Discussion related to everything about model railroading, from layout design and planning, to reviews of related model tools and equipment. Discussion includes O, S, HO, N and Z, as well as narrow gauge topics. Also includes discussion of traditional "toy train" and "collector" topics such as Lionel, American Flyer, Marx, and others. Also includes discussion of outdoor garden railways and live steamers.
Discussion related to everything about model railroading, from layout design and planning, to reviews of related model tools and equipment. Discussion includes O, S, HO, N and Z, as well as narrow gauge topics. Also includes discussion of traditional "toy train" and "collector" topics such as Lionel, American Flyer, Marx, and others. Also includes discussion of outdoor garden railways and live steamers.
hi All
I recently had a bad experience with some Athearn SD-45-2 with factory equipped(MRC) sound decoders
the units brand new off the programming track while running at speed would randomly slow down to a stop pause then accellerate back to the previously selected speed step
they stopped 3 times before making one complete circuit on the main
other club members who had Athearn enignes(both steam and diesel) reported the same thing and worse
In some cases the engines when stopped would not start and lose their programming
I'm curious if anyone else has experienced any problems similar to mine
i've been told that Athearn is aware of the situation but has declined comment
thanks
Lou
BTW after that experience the locomotives were placed back in their boxes and eventually sold (the purchaser was aware of the problem)
railvidpro wrote:i've been told that Athearn is aware of the situation but has declined comment
Who told you this? Why would they "decline comment." Doesn't make any sense. Why don't you contact Athearn and let us know what you find out? Are you sure it's an issue with Athearn and not with the programming?
It's a moot point now because I have dispoded of the engines.
Will I purchase any Athearn sound units in the future?probably not until I know for sure that it wasen't a programming issue.
I haven't contacted the manufacturer personally but others I know have regarding the same issue and my statement was based on what the others involved have stated to me
Manufacturers rarely admit that they have problems with a product line which is why I posted my inquiry on this forum.
I wanted to find out from the modellers who use this product what their thoughts on this issue are
The MRC decoders that Athearn uses in their sound locomotives have less than a stellar reputation for reliability to begin with
so Let's see what the consumers have to say
I recently had a problem with an SD60M, but it turned out to be the contacts to the trucks. It wasn't a hard thing to fix, but for me, when you spend that kind of money, you shouldn't have to do that. It has to do with the clips that hold the wires to the contacts on the truck assemblies, and a little bit of solder did the trick, but I know how you feel.
A fellow club member had the same issue. The engine would run fine, but it suddenly stopped working and would not start up. He tried hard resetting it on a seperate DCC system, but it didn't work so he sent it back to Athearn. Athearn fixed it, sent it back to him, and it ran, but he couldn't adjust te start speed. When the throttle was at 1, it would take off flying down the tracks. Then, it lost its programming and had to be hard reset (at least it worked this time!) It has to be hard reset from time to time (hard reset means blast programming on the main aka ops mode broadcast through the system (meaning no locos on the tracks except for the one you're trying to program))
I will never buy an Athearn Genesis with sound unless Athearn changes decoder manufacturers!
No matter how many times they say its better its not. 3 members of our club have had these engines all with odd results and not one of them satisfied with the engines. I have also had this discussion on the NCE yahoo group and the ultimate solution is either A. Dont buy the loco with sound factory and install a known relyable sound decoder of your choice. or B. if you already have the money invested and cannot return it then replace the entire decoder with a different dcc sound decoder of your choice.
As its been said many have attempted to contact athearn with no avail... They really dont seem to want to stand behind this product. Contacting MRC if any response they tell you "oh were fixing that in the next version" and that you will have to wait till its released and replace it yourself. Its sad to see what once was the best dc throttle maker now makes the worse digital control system and decoders. I highly recommend anyone interested in any of the new genesis engines to buy them without the sound and have a real DCC sound system profesionally installed afterwords. Dont support this horrible system and maybe athearn will get the hint and move on to something else!
I haven't had any problems with my athearn dcc/sound steamers and diesels(have 11) with the Prodigy 2
MRC is a local company to me(2 miles away),I had one problem back when they first came out with decoders.
As I brought it right to them,the guy went into the back tested it(found to be bad)brought me out a new one.
If you have a problem with it,JUST SEND IT BACK.
