Anyone add ditch lights to BLI N Scale NW-2?

[Jim Starbuck]

That looks great Steve. Nice work on the install.

I’m curious to why programming through the keep alive might damage the decoder?
I’ve programmed several with the ISE powerkeeper installed and recently used my first KA-N1 with no problems.
Have I simply gotten away with something that should be a potential problem?

Thanks,
Jim

[sctroy]

I think you might be lucky.  Adding a non-ESU keep alive voids the warranty.  The ESU keep-alives have a third wire that disables the keep-alive during programming, and third party versions don't have a third wire.  ESU highly recommends disconnecting third-party keep-alives when using the Lokprogrammer.  Using DecoderPro or your command station to program one cv at a time is probably fine, but may be iffy for indexed cv's.  I prefer not to risk it.

Steve Troy

[Jim Starbuck]

Thanks for the information Steve.

[sctroy]

This video explains it better than I can.  You only really need to watch the first seven minutes.

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Steve Troy

[peteski]

I think you might be lucky.  Adding a non-ESU keep alive voids the warranty.  The ESU keep-alives have a third wire that disables the keep-alive during programming, and third party versions don't have a third wire.  ESU highly recommends disconnecting third-party keep-alives when using the Lokprogrammer.  Using DecoderPro or your command station to program one cv at a time is probably fine, but may be iffy for indexed cv's.  I prefer not to risk it.

Steve Troy

Nice install Steve.
But what you mention abort keep alive is not quite accurate.  Having keep alive (even a standard 2-wire) connected will not damage anything. Depending on the design of the keep-alive it might or might not interfere with programming on the programming track (service mode). But no physical damage.  It is not about hardware damage, but about usability.  The video actually explains this.  There is no physical damage (unless someone connects the keep-alive to improper voltage pads on the decoder.  I don't buy this "burst service mode programming" actually physically damaging the decoder.  Yes, I know that Larry mentions that this info came directly from ESU.

If you are interested in more details, see https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=56044.msg771403#msg771403 . That post refers to a "Run-N-Smooth)  device, which is a very short duration keep-alive, but the info applies to all 2-wire keep-alive devices.

[sctroy]

Nice install Steve.
But what you mention abort keep alive is not quite accurate.  Having keep alive (even a standard 2-wire) connected will not damage anything. Depending on the design of the keep-alive it might or might not interfere with programming on the programming track (service mode). But no physical damage.  It is not about hardware damage, but about usability.  The video actually explains this.  There is no physical damage (unless someone connects the keep-alive to improper voltage pads on the decoder.  I don't buy this "burst service mode programming" actually physically damaging the decoder.  Yes, I know that Larry mentions that this info came directly from ESU.

Thanks.

Yes, I've read that post before, but I will defer to ESU and play it safe and wait until I'm done with the Lokprogrammer before attaching the keep-alive.  My understanding is that nothing physical gets damaged, it's corruption of the firmware/cv's.  Maybe I'm overly cautious.

Steve Troy