# BLI N scale T1 decoder replacement



## dstonelocpic (Aug 10, 2019)

Hi. I bought the BLI T1 locomotive, (actually pre ordered it and waited 2 plus years) and when it finally arrived it didn't work . It would start up, run a few inches, the stop and restart. I contacted BLI support after cleaning the track, which didn't help, and they said try exchanging it from the supplier. Did that and had the same exact problem, so I sent it to BLI and the sent me a replacement. The replacement actually worked for about 30 feet then started doing the same thing. So I contacted BLI support again and they refused to warranty it any more, saying it's my system causing a problem. I found that curious because none of my other DCC equipped locomotives exhibited this issue. My Paragon 2 PRR M1 works fine and I'm using Digitrax as my power and command control. Seeing as they refused to warranty it and I was stuck with a $300.00 display model, I took the tender apart to see what's going on. I found that the stalling went away when I push down on the board with my finger and I noticed a piece of high density foam in the tender shell that apparently is intended to push on the decoder. So I thought maybe more pressure, but that didn't help. I can only guess that there must be a loose component on the DCC board that's causing this problem, so I'm going to replace the board.
Here's my question.
Does anyone know the wording sequence of BLI's 8 wire plug in from the engine to the chip in the tender? All I can find is HO scale schematics and I don't know if that's the same or not. I'd like to use a ESU product in this.
Poor BLI electronics and lousy customer support. I guess 1 year warranty means nothing these days.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

The loco behavior you describe usually results from
unstable electrical conduct to the loco decoder, or
a loose wire from decoder to the motor. Even tho
new, the loco and/or tender could have dirty power pickup wheels or wipers not making good contact with the wheels.
Clean them again. Not familiar with your loco or
decoder, however, some decoder boards use tiny
plastic clips to attach wires from wheels or to
motor/lights. These sometimes are not tight.

Does the headlight flicker or go out when the loco stops?
Does it flicker as the loco moves? Either of these
faults could be due to bad contacts from wheels to
decoder. If cleaned, check for loose wiring.

Have you tried testing the loco on the workbench? Attach
wires to the DCC controller that you can touch to the
pickup wheels of the unit. Does it run properly for the
test? 

If you can make a video of the operating loco to the
point it stops that would help. Be sure headlight is
visible.

Don


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