DCC Decoder life span


D

D Cody

Member
Does it shorten the life span on a decoder to have in on a "Hot" track all the time. And what is the life of one any ways?
I just transfered all my loco over to DCC and was just wondering.
Thanks in advance

Dean
 
Yes, it ought to shorten its lifespan, but not as much as when its amperage throughput is highest, say making its host pull a hefty train. The decoder gets hotter as it manages amperage, and heat means skinning the lifespan.

When it is on hot track, it is sampling packets all the time in the signal looking for packets addressed to it. Even QSI's nifty coma-setting (double-press F9 three times in succession) won't spare the decoder from some incursion into its years because the decoder will respond when you next push F6 twice...meaning it is still paying attention to them packets.

Let's be reasonable, though. A radio plugged in, a clock radio, your TV, your anything with active circuitry, or that is on much of the time, has a finite life. We don't worry about it much, or we should probably not.
 
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You will notice that a light bulb usually burns out when you turn it on. The initial surge when powering up anything electrical or electronic takes its toll over time.....as well as the constant burn.




Mike
 
D Cody said:
And what is the life of one any ways?
Click to expand...
Depends on the brand. The old MRCs had a life expectancy of a few minutes :rolleyes:. A bit more seriously, I've had some last for years and others only months. I don't think I have had any of the "modern" ones (withing the last 5 years) go bad on me yet, but neither am I running as hard as I used to.

When I install a decoder I just assume it will never go bad. Otherwise I'd keep myself up at night worrying about frying decoders.
 
It's all solid state, so the only thing that should really go bad is the solder. Eventually it'll crack from thermal expansion/contraction, especially if it's the lead-free stuff. That's if they don't overload and fry, or if you don't pinch a wire and fry it (like I did).

So long as it's not crazy hot I don't imagine it'll make a huge difference either way, other than wasting a little power. I suspect that proper cooling (thermal grease and a heat sink on the power transistors?) would prolong a decoder's life. But yeah, consistently high temps would probably be better than cycling.
 
Thanks everyone, I was just wondering if I should isolate staging tracks to keep power off of them, but I like the looks of everything lighted up and ready to go!!! So I guess it does not make a lot of difference, so on they stay:D
Dean
 
Oh, 'bout dem lights. Using the bulbs is shortening their lifespan. If they are LEDs, then they should last a very long time, provided they are not overdriven by voltage that is at their upper engineered limit.
 
I have 3 Atlas N scale engines that have Digitrax DZ121's in them and have for a good 12 years and they still work great. Have a few HO engines with DH 121's and they have slowly died over the years. Have 2 engines left with 121's and one of them is starting to give out. Usually they quit holding their programed address. MRC decoders I think are junk. I have never had a good one. And I have never had problems with NCE decoders.
 
I have got TCS decoders in them right now and not having any problems, I guess time will tell, at least I have a 1year warrenty on them:D

Dean
 
I have 2 engines with TCS decoders that I bought from someone about a year ago. I have not had any problems so far with them.
 
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