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RailKing 30-1176 L1 PS2 Decapod. Sound intermittently cuts out for about a second then comes right back. Sound is on much longer than the occasional cut outs. It is being run on a contiguous loop with no switches or accessory tracks and cuts out at random locations. The first push of the PDA button plays the first announcement with the bell. The second push doesn't do anything and the engine doesn't come to a stop. The third push of PDA reverts right back to the first announcement and bell again. This sequence will just keep repeating. I deleted and added the engine back into DCS to no avail. The original white 8.4V battery is in the tender so I will replace with a BCR. I'm not thinking this is the problem however. I disconnected and reconnected the plugs in the tender to no avail. I didn't take the engine yet apart hoping someone can provide further guidance.

Thanks,

Rich

Last edited by Smoke Stack Lightnin
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Smoke Stack Lightnin posted:

RailKing 30-1176 L1 PS2 Decapod. Sound intermittently cuts out for about a second then comes right back. Sound is on much longer than the occasional cut outs. It is being run on a contiguous loop with no switches or accessory tracks and cuts out at random locations. The first push of the PDA button plays the first announcement with the bell. The second push doesn't do anything and the engine doesn't come to a stop. The third push of PDA reverts right back to the first announcement and bell again. This sequence will just keep repeating. I deleted and added the engine back into DCS to no avail. The original white 8.4V battery is in the tender so I will replace with a BCR. I'm not thinking this is the problem however. I disconnected and reconnected the plugs in the tender to no avail. I didn't take the engine yet apart hoping someone can provide further guidance.

Thanks,

Rich

Once you push the PFA button, you would push the direction button to cycle thru each sequence of the PFA sound file.

Peter; Did the factory reset to no avail, but thanks. I will remember this for future use!

Joe and Barry; Duh, yes you were correct, PFA works! Can you tell its been too long since I ran trains LOL!

Guess next step is to look inside engine for loose wiring. Could this be a corrupted sound file? How about a bad (original) battery? I will let the engine run for a while to see if it charges. What would the symptoms be if the battery is a total goner? 

Thanks for your help,

Rich

 

Upon close inspection of the track, I found many areas that appeared to have (although small) tire smudges. That is why I thought the intermittent sound drops were random. After I cleaned all the track, the sound only drops at the same spot, on one curve, consistently. The battery must be not taking a charge and therefore the drops. Can't explain the problem on the curve (O-72) as it is totally polished, but thinking the roller might be breaking contact due to unevenness. Off to get a BCR!

Thanks everyone!

Rich 

Rich,

I found many areas that appeared to have (although small) tire smudges. That is why I thought the intermittent sound drops were random.

The battery must be not taking a charge and therefore the drops.

I very much doubt if the battery is even part of the problem. The battery has three jobs under DCS:

  • Keeping sounds on during brief (seconds-long) power dropouts.
  • Keeping the PS2 board powered during brief (seconds-long) power dropouts. If it loses power even for an split-second, the engine drops into conventional mode, in neutral
  • Saving settings at power-down.

Numbers 1 & 2 both work or both fail, together,

I would more likely suspect a tether-related issue, particularly when going around a curve.

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