rcurtis Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Greetings. This is my first post on this forum, I do read quite a bit though. I have two Aristo E-8's. I have installed the QSI decoder one and it works fine. The other has a digitrax DG538 with a phoenix PB8 and works fine. The issue is when I put them both on the track they don't work. My current DCC system is the Superchief with the 5 amp power supply. Not sure what the issue is but the locos don't like to be on the track together. Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks, Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayman4449 Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Can you elaborate more on what you are doing (with remote, etc) to get them to respond? I assume they aren't responding at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Hi, Yes need to elaborate more on what you mean by they don't work. Can you start them up with sound, lights come on?? What is powering the command center?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benshell Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Hi Rick, It sounds very likely to me that you're exceeding the capacity of your DCC booster. In theory you should easily be able to put two engines on the track with 5 amps, but the Digitrax boosters are known to be unpowered. I don't have personal experience with them, but from what I've heard you may only get 5 amps at low voltages, and I'm not sure if that's even continuous or not. Is there some sort of circuit breaker light or sound to indicate this? Another possibility: how long are your wires from the booster to the track? And how thick are your wires? Again, I would imagine they are short as you're just testing this, but I once had a problem with inductance interfering with the DCC signal when I had just finished my track and very long cable runs (over 100 ft, with 10 gauge wire). One engine would still run, but put on two and they'd both stop. The additional current draw increased the problem with the inductance, and further deteriorated the DCC signal. I still have some long runs, but I now twist the wires to provide some shielding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcurtis Posted April 10, 2015 Author Share Posted April 10, 2015 Thanks for all the quick replies guys. When I have them both on the track there is no response. On the controller it won't let me turn track power on yet it is energized to the power supply and to the booster. My first thought was that there was not enough power, this is a temporary set up as I have an NCE PH10 I will be using. The wires are short only about 18 inches. If I have them both on the track and take either one off the remaining loco starts right up. Speaking of the PH10, I was wondering if I can use my Crest Elite power supply with that? Thanks again, Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benshell Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 It definitely sounds like not enough power and it's shutting down via it's internal circuit breaker. You'll be happy with the NCE 10amp booster. One word of caution though: it doesn't have a built-in circuit breaker, so it will produce more than 10amps if there's a short, so you should strongly consider adding a circuit breaker, and testing it regularly. You want to know that when there's a derailment or foreign object on the track that nothing gets fried! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcurtis Posted April 10, 2015 Author Share Posted April 10, 2015 Thanks for the tip on the CB. Hopefully it's the power issue, I'll know before too long. Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamPower4ever Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 Sounds weird to me that a 5 amp system from a name brand is not able to handle two engines on the track - idling. Any chance of a short? metal couplers, chassis connections to rail pickups, that sort of thing? Jens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcurtis Posted April 10, 2015 Author Share Posted April 10, 2015 Sounds weird to me that a 5 amp system from a name brand is not able to handle two engines on the track - idling. Any chance of a short? metal couplers, chassis connections to rail pickups, that sort of thing? Jens Jens, I agree. I don't think there is a short or either wouldn't work, couplers are from the factory so that's not it. When used separately they work just as they're supposed to. So I tried to hook up my 5 amp power supply with my NCE and got the exact same symptoms. Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamPower4ever Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 Do the two engines have the same DCC address? They shouldn't. Actually with a short I meant a short from loco to loco through metal couplers. I've seen that happen in H0 once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcurtis Posted April 10, 2015 Author Share Posted April 10, 2015 Well I figured it out-kinda. I got to thinking that it might be an issue with this particular locomotive as it has acted funny in the past so I decided to try a few things. I put the decoder in another locomotive and everything worked like it should, both locos would run and power up on the same track no problem. Next I tried the putting the Digitrax decoder back in the E8 and unplugging the phoenix, no change. So I stated unplugging the plugs in the chassis of the loco, when I unplug J7 it works as it is supposed to, both locos run and idle no problem at all. I think J7 is the lights that light up the trucks on the E8, I will have to research a little more and if so I will look into there being an issue there. Thanks for all the help in a short period of time. Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamPower4ever Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 Allright then Sounds like a short in the truck light circuit or something. Well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
argilla01 Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 oke ..even pahasoft has his problems, the leatest version is loaded with bugs..... So I think that every software has his problems.....the thing is how to solve the problems...en there my dear friends ...there is what I call a wrong shoe at the wrong feet ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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