WilliamDavid Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 I have just transferred the TTS Sound decoder from my Railroad Flying Scotsman to the Olton Hall.Sounds quite good (sorry purists).The only problem is that when I try to read its CVs, the RM and Elite fail, where all was fine before the transfer.The loco runs fine, and all the sounds are there, I just can't reprogramme it.I was very careful not to touch anything I shouldn't ( I have fitted 20 dcc decoders up to now), so I am puzzled as to what has happened. Any suggestions?I made the change because the Flying Scotsman is of poor quality and is frequently derailing. The Olton Hall is much smoother and nicer, and goes well with my TTS King Richard ll Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dynax Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 have you tried putting back in the FS and see if reverts back to normal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 The only conclusion I can reach is, despite the electrical pathway from controller connection to wires to track to wheels to wipers to wires to the plug and to the decoder is good enough to run the Olton Hall properly, it isn't good enough on the reduced power programming output to do any reading or programming. The first thing I would try, if you have not already done so, is to disconnect the track output and have only the programming output connected to anything while trying to read or write. You should also make sure everything is clean and firmly connected from programming output of the Elite to the loco. Let us know if that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamDavid Posted December 14, 2015 Author Share Posted December 14, 2015 I will investigate your suggestions tomorrow. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamDavid Posted December 15, 2015 Author Share Posted December 15, 2015 I have done as suggested, but no suuccess.I have replaced the test rail and wiring, put the decoder back in the Scotsman but nothing has changed.Other locos work fine on the test rail.I must have done something to cause this.Never mind , the loco works fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dynax Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 it is unfortunate to have this happen, but at the same time it is a foolish thing to do, handling any type of electronic circuitry without the correct care is asking for trouble, wearing antistatic gloves, making sure that you are earthed when handling components etc, even the magnet from the speaker can cause issues if it is too close to the circuit board,I hope that some lessons have been learnt, and to keep away from the temptation of buying decoders that have been removed from locos and are being sold seperately, and i would hope that it would bring home to Hornby that it would be quite viable to have available budget sound decoders as an individual item, so as to help try and stop this trend that is happening all too frequently, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael_A Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 You could try connecting the decoder direcly to the programming outputs, i.e. eliminating track, connections, pick ups etc etc. It would be a rather strange electronic failure in any case that would prevent writing or reading to the on board micro controller. In any case you have to handle a decoder to install one in a DCC ready loco, so they should be safe to handle if reasonable precautions are taken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamDavid Posted December 15, 2015 Author Share Posted December 15, 2015 Dynax, I am a retired graduate Engineer, and am well aware of the need for careful handling of electronic components.I took the loco to my local model shop, and it was fine on his Elite. It turns out that my Elite is at fault, not the loco.I connected up my Elink, and that worked great.I don't know if it is worth getting the Elite looked at, as I can always use the Elink for CV work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 I would contact HCC about returning to Hornby for repair. They are very good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamDavid Posted December 15, 2015 Author Share Posted December 15, 2015 Cheers, I'll give HCC a call tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamDavid Posted December 15, 2015 Author Share Posted December 15, 2015 duplicate post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamDavid Posted December 17, 2015 Author Share Posted December 17, 2015 It should be with them tomorrow. I hope it's not to expensive to fix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamDavid Posted January 14, 2016 Author Share Posted January 14, 2016 Received a reply from Hornby. Apparently it is beyond economic repair.Seeing that these sell for over £200, they must have a very expensive repair department.Not impressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted January 14, 2016 Share Posted January 14, 2016 Probably a case of not being able to get hold of piece part spares and the Elite build not being very suitable for component replacement.I've had one of mine to bits to install a backlight and they are a pig to fiddle with, although if the parts were available you could effect a repair at some labour cost (I've heard of people repairing slot car decoders).Couple this with the fact they have changed factories for the latest production batch of Elites and who knows what is inside the old versus new Elites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamDavid Posted January 14, 2016 Author Share Posted January 14, 2016 I suppose it's one of the drawbacks of living in a throwaway society.I'll just carry on with the elink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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