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Class 50 pcb problem with dcc


The Bulldozer

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Hi,
So I've picked up a second hand Hornby model of R2350 class 50 Achilles in NSE livery. 
I tried fitting a decoder chip to it and got the dreaded white smoke.
When I tried a second time and got exactly the same result, I went searching on the internet for any known problems.
It turns out that there was some sort of wiring problem with the PCBs on the first batches of Hornby's class 50s. 

Now I love the look of the loco but if I am to keep it, I need to convert it.
Has anyone else had this problem?
Does anyone have instructions on what wiring changes need to be made in order to fit a dcc chip to it?

 

 

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Thanks for the quick reply Rog.Hornby didn't help when I last contacted them on the subject - I was told that they had no replacement boards and I have been on a waiting list for some time to receive one if they do get them in.  If the PCB can be bypassed, does this mean that the PCB serves no purpose, other than to connect the decoder socket to the lights, motor and pickups?

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Not sure but I think someone suggested, some time ago, that it had circuitry to stabilise LED brightness when run at slow speeds and high speeds. I think it also changes polarity of the feeds to the LEDs on DCC as I believe the LEDs are common cathode and of course decoders use common anodes, so if you do remove the PCB you may also need to change the wiring of the LEDs and provide current limiting resistors for them.

 

The more I think about it, the more difficult it seems to be to just remove the PCB.

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  • 2 years later...
  • 2 weeks later...

As i recall, Model Rail discovered this duing a review .... but if the decoder was plugged in 180 degree reversed from marked, it worked  ... the problem being where the blue lead plugged in .... and connected to a green output instead !  [not the only model or manufactuer to mirror image or rotate the connector !!!]

As i have just  fitted 3 with TTS sound but with larger speakers .. fitted where the pcb goes ..... i simply removed them as, apart from capacitor backup -anti-flicker  the decoder provides all the functionality in a smaller space .. and a 4 function decoder gives indepenent tail lighting too.

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