hedley_reynolds Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 Hi It’s me againI am after some help again, I would like to know that if you unplugged the lighting connectors would you still be able for to read and write CVs on a loco or do they have to be connected for to complete the circuit before you can configure the decoder I’m still learning about dcc and I was wondering about this as I have a loco which when I took off the body from the chassis I must of caught the wires when I replaced the body and I was just wondering if I could disconnect the connectors would I be able for to program my decoder as usual and run it without the body for to test it also when I had first did it every time I had put it on the track it showed up as a short as one side had 1 wire off and on the other side had 2 off and they must have been touching each other causing itI would be very grateful for any help and advice thanks very much again Hedley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissaf Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 Usually the only thing that needs connecting is the motor. Think about it logically, the decoder manufacturer won't have any idea what type of loco you are going to fit the decoder to and not all locos come with lights, but they do come with a motor. Hence why decoders destined for controlling lighting in a dummy end loco usually have to be configured in the motor car before being transferred to the dummy end car. I've never come across a decoder that couldn't be configured unless lights were attached..PS - Just for completeness of information. You can get 'Function Only' decoders to control lighting in dummy motor cars. These don't need a motor attached to configure them, but they do seem to be significantly more expensive than a normal motor control function decoder. So most people just use a standard decoder and configure it in the motor car as mentioned above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hedley_reynolds Posted February 5, 2018 Author Share Posted February 5, 2018 Hi Chris thanks very much again for your help and advice I knew about the function only decoder but the reason I had asked was that I didn’t blow the circuit but thinking about it again and the way you have put it I should have known that it shouldn’t make a difference but I was double checking as I was thinking about how some bulbs blow can affect the rest like the older Christmas lights better being safe than sorry but thanks very much again for your help Hedley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 Just adding to what Chris said, the basic Hornby 8249 decoder has 4 function output wires plus the blue common positive. Two of those are the white and yellow for directional lighting where fitted, but no different for connection purposes to the other green and purple ones, just have the logic included for the lighting. These decoders are very often used with none of those wires connected to anything and operate just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hedley_reynolds Posted February 6, 2018 Author Share Posted February 6, 2018 Hi Fishman thanks very much again for your help and advice and it takes me a bit to get used too doing dcc and it’s a lot different than to dc and as you all say that it’s less forgiving than dc but once you get the hang of it it’s great to have and I don’t regret changing to dcc as I have always wanted to get it for my layout and I had bought the elite controller when it first came out but I didn’t get the chance to use it as I was doing a 00 layout in the garage for it but with ill health of my wife and me it went on the back burner as it was too cold in it even in the summer but then my brother suggested that I restart it up again in the back room which is a lot warmer and also doing n gauge as you get a lot more on your layout but to sell my elite controller and get the elink and railmaster but at times I regret getting rid of my elite as I prefer a hand held controller but I didn’t know that I could have just got railmaster for a fiver and kept the elite but now I’m starting to save up for another one anyway thanks very much again for all of your help and advice with everything Hedley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 Hi hedley, no problem, and don’t be so formal, call me fishy like most around here do. Then you can call me and call me into question at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hedley_reynolds Posted February 6, 2018 Author Share Posted February 6, 2018 Hi Fishy thanks very much again and that’s no problem I will from now on Hedley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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