Have I just fried my Zimo 649n

[woodenhead]

Just fitted the decoder to a 108, managed to let a short loose and it made an awful noise.

 

Chip is now responseless - not even reading and I may have smelt burning, just having it on track and the chip is red hot to touch

 

Have I burnt it out?

[norman]

Hi Mr Woodhead

Sadly it seems likely that it is.  The good news is that your Zimo dealer will repair it for a small fee. Commiserations!

[woodenhead]

They only sent it to me yesterday, how would they fix it or is it easier than I think?

 

The other three were installed fine, I inserted my speaker the other way around, no issue until the top went on and the pressure pushed the speaker down and brzzzt

Edited January 20, 2021 by woodenhead

[Amand]

Any failed components would need to be replaced*, and given the complexity the decoder would be returned to the manufacturer. When you return the decoder to the dealer and pay the repair charge they ought to send you a new decoder with the same sound file installed, so no waiting time for a repair to be carried out.

 

As the 649 doesn't have a plastic housing I'd invest in some Kapton tape, its very thin but will insulate the part of the loco that the decoder sits on.

 

* Alternatively any valuable working components could potentially be removed and reused.

[woodenhead]

2 hours ago, Amand said:

Any failed components would need to be replaced*, and given the complexity the decoder would be returned to the manufacturer. When you return the decoder to the dealer and pay the repair charge they ought to send you a new decoder with the same sound file installed, so no waiting time for a repair to be carried out.

 

As the 649 doesn't have a plastic housing I'd invest in some Kapton tape, its very thin but will insulate the part of the loco that the decoder sits on.

 

* Alternatively any valuable working components could potentially be removed and reused.

Thanks - it wasn't the chip that caused the short, it is insulated - it was the connection(s) to the speaker that I installed the wrong way round without using insulation, I got away with it until I pressed the body home.   After my mistake I rechecked my other installations and they are fine, the contacts well away from anything metal and secured.  Last install and I was getting tired, own fault.

 

I sent an email to Digitrains last night, so I await their advice/instructions.

[norman]

I expect its easy - they only charge £30 - the repairs are done at Zimo - you get a replacement for the price of the "repair".  Don't fret we have all been there. Excellent service from YouChoos

Norman

 

[woodenhead]

Digitrains have been in contact, exchange for a small fee will be sorted when I send it back, so it's off to the post office later - in between showers, it's pelting down.

 

On the other side, the functioning DMUs all sound great, had to turn the volume down there was so much coming out of the tiny sugarcube.

[pauliebanger]

5 hours ago, norman said:

I expect its easy - they only charge £30 - the repairs are done at Zimo - you get a replacement for the price of the "repair".  Don't fret we have all been there. Excellent service from YouChoos

Norman

 

 

It's not going to cost woodenhead £30 for this repair.

 

ZIMO charge a standard fee of £18 for repairs not covered by warranty - it states as such on the decoder packaging.

 

Digitrains collect this £18 plus the circa £4 UK postage for sending a replacement decoder to the customer by return. That's around £22 in total for decoders bought from them, which is the case here. They don't charge for handling the repairs or passing back up the chain to ZIMO.

 

Excellent service.

 

Best regards,

 

Paul

 

 

[norman]

Hi Paul

That's good to know, thank you. A little easier than what I thought.

Norman

[pauliebanger]

Hi Norman,

 

Just as easy, but less expensive. LOL

 

Best regards,

 

Paul

[woodenhead]

41 minutes ago, pauliebanger said:

 

It's not going to cost woodenhead £30 for this repair.

 

ZIMO charge a standard fee of £18 for repairs not covered by warranty - it states as such on the decoder packaging.

 

Digitrains collect this £18 plus the circa £4 UK postage for sending a replacement decoder to the customer by return. That's around £22 in total for decoders bought from them, which is the case here. They don't charge for handling the repairs or passing back up the chain to ZIMO.

 

Excellent service.

 

Best regards,

 

Paul

 

 

Shows I didn't read the decoder packaging, but so it does, just checked haha.  That said I just did what I felt I needed to do and ask Digitrains what I should do and it's all in hand.

 

Chip is in the post and given the efficiency of the Digitrains machine I expect this time next week I will have correctly installed the next chip and speaker.