RMweb Gold ITG Posted March 29 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 29 Hi all, I'm hoping someone can help. I have for the first time connected my Z21 and Z21 dual booster to the under construction layout. The two units are linked by canbus. The Z21 drives the accessory bus, and the booster is for track power split into two districts. I first tested only the accessory bus, using a combination of Yamorc 8116 with MTB MP1s and Gaugemaster decoders/solenoids. All working ok. When I first connected the track buses, I realised I had a short which after much investigative work, turned out to be a wrongly used metal rail joiner on a turnout V, rather than an insulated joiner. Now sorted. But I cannot get rid of the blue flashing light on the booster. I’ve tried pressing the button, resetting to factory default, switching off/on. I know the track buses are ok now, as I have separately connected each to the Z21 (temporarily disconnecting the accessory bus), and I can get a loco running in both track districts. The accessory bus is also ok via the Z21. But still the blue flashing light. Attached are photos (whoops upside down for some reason) of the Z21 Maintenance App showing the booster screens. Hoping for some help soon, as may have to go out and do some gardening to relieve the stress! thanks Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WIMorrison Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 This normally happens to me on my booster when the Z21 has not been made active i.e. the blue light on the Z21 is flashing. press the Z21 to make it active and then the booster can be made active. BTW, I don't use the same voltage on the Z21 and the booster. Z21=13v and Booster = 17v Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ITG Posted March 29 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 29 30 minutes ago, WIMorrison said: This normally happens to me on my booster when the Z21 has not been made active i.e. the blue light on the Z21 is flashing. press the Z21 to make it active and then the booster can be made active. BTW, I don't use the same voltage on the Z21 and the booster. Z21=13v and Booster = 17v Mmm, if it is a simple as described, that didn’t work. I pressed the Z21 button (which always was solid blue), which caused that itself to flash blue. A second press returned to solid blue, then I pressed the booster button, no change. I repeated, this time disconnecting the Z21 and reconnecting, then again tried the booster. No luck. Even with no track connections physically plugged into booster, I cannot remove the blue flashing light. ( I recall you’d said previously about the voltage, I just havent got round to that yet, with focus on the blue light!) thanks Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WIMorrison Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 You do have the CAN cable corrected to the correct port - and fully pushed home? Also, have you updated the firmware? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ITG Posted March 29 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 29 (edited) Z21 firmware updated to 1.43. Is there a method of updating booster firmware? I note now, whilst I’ve been gardening, the booster screen has lost its symbols below the twin displays ( see photo) and there’s a small ‘timeout’ on the right side of screen. Hasn’t made any difference to the blue flashing light. CAN definitely in the sockets labelled such and firmly in. Edit - seems to make no difference with no track connections in booster, even when powered off/on. Edited March 29 by ITG Addition Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WIMorrison Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 Download the latest version of tehZ21 Maint Tool (1.18.1) then click Setup in the CAN Screen and finally FW Update in the Booster screen Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ITG Posted March 29 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 29 I downloaded 1.18.1 and then booster FW update which are now same values as in your screenshot. But it made no difference to the booster window. I still have the ‘red stop sign’ below both booster channels. If I physically disconnect the track connection, and power off/on, still same issues. Thanks for your help - any further ideas? Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WIMorrison Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 do you mean like this? I get that stop sign when the blue bar (bottom right) is flashing, just click the flashing blue bar to make it go online and the stop disappears. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ITG Posted March 29 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 29 Clicking the blue bar at bottom right of screen does cause it to flash, and the Z21 light itself, which returns to normal with a second click, but it has no effect on the flashing of the booster or the ‘stop’ signs on the booster screen. What do you think? Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WIMorrison Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 I am wondering if your CAN cable is damaged - can’t really think of anything else 😒 The other people I know with one found it to be like mine - plug, switch on then run the trains. I have spoken to one and he is as lost as I am with the fault. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ITG Posted March 29 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 29 I did wonder if it was the cable, or the booster itself. Both are brand new out of the box. I bought them a few months back but it takes time to get to the point of using. I have no way of testing the cable that I can think of. As only half the layout is connected currently purely for testing, I think I’m going to try temporarily connecting the accessory bus and both track buses together through the Z21 only (there’ll only be an odd loco or two running) purely to (a) give me piece of mind that things will run and (b) be able to continue testing before connecting up another baseboard of track. I guess a call to James at DCC Train Automation (where the booster came from) is next unless you or anyone else has a brainwave. It’s all most frustrating. But thanks for your efforts and support. Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpendle Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 Hi, The CAN Bus cable is just a Cat5E or Cat6E network cable. If you have one of those lying around, give it a try. Regards, John P 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ITG Posted March 30 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 30 7 hours ago, jpendle said: Hi, The CAN Bus cable is just a Cat5E or Cat6E network cable. If you have one of those lying around, give it a try. Regards, John P Ahah! I have such a spare (new) cable, and bingo! Connected it, and on switch on…… no blue flashing lights! Then viewed Z21 Maintenance tool, and Booster presenting on CAN screen with no red ‘stop’ signs. Not yet ran anything on the layout with this configuration but this all looks very promising. Thanks to both Iain and John for respectively suggesting the CAN cable was potentially faulty and suggesting using a Cat5E cable. Ian 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ITG Posted March 31 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 31 (edited) Well, a further update. When I left the system yesterday, all was well although I hadn’t at that point ran a train. So today, initially the blue light on the booster was solid, and for the first time I ran a loco on both power districts connected to the booster, with accessories running off the Z21. Left it for a while, and came back to find the blue flashing light. And so the situation is exactly as previously. Nothing I try can stop it. Again, I disconnected the 2 districts, and linked them back to the Z21 (as well as accessory bus) and loco runs correctly across the two power districts with turnouts in action as required. Surely that proves I have no track or wiring issues? In any case, with no track at all connected to the booster, I still get the dreaded flashing light. So I don’t think it was the CAN cable, changing that was just a coincidence. It surely must be the booster itself, with an intermittent fault. Maybe when it gets warm? I’ve emailed DCC Train Automation and Roco to see what they think, but unless any of you guys can come up with anything different, that’s where I’m at. But I’ll sleep on it and try anew in the morning. Ian Edited March 31 by ITG Added info 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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