# New to DCC



## Elwood P Dowd (Dec 8, 2013)

Ok I've got a Athearn SD45 that is DCC quick plug equipped. It runs fine on my DC setup but I recently purchased a Digitrax Zepher and since this is the only loco that I have that is new enough to mention anything about being DCC ready I figured I would try this one out with dcc first. Well even when running it with the Zepher in DC mode I get a terrible buzzing sound that changes frequency as I move the throttle up and down and when I took the body off to see what was going on I noticed an intense bright light coming from where the bottom brush contacts the commutator even when just sitting still on the track without applying any throttle. I purchased a Soundtrax DCC mobile 8 pin decoder but I dont want to hook it up until I can figure out what the heck is going on. Anybody else had an experience like this one. The motor is isolated from the frame.:dunno:


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## Brakeman Jake (Mar 8, 2009)

The sound is perfectly normal when running a DC loco on DCC.It sounds pretty loud when stopped and fades away as throttle is increased...this is why it is NOT RECOMMENDED to leave an idle DC loco on DCC track...the motor will get very hot and could be damaged.

Why this?DC is straight current,positive is always positive and so on while DCC is more like alternating current where positive and negative constantly alternate thus the "singing" of a DC motor.

Simply install your decoder and this noise will fade away,there's nothing wrong with the loco.


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## Elwood P Dowd (Dec 8, 2013)

Well your right, that's what I did and that's what happened, the sound didn't concern me as much as the "arcing" between the brush and the commutator, it was real bright and there was a little puff of smoke every time it did it. Now I've got to tear it back apart and switch my front lights with the rear because now my rear lights come on when I'm going forward which is actually reverse on the controller so really the lights are wired up right but the motors backwards but I think the lights would be easier to fix. One of these days I'll figure out how to switch which direction is forward and reverse with the CV values. lol


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## Brakeman Jake (Mar 8, 2009)

Make sure the eight pin plug wasn't plugged reversed...it may be your problem with lights.If not,come back and we'll walk you through decoder tuning.


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## Elwood P Dowd (Dec 8, 2013)

Well I'm pretty sure I put the plug in the right way. The female side thats mounted to the board had a small dot of orange paint that I would assume means that it's the #1 pin since that wire is orange, but you know what they say about assuming. I don't know if I'm just not in the right mood to learn something new tonight or what but I'm just not getting what I need out of the users manual for this DigiTrax Zephr. I dont seem to be able to make heads or tails out of what it's telling me even if I can find what I'm trying to do in this thing. Ah well it's almost be time now, tomorrow I'll give it another go.


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## Brakeman Jake (Mar 8, 2009)

Orange wire is indeed pin no. oneSeems like the decoder may need some fine tuning,no big thing.But then,tomorrow is another day....


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