Happy Weekend All!
Well almost....quick question for the resident technical experts!
I recently purchased a VL Challenger, it is amazing...but....I think something might be askew with the smoke units.
For color, I use a 180 watt powerhouse to power a simple oval of track with very little accessories powered (a few signals and what not), so the amperage draw due to accessories is quite low. 180 watt PH into DCS/TIU system, then wires to the track (use both Legacy and DCS).
Issue last night:
Challenger powered up fine, and runs absolutely perfect when smoke units are off. I turned on the smoke units last night, and it's almost as if they draw too much power from the transformer (the lights on the Challenger (which are LEDs if I'm not mistaken) dimmed materially, as did the few signals on my layout).
After a minute or so, I heard a sizzling/buzzing sound and smelled burning plastic. I immediately turned off all power and shut-down the layout. I identified the source, and the ground wire (U common) on my fastrack terminal section almost completely melted (thus the burning plastic smell). I suspect this might have been caused by a poor connection (the section is over 2 years old).
I replaced the section with a newer fastrack terminal section to test my theory. Powered up the Challenger as normal, ran fine...turned on the smoke units...only to hear a sizzling/buzzing sound on the terminal posts of my TIU (track connections were fine). As soon as I turn off the smoke units, the sizzling/buzzing sound stops.
Do you guys think there is something wrong with the smoke units on my Challenger based on the aforementioned issues? Unfortunately I don't have an amperage meter to measure the draw, but I've run a VL Big Boy with all smoke units on high, as well as 2 die-cast ES44's in conjunction; I have never had a problem with power/over-draw on amperage.
Any thoughts?
I appreciate it.
Michael
