17
Grounding The Command Station Faceplate
Static electricity, coupled into your EasyDCC System, can result in erratic operation. If you have
ever notices that the moment you touch the faceplate or sometimes a plug-in throttle fascia plate,
the Command Station resets, freezes or sometimes has odd characters on the display, that is the
result of a static electricity discharge.
In many cases, this only occurs during certain times of the year. In other cases it occurs all the
time due to carpeting and air conditioning.
Regardless of the cause we suggest that you ground the Command Station’s faceplate to earth
ground. This usually means running a wire between the Command Station and a metal cold water
pipe or other known good earth ground.
The best location to attach the earth ground is located on the Command Station’s circuit board. In
the lower right corner (looking at the back of the command station) is a nut that fastens the circuit
board to the metal standoff (white circle). The hole for the metal standoff is plated and connects
to the ground of the Command Station power supply.
Create a loop of wire, #18AWG or #20AWG. Loosen the nut, place the wire under the nut and
then tighten. The other end of the wire goes to your earth ground. A spade lug attached to a loop of
wire makes for a neat and professional connection. However you make the connection, be sure
and tighten the nut securely. A loose connection will not help.
With an earth ground connection, the problems with static discharges into your EasyDCC
System are greatly reduced. However, it isn’t perfect and on really dry days, when you can draw
an inch long arc between your finger and a door knob, your system could still be impacted. If this
happens, just hit the Command Station reset button to clear the fault and restart the system.
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