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Help with non-firing Seep motors [SOLVED]


sunrunner4kr
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Hello everyone,

 

I'm hoping someone can give me some advice on troubleshooting my seep motor problem.

 

I have a Z21, with a Digikeijs booster powering a DCC bus.

I have an ADS4SX decoder connected, and powered by this bus.

I then have a Gaugemaster PM1 seep motor wired up to the decoder 30/0.2; wired to my track DCC bus for power 16/0.2; and frog wired to point frog 30/0.2.

I've used the ADS4SX decoder Set option and the Z21 to program the turnout.

 

When I select the turnout in the Z21 app, I can hear the ADS4SX click, but the motor doesn't budge.

 

I tried switching the bus wiring on the PM1 from A to B, and no change.

I also enabled the Z21 addressing setting for the address offset.

 

Does anyone have any ideas what could be wrong, or how I can troubleshoot where the problem could be?

 

Oh, the ADS4SX also makes quite a bit of a hummin noise. I assume that is normal with all the capacitors.

 

Many thanks in advance

 

Simon

 

IMG_20200623_171340.jpg

IMG_20200623_171412.jpg

Edited by sunrunner4kr
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Does it fire ‘on the bench’ i.e. with a power source connected directly to the motor? 
 

it could simply be a fault motor and the way to fault find is to remove all components and simplify to prove that the end point works. The gradually add bits back into the circuit until it stops working, that then identifies the fault.

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I am not sure I like the look of the wiring connection to the ADS decoder. It looks (but photos can be deceptive) as though the white wire has  a deal of excess exposed non insulated wire. If any of that has touched the green wire input it will have blown the solenoid output. The clicking you can hear may be the frog power relay which will be unaffected. Trim the wires so no bare wire remains exposed and try another of the solenoid ports. Turn the decoder off and press the CDU discharge button before doing anything. I have a lot of these decoders and they are great but they do not like "shorted" wires. I found it incredibly difficult to get the recommended size wire into the terminal blocks so I tried 7/02 dropper wire and it works just fine as long as you keep the cable run to a sensible length.

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Ok...I was being an absolute buffoon. In all my troubleshooting and re-wiring, I re-wired the solenoid to the LED connectors, not the solenoid connectors...

 

It's now working.

 

Thanks for the help!! And yes, I'm equally dissatisfied with the wiring.

 

The decoder has really small connectors, that the 30/0.2 wiring will not fit in! Although following advice, I'm using the 30/0.2 wiring for the solenoids.

The decoder manual also suggests NOT to tin the wiring etc...so I'm unsure if using some form of fixed connector for the wiring would be better

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4 hours ago, sunrunner4kr said:

The decoder has really small connectors, that the 30/0.2 wiring will not fit in! Although following advice, I'm using the 30/0.2 wiring for the solenoids.

The decoder manual also suggests NOT to tin the wiring etc...so I'm unsure if using some form of fixed connector for the wiring would be better

 

The "proper" way to use screw terminals is to crimp a bootlace ferrule on the end of the wire. It will not flow under pressure from the screw like solder can, coming loose over time. In your case it will probably just exacerbate the problem with the small connectors.

 

There's no harm in using a very short run of thinner wire from the connector to the thicker wires. Any voltage drop will be minimal over an inch or two.

 

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On 25/06/2020 at 16:38, Crosland said:

 

There's no harm in using a very short run of thinner wire from the connector to the thicker wires. Any voltage drop will be minimal over an inch or two.

 

I run all my wires from the points etc to terminal blocks close to the ADS's, then use thinner wire to connect to the ADS. It makes it easier to wire up and any strain put on the wires only affects the terminal block, not the very expensive electronic gizmo!

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