Post by oldmuley on Mar 30, 2014 15:45:50 GMT -8
A good 6 or 7 years ago I purchased a Kaslo Shops SLD39 kit that came with a Loksound ESU decoder. It's just been sitting in a box all this time, until this afternoon when I decided to hook it up. I got everything set to go, and applied power, and was delighted to hear the sounds of the engine, the bells, whistles, etc. That was all great until I turned the throttle and my engine inched forward. After a second the circuit breaker on my Digitrax power supply tripped! I removed the engine, reset the breaker, and tried again. This time I got a nice puff of blue smoke out of the bottom of the decoder. 
So here is my dilemma- I've had this decoder for a long time, but never used it. Clearly it is beyond the 3-year warrantee from the manufacturer and any original receipt I would have had is long gone. ESU will not repair this decoder, but they will replace it... for 162 euros, (however much that is)! Heck, I can buy a new one from Tony's Train Exchange for $111 or a Soundtraxx version for even less.
OK... maybe I'm not looking for advice, maybe I'm just venting. It sure makes me crabby to think that 1 second on my layout and I've burned up a $150 decoder!
So here is my dilemma- I've had this decoder for a long time, but never used it. Clearly it is beyond the 3-year warrantee from the manufacturer and any original receipt I would have had is long gone. ESU will not repair this decoder, but they will replace it... for 162 euros, (however much that is)! Heck, I can buy a new one from Tony's Train Exchange for $111 or a Soundtraxx version for even less.
OK... maybe I'm not looking for advice, maybe I'm just venting. It sure makes me crabby to think that 1 second on my layout and I've burned up a $150 decoder!
