How To Use The ESU Decoder Tester On Your Model Railroad
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- čas přidán 12. 01. 2018
- Do You Ever Wish You Tested Your DCC Decoder Before You Installed It In Your Locomotive? With The ESU DCC decoder tester, you can do that easily. In this video I show you how you can do this simple test to avoid aggravation.
Not all DCC decoders work correctly from the factory. This is why you should test all your new DCC decoders before installing them in your locomotives.
www.dccwiki.com/Locomotive_Int...
www.dccwiki.com/Mobile_Decoder
www.dccwiki.com/SUSI
www.sbs4dcc.com/home.html
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Intended for viewers over the age of 14 - Jak na to + styl
I have had the ESU decoder for about 2 years and always user it before I install a decoder. I added color coded alligator clips to speed up connecting up the non pin decoder. I have tested Sound decoders and the speaker on the ESU works well. A good product, great video
Thanks Will. As soon as I find a sound decoder and a good loco to go with it, I'll be doing that test.
Thank you Tom. I just bought one of these testers and can't wait to try it out.
Your welcome Rod. Glad I can help! These testers do a great job with your new decoders.
Great video Tom, I also have one of these ESU testers, excellent product. Good to see how someone else uses a product that I have brought. Sometimes wonder if I am going about it the right way, so thanks again
Thanks Stephen. Were you doing it right all along?
Mostly Tom, was not sure about the star on the 8 pin plug though, now I am enlighten, hahaha
This Video Tutorial was exactly what I needed instructions on THANK YOU TREMENDOUSLY! Well Done!
Hope you are doing well.
Glad it helped!
thanks this was very helpful as i am thinking about going to DCC some time in the hopefully near future
Glad I could help Scott. If you have any questions when you get to that point, let me know. I'd be glad to help!
great video
chuck
Thank you Chuck
THANK YOU...for sharing.
Your Welcome
Great video
Thanks!
very good Tom Thanks
Your welcome Jim.
Very good intro to using this tester thank you
Glad you like it!
@@TomsTrainsandThings JUst got mine. Got to test an ESU Essential Sound decoder. I think aux 1 is dead
Hi Thank You so much for the How to Video's most Helpful. Babs
Your welcome Babs
Hi Tom just received one of these testers to check some of my decoders which I suspect are faulty can you please tell me if you have to give the unit a loco number as some of my decoders we’re programmed and developed a fault when placed on the main track thanks
Michael
Hi Michael, It's a good idea to have a separate number for each locomotive. You don't want to have several #03 Locos on the track at the same time, that defeats the purpose of DCC. If you had issues after programming your locos, there may have been a procedure that was done incorrectly. I have a few simple instruction videos on programming a loco you may want to reference. It's with a Digitrax system but it will point you in the right direction. czcams.com/play/PLjjhnrIKSTShOpvr2Dqx-7pd8U_tVFZOS.html
Tom do you find it a common problem faulty decoders as I don't yet seem to have had one, perhaps I've just been lucky.
This was the first decoder I ever had a problem with. Could have been my fault since it's about 2 years old and I've been handling it extensively in and out of the packaging. Things like that always happen. Luckily it wasn't a live show. lol
How do you test a N Scale circuit board decoder, like the Digitrax DN163A0 or DN163A1 boards? How do you connect to them, and specifically to the motor connections in middle of board?
The Digitrax manual shows you which pads go where. Solder a wire onto them and connect it to the tester where indicated. Easier, put it in your loco and run it.
@@TomsTrainsandThings I was hoping to test them before putting them in the locomotive. I guess I could solder them, but would rather clip them... I have 2-4 decoders that I can not get to work in the locomotive (several that do, so its not the Digitrax DCS50 Commander), and 6 new decoders on order. Two are 1999 LENZ decoders over 14-20 years old, but rarely used. I might have to make up a jig to quickly swap them so I dont hurt them with heat or static electricity. Just was hoping for a commercial option for DN type circuit boards verses LT1 Wiring everything. Thanks.
Tom, I have an idea, at the end of your next video, you should point to the top left like you always do, and then a small video appears and it’s you pointing again. Ooh, maybe you could be pointing the other way and then your fingers would be touching, like ET or Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam. That would be cool. -Mark
That's a great idea Mark. I should use my green screen to poke myself in the eye or something like that. lol Thanks for the ideas!
will it work on a decoder ring?
Not sure what a decoder ring is. I got one in a cereal box when I was a kid. lol
Great video Tom, I have seen these and thought about the purchase of one. Do you always have to solder those leads onto the decoder in order to use the tester? Does it depend on the decoder? And, can you program on that device, or is it strictly for testing? Curious!! Thanks for sharing Tom
D. Muse
+David Muse thanks David. That's specific to the decoder, some have leads on them already. I'll have to test that out
What is the name of your website
All information is in the description of the video
Tom: can you use this tester using DCC++ and DecoderPro? I can’t figure out how to connect a throttle to the decoder tester in this scenario.
The tester was not designed to have a throttle attached. It tests the decoder and nothing else!
@@TomsTrainsandThings I understand that. What I don’t understand is how to use the tester using DCC++ and JMRI. Is that possible?
I don’t understand. You plug in the 8pin and then also wire in the cables? Surely you don’t need to do both?
They are there to do one or the other. That's why there are multiple plugs and connecton points
Tom, your video is NOT clear enough because the viewer can’t see the leds at all with the lights on. Can this device be used with ALL decoders or only ESU ones? What happens when headlight or rear light flashes on and off? Which pin is pin 1 on the NEM651 socket? Thanks
I turned the lights out in part of the demonstration so the viewer can see the LED's. 1080p full screen works fine. I also mention which LED's are lit.
At the beginning, I showed that I was using a Digitrax decoder. Pin #1 is typically marked with a 1 or a dot.
Nice video but I'm wondering where does the blue wire from my decoder connect on the board? i just got one of these testers and have the say I find the instruction that come with it are not very clear. The instructions say to connect the board to the test track connection on my command station. I figured that can't be right for testing a decoder. So anyway where does the blue wire connect?
You need a DCC signal on the tester to test the decoder. The tester does no generate it's own signal. The blue wire is usually the common for the LED('s). Check your decoder documentation for what wires are for what purpose.
Sorry Tom its now a year since you did this video, however, I have a loco that has decided not to function after everything worked fine 6 months ago, As I have been trying out different addresses I don,t know its address, also its not responding to the digitrax throttle, programming back to CV8 = 8 not is responding, so I don't know where I am with it, What can I do to test the decoder when I don,t know its address?
Use the decoder tester supplied with all Digitrax command stations or the esu tester here. You may have a bad decoder if it can't be read or a loose wire or wire completely off.
How do I test the decoder without stripping the decoder out of the loco? When the decoder is already installed in the loco. By the way I have 5 locos with the same problem and 2 that I have stripped so far, the decoder's have been at fault. Going forward I am going to start to remove all locos from the loft in cold weather. just take up into the loft the locos I want to run in a particular session@@TomsTrainsandThings
Could the F1 not be working properly because your not using the Blue common wire ? maybe the output is floating. Put a resistor and led between the Blue and F1 to test.
Thanks for the suggestion, I'll give it a try. I have another decoder, I'll try that one also. It lit up all 7 function LEDs on the tester.
might also clean board too, flux can cause issues as well
Cleaned the board, but that didn't help. I'll try my other decoder later today to see what that one does.