Brand New DCC/Sound Loco Not Responding


GuilfordRailman

GuilfordRailman

Well-Known Member
I bought a Walthers Mainline GP9 a month ago. Used it once, worked great! I put it away in its box and packed up the layout to move to my new house. Plugged it in today to use for the first time at the new location and nothing! No lights, sounds, or anything coming from it. I have tried everything I can think of to get it to respond. Power cab says “Cannot read CV”.

Any ideas?
 
Does other stuff run on the layout? Have you tried the quarter trick on the track?
If the answer to those questions is "yes", look for a bad connection to the decoder. It's possible the act of repacking it into its box jarred a connection loose.
 
bnsf971 said:
Does other stuff run on the layout? Have you tried the quarter trick on the track?
If the answer to those questions is "yes", look for a bad connection to the decoder. It's possible the act of repacking it into its box jarred a connection loose.
Click to expand...
I tried my DC locos and they didn’t work either. I’m not sure what the quarter trick is, but I examined my track more closely and discovered the issue.

It seems that at some point during the scenery process, I forgot to remove a layer of clear coat that I sprayed along the ballasted roadbed to seal in material. I didn’t notice this at it was, well…clear lol. I have been working at cleaning the tracks and it seems to be working now. I normally clean the tracks with isopropyl alcohol, on a fairly regular basis I might add and even then, the clear coat still hasn’t come off until the point. Regardless, I’m glad it’s working now:)
 
Glad it’s working.
For future reference, the quarter trick consists of powering up your DCC system, making sure track voltage is turned on, and placing a quarter across the rails. If everything is as it should be, the quarter will trip the internal breaker of the system, which should be noted as a flashing display, audible alarm, or both.
 
bnsf971 said:
Glad it’s working.
For future reference, the quarter trick consists of powering up your DCC system, making sure track voltage is turned on, and placing a quarter across the rails. If everything is as it should be, the quarter will trip the internal breaker of the system, which should be noted as a flashing display, audible alarm, or both.
Click to expand...
Neat! I will make a note of this and use it for any future system problems. Thanks!
 
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