hornby accessory decoder intermittent with railmaster

[victorrichard]

Hi

I have one point motor which works one way all the time,.

when i switch it the other  way it only works the odd time this is by changing the points on the computer using railmaster.

The same point works both ways all the time if i use the elite to control the points.

Is it possible to give a extra boost to the decoder to fire the point motor, if so how is this done please

 Railmaster is running from a windows 7. Points are cnnected to horby accessory decoder

Advice welcome

[Chrissaf]

When using RailMaster to throw points (the ones that work OK) can you hear a secondary click about 1 second apart? i.e the point trying to throw twice. This would be the normal default RM configuration. If you get no second click, then you can configure RM to give the errant point motor (all solenoid point motors that is, not any one point motor in isolation) a second pulse of power by adding the following line (below) to your 'railmaster.ini' file. To access and edit the 'railmaster.ini file' open the RM 'help' then 'about' window. Click the COG icon you will find there and then follow the on-screen prompts. I would expect the line below to be present as it is the default configuration. Add the line below to the file if it is missing, or make it =1 if it is currently =0. Then save the file, exit RM and restart RM to test.

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Double pulse=1

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RM only tells your Elite to operate the point. Thus it is strange that the Elite operates the errant point OK when RM doesn't. The point that is sticking, is almost certainly mis-aligned and needs refitting to completely cure the issue.

[victorrichard]

Hi

thanks for your reply yes i get two clicks on the point.

Im sure the point motor is fitted correctly as its fitted to the point by the four lugs and it  moves freely by fingers. It works every time by the elite but still only occasionally from railmaster

Vic

[Chrissaf]

How very strange. If the motor is mounted directly to the point via the four lugs, then that rules out an alignment issue.

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What about this as a theory for your issue.

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• RM has the default double pulse configuration, borne out by you hearing the double click.
• The Elite on the other hand, only sends a single pulse.
• The Elite operates the errant point OK.
• RM does not or at least not consistently.

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Those are the facts. So what if the issue is caused by the second operating pulse that RM send to the point motor. The small springs that hold the moving point rail against the fixed rail are not as strong as those found on Peco points. The spring is supposed to hold the moving rail against the fixed rail and prevent bounce back. It might be that the errant point has a spring that is either weak or faulty in some way. Could it be that the second pulse is causing a bounce back such that the point is not staying in its fully operated position in the other direction.

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When you say the errant point only operates in one direction using RM (but not Elite), on the ocassions when the point doesn't operate using RM is it that there is not even a click heard i.e. point is totally silent and makes no attempt to move at all. Or is it, you hear a click but when you look at the point it is found to be not fully operated to the other position.

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If what happens is the second description: What happens if you change the Double pulse=1 setting to =0 in the railmaster.ini file thus disabling the second pulse. In other words replicating in RM what happens when you use the Elite to operate the point. Does doing that make any difference?

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I am now tending towards favouring that the point itself is faulty in some way.

[St1ngr4y]

I find it helpful to create a Railmaster program to test points. I usually put a switch left then a switch right about 5 or 6 seconds apart, then enclose them in a Repeat......End Repeat loop with say, 10 repeats. That way you can start the program running then get close to the point to see what is happening to prevent it throwing correctly.

Ray

[victorrichard]

Hi

Thanks for your advice but i still have problems only occasionally the point is peco double point it worked ok from railmaster for over a year.

Ive decided to use the elite on that point when it sticks.

Thanks again Vic

[RDS]

Maybe change the .ini file to give only one click and see what happens with that setting, because that should replicate exactly what the Elite does.