one!

My new NCE DCC Pro that I shouted myself for a Chrissie present doesn't work, and I've gotta send it back under warranty. And I was so looking forward to spending some time with it (I don't have a wife) over the Christmas break from work too. :cry: :cry:

I ordered it from the retailer in Sydney (850 kms away) and it took 5 days to arrive. (arrived last Friday). Was gunna sit down and set it all up on Sat night (I work weekends), cept a storm went through and had a 16 hour blackout. Couldn't try it out on Sunday (if I could have, then I could have reported the fault to the retailer yesterday, and maybe had a replacement by Friday). So that left last night (Sun night) to try it out.

Well, the power supply don't have no power coming out of it. I checked it with the multi-meter. Nup. dead. checked the fuse, and yep. blown fuse. replaced the fuse, and nup... still no power, and the fuse is still intact. Not a hum, nor buzz, nor tiny vibration you normally get out of a transformer. Nuttin.....

Now the problem. I can't report it to the retailer till Wednesday. (they're shut Mon-Tues, as they are open weekends.)

So that certainly won't allow for a replacement to arrive for the Christmas holiday break.

Jan is not happy!!!! :cry: :cry:

Any ideas of how I can test it further to determine if it's really stuffed, or it may be something I can fix?

 

[Woodie]

Well I've spoken to the manufacturer of the power supply, and there appears to be nothing I can do except return it under warranty. :curse:

But I've got a workaround. My old DC controller has a 17V AC outlet on it, albeit not 5 AMPS, but that should at least allow me to try it all out, program a few decoders and CV values, and generally test it all and see how it works. So Garahbara will just have to run on a restricted timetable until full power can be restored to the network. (Now I wonder where I've heard that sorta comment before )

Won't have a new power supply back till after New Year probably. :curse:

But Jan is a little happier now.

Oh... and yes please. I'll have two red lollies.

 

[60103]

Woodie:
My friend ran his DCC from an old power pack for years. We finally asked Mr. Lenz about a few problems we'd been having and he said it might be an underpowered supply.
They weren't totally serious -- things like recovereing from a short adn the locos start moving off before the hand controller resets itself.
Just restrain yourself to a few locos at a time.

 

[Woodie]

By hook or by crook (as they say) I'm not sending the power supply back, unless it's an absolute last resort.

I've spoken to the guy that makes then, and he tells me that it's quite well known for the area I live in, has a dodgy power supply, and is often a higher voltage than should be. We work on 240V AC here (not 110V) and often, he says, it's as high as 250V. They don't rate their fuses that high, and he suggests putting a 1 AMP fuse in it (instead of the .63 AMP fuse supplied).

I wrapped the fuse in ciggie packet foil and I now get a near 0 ohm resistance reading on the primary winding. (using the pins on the wall socket power plug). Wasn't gunna plug it into the wall socket like that though!!! He suggests a 1 AMP fuse that I'll try tonight.

He also is very familiar with the old DC controller (I mentioned in a post above) and said that would work fine, however not to run more than 2 locos with it).

I'd rather spend 5 hours on phone calls, and trying things, than just send it straight back and not have it for a cuppla weeks, and if what he suggests is the problem, they'd get it back, and find nothing wrong with it, return it to me, only to have it happen again. And we've all been there before, haven't we boys & girls!!!! :curse:

Jan is even a little more happier now.

 

[Russ Bellinis]

Woody, can you get a device to correct your power and protect from surges as well? I don't know what to call it, but am thinking of the sort of thing that would be hooked up to protect a computer from power surges and high or low voltage.

 

[Woodie]

Well problem solved. It's a wiring problem in the power pack. Didn't matter what rating of fuse I put in it, it would still blow the fuse. The power supply has 2 X 4 AMP output windings. Wire them together to get 8 AMPS. The documentations says to wire the two outside( of the four terminals) together and the two inside terminals to gether (to get a total of 8 AMPS). Do this, and the fuse blows. They had wired the outlets wrong. Just swapped the wiring around accordingly, and it's fine.

BTW, I had to work this out myself.

When I told the manufacturer, they said "oh... umm... yeah.... that will cause the fuse to blow" Sorry bout that.

 

[steamhead]

Hi,

Good to hear you untangled the mess and are back to operating your trains. It shows what persistence and a will to "get it done" can do. I often see in other forums a complacent attitude to this sort of thing. Something malfunctions and it's "back to the manufacturer". If it doesn't work, get another one. Instant gratification-no sweat. I've had my share of troubles (as we all have), and have yet to even think about returning an item. It's part of the hobby -if it's broke, FIX IT!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU, AND HAPPY TRAINING!!

Gus (LC&P).

 

[ausien]

Good for you woodie, persistance is the key in this hobby of ours, good o`l ausie know how, and the job is done... have a great christmas m8, and a happy new year.....steve

 

[Chessie6459]

That's good to hear woodie.:thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

 

[shaygetz]

BTW, I had to work this out myself.

:thumb: :thumb: Good for you :thumb: :thumb: That's how I can buy 5 untested locos on Ebay, clean, lube and test track them, keep two, sell the others and double my money. They just aren't that hard to work on.