LM-3S track over voltage casualty

[GMM6809]

Today I was finally able to get to hardwire installing my first LM into an engine. It was going well.
I wired up the track pick ups, motor, and speaker to test it and get something’s programmed via the C-1.
Well, at some point while it was on the track, it had a track voltage high warning show up.  I say at some point because I had to tend to my daughter briefly and left the area.

When I come back there is no sound and that distinct smell.
It appeared to be fried.

Is this something I should reach out to Tim Ring to see if it can be repaired or am I just out of the one and only module I had? Lol

I’m now trying to determine how the track voltage spiked and for how long to cause this...
Was an NCE power cab.. so I’m unsure why. It seems fine..

Luckily it was the only engine on the track. Lol

Cheers!

[G8B4Life]

I too would love to know how you got an over voltage warning, the power supply for the PowerCab can only put out 13.8v; unless you were  powering it with something else instead of the included power supply, and if the module was dead when you got back how did it report the over voltage condition?

I'm guessing that you tried seeing if it'd respond again after having taken it off the track for awhile so if it's fried then that's some bad luck. It would certainly pay to reach out to TR and see what he says. He may ask you to send it in for repair or analysis as you were powering if according to the manual.

- Tim

[Espeelark]

Glenn - as Bart would say, "That's a bummer Dude!"
How do you know it was on over-voltage event?
Reason I ask is that the Handheld Control, to my knowledge, only reports/shows instantaneous events that you have to be there to see/read and it doesn't keep a log that you can go back to later and interrogate.
Or am I missing something?

[KPack]

Ring will definitely want to see the module for diagnosis.  He should be able to determine the cause once he opens it up.

If it was an overvoltage event then the track power must have spiked quite a bit.  The LM's can handle a pretty big range of power.  Without looking at the manual, I think it's either 16 or 18 volts max.

I did have a single module out of all that I've installed fry on me for no reason.  Locomotive was just sitting on the track, sound on, then a buzz and a puff of smoke.  Sent it in to Ring and he determined that a loose piece of solder had moved and shorted out the board.  He replaced the module and I've never had another problem like that.

-Kevin

[ON28]

Could a house power spike do that? I installed a whole house surge protector after Superstorm Sandy fried a couple of computers. (Flames were observed exiting a basement outlet...) I know of at least one hobbyist who has an independent power system just for his trains.

[Alan]

In theory yes. Although I would expect you to have lost other electrical items as well.

Several years ago we took a lightning strike on our hot wire fence. It took out every lightning arrestor on the fence, exploded the fence charger into a thousand pieces, came through the service line to the barn where it took out every GFI in the house. It also fried our sump pump, an electric drill that was plugged in, and a half dozen CFL bulbs. Everything else in the house and barn including the train layout was unaffected. Strange which devices took the hit and which ones did not. Given the sump pump was submerged under water and located next to the load center where the barn service is connected, I suspect it bore the brunt on the lightning current.

[Gibs]

Path of least resistance.

[GMM6809]

Hey all, the reason I know it was an over voltage error was because I was using it with the computer in the interface.

Maybe my computer is slow, but even after the smoked module/engine was removed from the track it still showed on the computer that it had a over voltage warning, once I clicked on it and went back to the engine screen it went away, but it was there.

The power supply that I was using (came with the power cab second hand) was not an NCE one, nor did it have any power output indications on it.

It is now in the trash. Haha

I called Ring and was able to get it sent back to them, they should receive it Friday and hopefully they’ll let me know what they find.

I’m definitely saving for the RailPro starter pack though.