DCS 100 problems

[John]

I created a ticket with Digitrax this afternoon . I think my DCS100 bit the bullet after 20+ years ..

Below is the text:   If you have any additional suggestions, please respond ..   

My DCS100 (over 20+ years old) has stopped working .. Here is what I know

1) Input voltage 16V,
2) Net light flickers normal
3) Config light flickers normal
4) Layout interface Locobuffer USB and also have a PR4 available
5) During normal operation, the system stopped responding to the loconet. I plugged a known good DT400 throttle into the A and B jacks, but the LCD didn't show any information.  I tried a second throttle, same thing.
6) JMRI received no loconet messages, and the DCS 100 did not respond to reading the CVs.
7) I replaced both batteries - they were good and read 3.2V + on a VOM
I swapped the DCS100 with a DB150 - the loconet devices were polled and responded .. the throttles displayed information.

Do you have any suggestions for repair or further trouble shooting?  I don't use it as a booster, just as a command station.

[John]

Received a quick reply from help desk --

Remove the battery for about 10 minutes and then reinsert it.  See if that helps.  Otherwise, there is nothing else that can be done.  The DCS100 is no longer repairable.

[John]

I removed the battery, and let it sit for an hour .. plugged back in and it seems to work now .. checked all the opsw settings - all seems to be ok .. $330 expenditure averted (hopefully)

[Maletrain]

John, you really only need one of those coin batteries at at time.  There are 2 holders there so that you can put in a new battery before taking out the old battery, thus keeping power to the internal memory during the battery replacement.  That was designed to maintain the volatile memory in the DCS 100 so that you don't lose MUs, Op Sw settings that aren't default values, etc.

[John]

John, you really only need one of those coin batteries at at time.  There are 2 holders there so that you can put in a new battery before taking out the old battery, thus keeping power to the internal memory during the battery replacement.  That was designed to maintain the volatile memory in the DCS 100 so that you don't lose MUs, Op Sw settings that aren't default values, etc.

Yes, that's true -- I wasn't very clear on my original post -- I only keep one battery in the DCS at any given time .. what I should have said is I replaced the original battery with a known good one, but both measured good .. thanks for the comment ..

At this stage, the only thing I think of is the basement RH is low, so there may have been some static when plugging stuff in, or I just need to purge and reset the command station more often  ..,  I have two other DB150s that I use in booster mode, so the layout will always be up and running for lone wolf JFRTM ops .  I will likely get a new command station at some point, but I don't need the latest and greatest as long as my Locobuffer and DCS 100 work

[mmyers]

John,
 Now that you have the DCS100 working again, reprogram any Option Switches that may have been set on it. Leaving the CMOS batteries out does a total reset to the defaults. At minimum, you should change it to 120 slots.
Martin

[John]

Martin.  I did that this afternoon.  Taking the battery out and letting it unscramble reset everything to what’s in the manual.   Good to go now.  I might pick up a spare for parts at some point