I just purchased a Kato loco (N scale, P42 Genesis) and a Digitrax DN163K0a decoder to put into it. It was my first decoder installation. Everything went very well at first. It ran fine for about 10 minutes and then stopped. Further, it "tripped" my Atlas DCC controller out as if it was shorting out. Each time I put it on the track after that, it would make a very short buzz sound and shut down the controller. I took the engine apart again to make sure the connections were good--tried it again, and the same thing happened. Any ideas on what might be the problem? Thanks.

-- Brad McKown (bmckown@rollins.edu), January 13, 2004

Answers

Disconnect the wires to your motor. Insure that neither terminal of the motor has a connection to either set of power pick-ups. I can't be sure, but I think this is your problem.

You have probably damaged your decoder - so you will be disconnecting the wires to the motor anyway to send it back for repair.

-- Allan Gartner (bigboy@wiringfordcc.com), January 16, 2004.