DS64's, jmri, routes, and all that

[carlso]

Ted,

what you are experiencing is, or sounds very similar to what we had going on. Once I removed track power from the 64's we have not had the problem, at all. You say you are feeding 16 vAC to the track terminals on the DS64. That scares me because, according to Digitrax manual, for what that is worth, the 64's only require a maximum 14VDC, 300ma supply. The power bus we are using is an old power pack that is feeding 14VDC into the terminals marked AX1 (-) and AX2 (+). They are marked on the face and are right under the track terminals.

As far as routes go, I removed all routes that I had in the 64's untill we figured out our problem. Now that the unwanted "firing at start up" situation APPEARS to be under control, I may begin adding 4 or 5 routes in our yard area. We may not add any more routes than that and that will force the operators to pay attention to what they are doing when throwing turnouts or when they should close one behind them. We are pessimistic!

Hope this sheds some light.

Oh, BTW, I am knocking on wood while typing this.

Carl

[Chinapig]

There are a couple of references on the Digitrax website saying 16VAC can be used through the barrel connector on the back or the AUX inputs. 

http://www.digitrax.com/tsd/product/DS64/

Can't find an official reference saying it can be connected to the TrkA and the TrkB terminals but I did read it on the web somewhere.

Anyway, what I shall do is get rid of the routes first and see how that goes and then change the power supply if necessary.  I'll get back to you but as you know this stuff takes time because the DS64s have got to be off and idle for a good 12 hours if they are going to misbehave properly

Ted

[mmyers]

My DS64's are powered with 15VAC connected to the track A and B terminals. There is no connection to DCC track power at all. Commands are by loconet and remote pushbuttons only. If the 15VAC is on, DS64's will work without track power on.. You can connect AC to the coax jack as well. The COAX jack and the track terminals connect to a bridge rectifier on the board so AC is OK on both of these inputs.
DO NOT connect anything but DC to the Ax terminals. These do not connect to the internal rectifier. AC will damage your DS64 if connected to the AX terminal.
My routes are programmed in the DS64's.

the only DS64 I have ever connected track power to is the one on MB Klein's N scale layout. Last time I was there and tried it, the programming seemed to be screwed up. I did program one route and it was not working properly. Since no one there actually knew about it, no trouble was ever reported.

Martin Myers

[Chinapig]

Well, just eliminating the routes didn't cure the problem so now I'll change the power supply to 12vdc as I don't have a 14vdc handy.
Martin, are you getting this problem with your set up?

Ted

[carlso]

Ted ,

just a quick question for you. Have you stopped and looked at each turnout before you powered up your layout and 64's? If so, did all of them fire or did only those in a certain position ( thrown or closed ) fire? The reason I ask is that I had decided part of our problem had to do how the 64 was programmed.

All I know for sure is that Digitrax has been no help in solving the issue.

Carl

[Chinapig]

Well, so far so good.  I had re-programmed 4 of the 6 DS64s, the ones that had routes, and I used the closed command wherever there was an option between closed and thrown.  Then I connected the 12vdc supply to the AX1 and AX2 terminals.
This morning only one turnout threw to the thrown state and that was on one of the two DS64s that had not been reprogrammed.  Previously, at least half of them went off.  I've just reprogrammed that one and we'll see what happens next time the layout's been idle for 24 hours and I then power up.
I'll report back later but due to this "idle for 24 hours" business, it may be a couple of days.

Ted

[Chinapig]

Turning the layout on today I still have the one turnout firing to the thrown position as I did yesterday.  So I'll reprogram again but this time using the thrown command as I'd used the closed command last time.

Ted

[Chinapig]

Still have the same problem on this one turnout.  So, I have one turnout that fires to the thrown position on turning the layout power on.  As it happens, it's the third turnout on first DS64, so the DS64 ID is 1 and it's turnout 3 in my numbering sequence.  It's been this one turnout that has given me the same problem on all of the previous three start-ups.
I didn't fully reprogram the DS64 yesterday, I just reset it by setting Option Switch 7 to closed which sets the DS64 addresses to the defaults which happen to match my addresses for this particular DS64.  Today I will reprogram it fully using the closed command when allocating turnout addresses.
Let's see what happens.

Ted

[GaryHinshaw]

Thank you for keeping us updated Ted.

[carlso]

Ted,

I want to second Gary's thanks for updating. I think we have found a cure ? ? ? Let me say that I did reprogram all 14 DS-64's on our club layout. I set each with a different ID # and gave it a "C" command and then when I programmed each port on the 64, I gave each one of them a "C" command. This has worked ever since with no firing at start up. However, having said that, we were having problems with one 64 that had been in operation for 2-3 months only. We replaced it with a new spare, programmed it and have had no problems with it. BTW, Digitrax sent it back, as "fixed", with no explanation.

I think our problem was hopefully conquered when we removed track power from the first 4 or 5 64's we installed and placed them all on a DS64 only power bus from an old power pack. The combination of our fixes I think, knock on wood, have corrected our situation. I have not, as yet, added any routes back into the system. We are about to decide to make everyone throw all turnouts with their throttle.

Thanks for your valued input. Are we the only people that have experienced this problem with DS64"s? ? ? Or is every one else that much smarter than me and can make heads and tails out of the manual.

Carl

[Chinapig]

No Luck.  Still got exactly the same problem and I'm running out of things to try.
I'm very pleased that I've got rid of the majority of the problem but this remaining bit baffles me.  As and when I get an idea I'll try it out and if I get success I will report back.

Cheers, Ted

[bobthebear]

Hi Carl, and everyone else.
No, as the film says, we are not alone.
I'm in the same RR club as Ted, and on my home layout I have always used diode matrix systems for yards. I thought I would try a DS64, and it has given me nothing but trouble, especially regarding routes. I have tried all 3 power supply inputs with various voltages.  Mine is linked to 5 push-buttons to operate the 4 turnouts (in pairs - at each end of the loops), but when turning on, I get a minutes worth of Seep Motors banging back and forth. Then some respond, some don't. If I attempt to use the throttle, some work, some don't. The wiring has been double checked. Ops sw7 has been deployed and the routes re-installed, but no difference.
Think I may get some diodes out!
Cheers.

[Chinapig]

I meant to say that I am still able to operate my routes as I have them set up on a CML DTM30.  I had thought that the routes you program into this piece of kit were only usable on the local switch panel but obviously not so, as I can still operate the routes from the DT402 throttle.

Ted

[bobthebear]

Well, I have cured my DS64. Sold it, and made up a diode matrix. Works perfectly. Problem solved.

[jagged ben]

Well, I have cured my DS64. Sold it, and made up a diode matrix. Works perfectly. Problem solved.

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