# Need help with my NEW NCE system



## Bkubiak (Oct 20, 2013)

Here is the scenario
I bought a new BLI EMD SD40-2 and was running it on my DC setup blowing the horn and ringing the bell etc until I saved up for an NCE Power cab
Got the power cab today and installed it, did everything correct, finally
went to run my BLI loco followed the instructions to select loco, #3, enter and push #6 to start loco and nothing happens, nada nuttin
I checked, double checked and triple checked everything what the heck am I doing wrong and what shall I do to correct it
BTW I checked the track voltage an I have almost 16v everywhere I check


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## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

Is your loco DCC ready, or is it DCC equipped? My Kato locos are DCC ready, and I did the same thing as you. I put it on the track, applied DCC power, and nothing happened except the light came on. Come to find out, I needed to use address #0 to get it to run on DC, since it did not have a DCC decoder installed. It is READY for a decoder, but doesn't have one installed...yet. I've got to get that done. Try yours on address 0 and see what happens.


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## Bkubiak (Oct 20, 2013)

Fire21 said:


> Is your loco DCC ready, or is it DCC equipped? My Kato locos are DCC ready, and I did the same thing as you. I put it on the track, applied DCC power, and nothing happened except the light came on. Come to find out, I needed to use address #0 to get it to run on DC, since it did not have a DCC decoder installed. It is READY for a decoder, but doesn't have one installed...yet. I've got to get that done. Try yours on address 0 and see what happens.


It is Fully DCC with BLI's paragon 2 sound system all installed, I was wondering if the wires plus and minus to the track could be backwards, although I doubt if that would make any difference


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## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

Hmmmmm. That was the only idea I could think of. No, switching the wires wouldn't do anything except maybe change the direction. I wonder if it has some other address for some reason. But from what I understand, all new equipment comes with #03...did you enter 03 or just 3?


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## Mark R. (Jan 26, 2013)

There is no polarity in the track wires to be backwards. Are you sure the address is 3 ? Some manufacturers number the decoder based on the engine number. What is pressing F6 supposed to do ?

(Edit) - Nevermind, found the manual and answered my own questions ....

Mark.


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## Bkubiak (Oct 20, 2013)

Fire21 said:


> Hmmmmm. That was the only idea I could think of. No, switching the wires wouldn't do anything except maybe change the direction. I wonder if it has some other address for some reason. But from what I understand, all new equipment comes with #03...did you enter 03 or just 3?


I entered just 3 according to the NCE instruction manual, it said "Do not press O, just press 3"


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## Bkubiak (Oct 20, 2013)

Mark R. said:


> There is no polarity in the track wires to be backwards. Are you sure the address is 3 ? Some manufacturers number the decoder based on the engine number. What is pressing F6 supposed to do ?
> 
> (Edit) - Nevermind, found the manual and answered my own questions ....
> 
> Mark.


Yup it starts the engine up


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## Bkubiak (Oct 20, 2013)

Bkubiak said:


> Yup it starts the engine up


This is interesting, I put my auto multimeter leads on the tracks and get 15.5 volts but when I reverse the leads it read 10.5 V ?????? whaaaat?????I thought it would read the same either way???


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## Mark R. (Jan 26, 2013)

Are you able to do ANYthing with the engine ? Assuming your NCE system IS hooked up correctly, you might want to try a factory reset on your engine. That usually cures most oddities. Just set CV8 to 8, and that should set everything to the way it came from the factory - including the address to 3. 

Mark.


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## Brakeman Jake (Mar 8, 2009)

Try a decoder reset...CV29 or some other CV may have been changed by accident.


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## Mark R. (Jan 26, 2013)

Bkubiak said:


> This is interesting, I put my auto multimeter leads on the tracks and get 15.5 volts but when I reverse the leads it read 10.5 V ?????? whaaaat?????I thought it would read the same either way???


What do you have your meter set to ? DCC is a high frequency AC voltage. The AC setting on a regular meter will be close, but not 100% accurate.

Mark.


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## Bkubiak (Oct 20, 2013)

OK here is something else to consider, I still have that New Bachman 4-8-4 DCC Steamer. I put it on the track and it does the same thing, nothing at all,


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## Mark R. (Jan 26, 2013)

Seems to be pointing to your DCC system, not your engines. Might want to go over your system wiring and configuration again ....

Mark.


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## Bkubiak (Oct 20, 2013)

Mark R. said:


> Seems to be pointing to your DCC system, not your engines. Might want to go over your system wiring and configuration again ....
> 
> Mark.


Yea I got it working, I was watching all the NCE video's and then went back and when it asked for the loco number, instead of typing in #3, I put in the number on the loco itself hit enter and poof the engine came to life


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

Yes, that's the way it works. It was asking you to set the four digit address.


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## Bkubiak (Oct 20, 2013)

Cycleops said:


> Yes, that's the way it works. It was asking you to set the four digit address.


It was really cool, the second I pressed enter the loco gave off a loud pssssssssssss and the engine start up sound started and then it sat there running at idle. So far I am just running it around the track blowing the horn and ringing the bell and seeing how slow I can make it go and this BLI will run really slow, I gotta fool around to see all the other stuff it does and it does a lot of stuff according to the BLI manual.

A question: if I want to make other sounds and they require pressing number buttons higher then 9. how do you do it???


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## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

I have no answer to your sounds question, but I'm just glad to hear that your solution to the loco movement was so simple!


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

I'm glad you got it figured out. The owner's manual should have the answer to your other question, but not being an NCE user I can't help you.


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

Bkubiak said:


> A question: if I want to make other sounds and they require pressing number buttons higher then 9. how do you do it???


To access the numbers higher than 9 press 'Option' and the function number you want minus ten. Therefore if you want F12 press Option then 2. The same applies for finctions 20 to 30. I'm sure you've already realised these functions above 9 are not displayed, to see them press 'EXPN' and they will be displayed in two lines, the first to F10 and the one underneath to F20, but you will have to put the 'tens' in front. So F14 for instance will show as 4. They are in sequence so it's not too hard to comprehend.


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