Athearn blue box

[torikoos]

Don't give up. I had similar issues with a Tsunami decoder but it is possible to get it to move. First off though, give your engine a good service, clean and relubricate the gears, drive trains, wheel and motor bushings, and clean the motor commutator of all the carbon dust with a clean and dry Q-tip. Then start again.
Download the Digitrax manuals if you haven't already, and have a look if there are more sophisticated motor CV's to set up rather than just start mid and other voltages. A Tsunami has CV's for (technical bit) Proportional, Integrator, and Derivative (PID) controls. Additionally, you can change the sample rate (the amount of times per second the decoder checks the motor responses) between 31 and 2 milliseconds. These factors had a big impact on how my loco runs. It does take time, but check it out if it's possible with your decoder. It is worth it. If it doesn't , don't , but consider if it's worth to re-motor/re-power your loco with a new motor etc. (A-line makes great kits for Athearn). I did this for one of mine, and boy it's worth it!

Oh a common mistake, is the motor well Insulated from the frame? (athearn motors need to be insulated, no more direct contact with the frame, and wires run from the contact strips to the decoder). Particularly the little copper strip at the bottom is sometimes forgotten... you have probably done this, but it's worth mentioning, as it's very easy to overlook. :-)

good luck , Koos.

PS: The link to the full Digitrax decoder manual is here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.digitrax.com/ftp/Decoder_Manual.pdf">http://www.digitrax.com/ftp/Decoder_Manual.pdf</a><!-- m -->
It is more comprehensive than the one shipped with your decoder I think, it describes a lot of functions, and not all will be applicable to yours perhaps. Check the manual of your decoder to find out which CV's it supports, and then check this decoder manual from this link, to find how to set it up. Hope that helps.