Percyâs Programming Problems
Next time Iâll know. Next time I wonât trust that setting the max and min output voltage CVs will properly govern the max and min output voltages. Next time, Iâll take my meter and check.
Yes, another motor has been turned into a molten mess, or maybe a tangle. I donât know, Iâm not going to bother disassembling it, but it wonât turn anymore.
After the horse was safely out of the barn, I checked the voltages. The input voltage is 13.6 V AC. Now, I had set CV2 (Vmin) to 10, figuring this should give a starting voltage about 0.5V, and set CV5 (Vmax) to 65, which should have given something in the range of 3.5V. I donât think I monkeyed with CV6 (Vmid), but maybe I should have!
Even if I had set CV6 to 255, though, that doesnât explain the 5V I measured at speed step 1! Poor Percy took off at a good switcherly pace, and even did several turns back and forth before burning out its motor.
So, I returned to the Digitrax manual for the decoder, and spotted CV29âs magical ability to turn off speed tables. Just set the value to â6â it said, which I did, in case some previous Rene had set a speed table.
Thatâs when the decoder stopped talking to me. Err 02, my venerable Lenz 100 responds even when I try to obtain its address. Thatâs the systemâs way of telling me the decoder has folded its arms across its chest and is simply glaring silently at me.
Iâm going to bring it to Trains and Scones tomorrow, but sadly, it looks like this engine wonât be running.
#DCC
