ESU Decoder system

[carlso]

I am attempting to load/program my new 73100 decoder. After asking a stupid question earlier and then shown where to find the answer I feel cautious about this upcoming question.

First, here are the tools that I am using:

1. Brand new ESU 73100 decoder
2. ESU Lokprogrammer updated to version 4.7
3. ESU decoder tester

I downloaded a GEVO (FT) file #75835 and this one is actually the second different file that I tried. The tester works fairly well with sound being good, needs to have a lot of tweaks to satisfy my tastes. The lights, I added so far, only a rear light with a wired PICO (1mm) LED, have not attached headlight yet. The lights will not come on with F0 in either direction.

The problem is that the tester motor only runs in reverse and not forward. I have told the decoder to reverse that as default but still no change. The little motor does work as I see it turn both directions, a bit, when loading the decoder data file.

? :
1. Bad decoder
2. Bad tester, which is brand new and not used 'till today
3. Bad wiring on my part

Any guidance will be appreciated. I am about to say sc**w this expensive sound and just enjoy straight DCC/non-sound decoders.

Carl

[RBrodzinsky]

Carl, I guess the question is: how did you hook up the 73100 to the tester? I assume you soldered leads to the two motor pads (either on the edge or bottom of board), leads to the speaker pads, and leads to a left and right power pick up pads. I honestly don’t worry about direction of the motor on the tester, just that it changes when the decoder goes between forward and reverse.

If you set up the leads as above, what happens if you reverse the leads to the different screw terminals of the tester? Does the motor go the other way? Silly question, I know, but covering everything. I tend to use a clipped off 8 pin connector, from a 73800 decoder, so that I don’t have to fumble with the screw terminals.

Check your wiring first. Then, take a 9v battery, and check, in both directions, the tester by taking the leads to the motor inputs on the screw terminals. If all those are good, and you see nothing wrong with your connections to the board, then it might be the decoder driver output.

Let us know and we can go from there

[carlso]

Rick,

Thanks for the reply. I am giving up, for the night, before it blows my pacemaker as I am very frustrated.

Yes, I have the decoder wired as you suggested, and I put the motor leads on the top side. I tried the 9v batt on the tester but it would not spin the motor in either direction. I tested it on the loco motor and the batt spun it quite fast, so it is good. I re-connected decoder to tester and have attempted to start anew. I get a message now that "detected decoder is not supported". Actually analog sounds pretty darned good about now.

Carl

[peteski]

Man, you want to give up too easily! 

It is possible that the decoder itself might be faulty.

You said that you tested the motor on the decoder tester using a 9V battery.  How exactly did you do that?  With the decoder still hooked up to the tester and the battery connected to the black and red circuit?  Or did you disconnect the decoder and connected the battery directly to the tester's motor (orange and gray) circuit?

[RBrodzinsky]

Or did you disconnect the decoder and connected the battery directly to the tester's motor (orange and gray) circuit?

this is what I was suggesting be done -- let's make sure the tester is good (and the connector on it).  Of course, if the motor goes in one direction, there does need to be a circuit...

[woodone]

Carl,
I have found that when you see (decoder not supported) it is because of no contact to the decoder. Check your leads and try again !

[carlso]

Rick, Pete, Jerry

Thanks to all for your inputs! ! !

I have attached the 9v batt to the motor screws and, in contrast to what I wrote earlier, the tester motor ran in both directions so I conclude that the tester is OK.

I checked my connections from the tester to the rail pickups on the decoder. There are 4 rail pickup pads on each side. I tried connecting to each pair and then mixed connection so they were not "pairs". I checked the continuity of my wires that I am using and found they are OK.

I have tried to reset the decoder and even started a new file. When I try to talk to the decoder I get the message " Detected decoder is not supported". I checked the decoder type, in the programmer, and it shows Loksound Select.

I have decided that the new 73100 et all are just too small and require a pretty darned good solderer, which I am not. I checked my solder joints and they looked OK but everything is so small that I may have touched something adjacent to a pad and wasn't even aware of it. I shall revert back to using the "old" Select Micro to be hardwired. If they ever drop that line I am screwed.

This GEVO will have the FVM board and Digitrax (I think) decoder put back in. It performs very well and runs with all of my KATO's. It should because I put KATO motors into the first two GEVO's I purchased. It was cheaper to convert the GEVO's than many KATO's.

Carl

Just an after thought - I would be willing to pay a little more if ESU would attach small wiring to all the aux and front/rear headlights as well as motor leads. I know that is a pipe dream.

[peteski]

Unfortunately these advanced decoders are chock-full of very very tiny, and tightly-packed components.  I agree that instead of installing those microscopic 0402 size LEDs in odd (and not very usable) crowded location on the decoder, it would have been much more handy if ESU just provided soldering pads for those AUX functions, like they did for the other AUX functions.  This is one of the gripes I have about this decoder. But they seem to have learned their lesson and the 73199 includes pads for all the AUX functions, along with the on-board LEDs.


Carl,
If you have wires still soldered to that decoder, can you post a close-up photo of it? As close as you can take keeping it in focus.

[carlso]

Pete, thanks for the insight. I agree, too small for me. No, I can not take pics as I have removed the wiring that I did. I am sure the decoder is fried.

If you want it to work with I will send to you or anyone else that may want to study it. I don't want it back.

People used to call the Dallas Cowboys a finesse team as opposed to a rugged, brute force type of play. I can not and do not have the finesse needed to work with these "new" sound decoders, so I feel confident in using brute force to mill a frame for a hard wired decoder. Done that many times successfully and a couple not so successful.

Carl

[peteski]

Pete, thanks for the insight. I agree, too small for me. No, I can not take pics as I have removed the wiring that I did. I am sure the decoder is fried.

If you want it to work with I will send to you or anyone else that may want to study it. I don't want it back.

You might be able to have ESU repair the decoder. Not sure how their warranty is. But if you don't want to try that,  I'll gladly take the decoder to see if I can determine what went wrong.