To Shut Down the System:
1. Press the POWER Key to turn track power off
2. Unplug the PS315 from the wall.
26.0 Troubleshooting
26.1 Nothing is responding
Is track power turned on? If the TRACK STATUS Indicator is not lit, press
the POWER Key to turn on track power.
26.2 No Power or Intermittent Operation
The majority of intermittent operation problems can be traced to bad connec-
tions and poor or noisy wheel pickups on locomotives. Check track cleanliness
and quality of wheel pickups. The DCC digital packet communication strategy
performs exceptionally well in a less than perfect environment, and will often
mask bad connections until they are really impossible to work with!
26.2.1 The Quarter Trick
If your track does not have adequate power supply to the locomotives, then the
DCC signal won’t get through either. Take a quarter or screwdriver blade and
go around your layout creating electrical shorts every 10 feet. Your DCS50
should shutdown when the short is present. You will see walking “o” s on your
display to indicate a short circuit shutdown. When the short is removed, the
booster should return to normal operation. If this does not happen, then you
need to add more feeders.
26.2.2 The LT1 Tester
Check your LocoNet cables with the LT1 tester to be sure you don’t have any
cables that were made incorrectly.
26.3 Emergency Stop
If the layout starts to “get away” on you, press the POWER Key to stop every-
thing on the layout.
26.4 Mechanical Drive Train Problems
Pay attention to the mechanical drive train and free movement of the locomo-
tive wheel sets. This is especially important with inexpensive locomotives.
Using Digitrax decoders with appropriate programming settings, you can
achieve surprisingly good quality motion, if you carefully adjust the mecha-
nisms for smooth running.
26.5 “Strange” Locomotive Lights
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