ERR Cruise Commander stuck in reverse and shorting out

Sure you did not have a pinched motor lead or stray wire strands at the connecter? G

It's likely a motor lead was shorted and it took out the driver FETs.  I've fixed a few of these with the same problem.  They're very robust, but you can kill them if you try.

GGG posted:

Sure you did not have a pinched motor lead or stray wire strands at the connecter? G

Yes. All the wiring is properly insulated/separated and not pinched.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

It's likely a motor lead was shorted and it took out the driver FETs.  I've fixed a few of these with the same problem.  They're very robust, but you can kill them if you try.

But how? Everything was working fine and yesterday poof. Ive been over all the wiring and it's all fine. No cuts/burns anywhere. 

Hard to say, and it could, of course, have been simply a component failure.  Is there any chance you had a motor stall where the locomotive got stuck?  The FET's can be replaced, I keep them in stock.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Hard to say, and it could, of course, have been simply a component failure.  Is there any chance you had a motor stall where the locomotive got stuck?  The FET's can be replaced, I keep them in stock.

Not that I can recall. About the only weird thing I can remember happening was the last time I ran the locomotive the trailing B unit derailed backing through a Ross 042 switch. Tripped the breaker instantly. I rerailed it and the locomotive ran fine after that (ran it about half an hour after that). Doesn't seem like that should cause an issue like this.

If 3rd Rail doesn't get back to me next week can I send you the board to repair? I don't see any burned spots so I assume that it could be a FET.

Yep, I can repair it.  Obviously it would be better if 3rd Rail fixes/replaces it.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Yep, I can repair it.  Obviously it would be better if 3rd Rail fixes/replaces it.

Thanks. If 3rd Rail doesn't want to fix it I'll be contacting you to repair the board. 

Hopefully, you'll get them to replace it.

I'll see what happens next week and update when I find out.

Heard back from 3rd Rail. I'll be sending the board in for an exchange tomorrow. Thanks for the help.

When doing a new clean ERR Cruise Commander install , is it a good idea to place a PTC inline series  with the pickup roller?  If so what value would you use?  

A full Cruise Commander normally is pretty robust.  However, if you want extra protection, consider a PTC with a trip value between 2A and 3A, depending on the size of the locomotive and the load you'll be running.

Thank You , John.  Wasn't too sure how well protected the CC's actually are.  I guess an ounce of protection is a pound of cure.  

Rated at 8amps.  G

They are pretty robust, though I have replaced the FET's on a few for folks that have shorted the motors and cooked them.  Usually, that's the part that suffers with excessive current.  I'm a little surprised that the bridge rectifier has never been bad on any of them.