Old ESU Select Decoder runs hot and no sound

[rockisland652]

I just pulled am Intermountain GP10 from the box. She has the ESU Select decoder in it. I read the unit into a Sprog with no issues.


Once on the layout, I noticed that the shell was warmer to the touch than I would like and we got motion, lights, but no sound.

When I pulled off the shell, I could smell electrical fire coming from the mechanism.

Changing the speaker did not improve things.

Another nearly identical unit was pulled from the box and the unit sounded right up and ran just fine.



Is this a bad decoder? Short in the board?

Any advice would be most welcome.

[bnsf971]

I've had a couple of the Select 21 pin decoders melt down out of the box. Both times, though, it was the motor part, not the sound part. In fact, I still have one laying around that will make noise and go forward, but will shut the layout down when I reverse it.

[rockisland652]

Thanks, I tried a Tsu2 in the unit and it ran and sounded just fine. Just a dud decoder.