# My fault or the decoders?



## cidjackaries (Jul 23, 2008)

Gents here is my issue,

I purchased a brand new athearn Conrail switcher and popped in a DH163AT. As always I program and test the engine and decoder without the shell in the event I need to do any more maintenance. During the test run I went to operate the light and a nice little burn mark appeared on the DH163. (The light didn't come on). As the engine ran with no issues I saw no reason to replace the decoder at current time. 

A week later I went to turn on the track and the engine started, "hopping" back and forth. I proceeded to remove the card and slapped it into my test engine, which proceeded to do the same thing. 

bottom line is , the decoder did I mess it up or is it a MFR defect?

--Cid


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## stationmaster (Dec 7, 2008)

Did you isolate the engine and decoder. Sounds like it could have shorted out the decoder.


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## cidjackaries (Jul 23, 2008)

stationmaster said:


> Did you isolate the engine and decoder. Sounds like it could have shorted out the decoder.


Yes I did. I have a kit and a checklist I follow for each engine I purchase, I am really confused as this is the first time this has happened to me.


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## stationmaster (Dec 7, 2008)

Could be a faulty decoder. My guess if you followed all of teh instructions correctly. They are not above reproach. 

I have fried a couple for no apparent reason. One of the reasons I use plugs for the decoder. Add to that fact, I don't have all of the "bulk" when soldering them into place. They are a bit more expensive when in this configuration, though.


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