Can a SC-2 Switch Controller "Forget"??

Gregcz1OGR Forum Member

I have 5 Lionel SC-2 Switch controllers (6-22980) operating mostly accessories and two switches which operate through a Legacy remote/base. It has been quite a while since I operated any of the accessories, (I would say about 10 months) and discovered NONE of them were responding when activated through the remote over the weekend. The SC-2's did respond to the program commands and therefore I had to set reset all 5 of them to the numbers I was using before. I turned off the command base and remote and restarted it up again (did this multiple times) and all of the controllers "remembered" their numbers.

I searched the forum and did not anything about this issue. Has anyone experienced this and does anyone know why other than "they are almost 20 years old" this happened?

Greg

5/31/217:28 PM

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gunrunnerjohnOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

I'm surprised they forgot in less than a year, but the EEPROM or FLASH probably used in those can gradually "leak down" and forget what was written to them. The hotter the storage is, the faster the EEPROM or FLASH will lose it's marbles.

5/31/218:42 PM

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Windy CityOGR Forum Member

GRJ,

Can this leak down be prevented?

5/31/2110:00 PM

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gunrunnerjohnOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

@Windy City posted:
Can this leak down be prevented?

Don't store or keep the devices where it gets hot, it takes a lot longer for the leak-down to happen the colder the EPROM/EEPROM/FLASH devices are. There's nothing that can totally eliminate it, it's a natural consequence of how the devices store data.

6/1/219:25 AM

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Keith LOGR Forum Member

FWIW, I've been using SC-2's for 20 years and have never had one forget. In my own experience, at least, they've been extremely robust and reliable. On the other hand, I have had a Block Power Controller lose its programming a few times.

6/1/213:11 PM

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Can a SC-2 Switch Controller "Forget"??

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