Lenz LS150 to Hornby Elite controller

[dapatter]

Hi i am installing a lenz ls150 with 6 peco point motors and then connecting this back to the accessory outlet on the hornby elite. Couple of questions about wiring:

1) LS150 says it needs AC 16V max input power. Do I need a separate transformer

for this? Or can this connect to the accessory port on the elite which says 15V DC?

2) LS150 says needs to then connect to the track to receive the pulse, or does this simply plug into the Accessory port on the hornby elite?

3) How to programe

the elite for the LS150 so as to be able to recognise the 6 separate motors attached to it?

[FinnerZ]

If this unit is a points/accessories decoder, I would presume you would need to link it to the track to use it, but if it requires a separate power supply, I'm not sure if the elite accessories outlet would suffice. Hopefully others will be able to give

more information about programming as I have never used this model myself. Just don't connect the track connection to the accessories outlet on the elite if it is a decoder.

[Phil_Spiegel.]

The LS 150 CLEARLY STATES and EXPLAINS WHY is NEEDS a (16V) A.C. power supply - the electronic switching devices used REQUIRE the voltage to fall to zero to turn off (just as Zero-1 deoders needed to with their Triacs then Thyristors
[b]The Hornby,

or any other DC power supply must NOT be used!!![/b]

As with MANY Accessory Decoders, the LS150 uses a separate power supply for the ACTUAL OPERATING POWER to fire the solenoids, rather than take the power from the
dcc-track/accessory bus... which

might otherwise see a sudden drop in loco speeds/sound/lighting whenever a point was operated.Also note that it works better with the 'dcc friendly' Peco point motor, apparently.
(The original Hornby Point-Only decoder avoids this possible 'dip' by using

a CDU internally ... which takes a few seconds to recharge between each point.)
[I use other makes of point motor with my LS150's, so cannot comment; but years ago, for Zero-1 I wired Peco point motors in Series to operate pairs of points off 1 output]

[dapatter]

right i am using peco motors. so i guess i need the power supply and the return feed goes to the track or the accessory port on the hornby elite?

also any advice on the programming of the elite?

Phil_Spiegel. said:

The LS

150 CLEARLY STATES and EXPLAINS WHY is NEEDS a (16V) A.C. power supply - the electronic switching devices used REQUIRE the voltage to fall to zero to turn off (just as Zero-1 deoders needed to with their Triacs then Thyristors
[b]The Hornby, or any other

DC power supply must NOT be used!!![/b]

As with MANY Accessory Decoders, the LS150 uses a separate power supply for the ACTUAL OPERATING POWER to fire the solenoids, rather than take the power from the
dcc-track/accessory bus... which might otherwise

see a sudden drop in loco speeds/sound/lighting whenever a point was operated.Also note that it works better with the 'dcc friendly' Peco point motor, apparently.
(The original Hornby Point-Only decoder avoids this possible 'dip' by using a CDU internally

... which takes a few seconds to recharge between each point.)
[I use other makes of point motor with my LS150's, so cannot comment; but years ago, for Zero-1 I wired Peco point motors in Series to operate pairs of points off 1 output]

[Phil_Spiegel.]

[reply]dapatter said:
right i am using peco motors. so i guess i need the power supply and the return feed goes to the track or the accessory port on the hornby elite?

[b]Phil: Nothing to do with the make of motor! - The LS10 NEEDS to have a

16Vac power supply for it to work. There is no 'Return Feed' (feedback) ANYWHERE ! It DOES require a connection FROM the dcc - track or accessory bus to tell it which points to change.[/b]

also any advice on the programming of the elite?

[b]Phil:

No 'programing' is needed at the Elite - it is ALL DONE on the LS150 itself[/b] using a sequence of button pushes: in its simplest method - press the button, and it will LEARN the next Accessory Address sent from the elite, and number its outputs sequentially

from that number eg Elite: Point 12 LEFT >>> LES150 >> points 12,13,14,15,16,17. More button presses on the LS150 followed by numbers typed in the Elite are used to alter default durations - but these should not normally be required.
The LS150 CAN be programmed

with non-sequential numbers if this is more conveient to your wiring eg 12,45,56,100,123,124 ...by reading the manual supplied with the LS150 or downloaded from their website (if you have not bought one yet)

[dapatter]

Hi can you please be a bit more step by step on the programming. I am new to this. Also didnt notice a button on the lenz

Phil_Spiegel. said:

[reply]dapatter said:
right i am using peco motors. so i guess i need the power

supply and the return feed goes to the track or the accessory port on the hornby elite?

[b]Phil: Nothing to do with the make of motor! - The LS10 NEEDS to have a 16Vac power supply for it to work. There is no 'Return Feed' (feedback) ANYWHERE ! It DOES

require a connection FROM the dcc - track or accessory bus to tell it which points to change.[/b]

also any advice on the programming of the elite?

Phil: No 'programing' is needed at the Elite - it is ALL DONE on the LS150 itself using

a sequence of button pushes: in its simplest method - press the button, and it will LEARN the next Accessory Address sent from the elite, and number its outputs sequentially from that number eg Elite: Point 12 LEFT >>> LES150 >> points 12,13,14,15,16,17. More

button presses on the LS150 followed by numbers typed in the Elite are used to alter default durations - but these should not normally be required.
The LS150 CAN be programmed with non-sequential numbers if this is more conveient to your wiring eg 12,45,56,100,123,124

...by reading the manual supplied with the LS150 or downloaded from their website (if you have not bought one yet)

[Gregd99]

I use an LS150 with the elite.

i didn't programme anything and it just worked with accessory address 1-6. you can indeed programme using the button on the LS 150 (it is there) but as i say by default it just worked.

check the instruction

leaflet re programming.

[dapatter]

Ok thanx, so you just configured accessory 0-5 on the elite and they automatically mapped to 1-6 on the lenz? Did you use the accessory power port on the elite at all?

Gregd99 said:

I use an LS150 with the elite.

i didn't programme

anything and it just worked with accessory address 1-6. you can indeed programme using the button on the LS 150 (it is there) but as i say by default it just worked.

check the instruction leaflet re programming.

[Gregd99]

on the elite there was nothing to programme. 1) press accessory, 2) dial up 1 (eg), 3) click knob, 4) point operates.

I use the 16vac aux output of an old R965 controller to power the motors via the LS150. teh elite aux output is NOT used.

in

case you are looking for it the leaflet for the LS150 is available at http://www.lenzusa.com/1newsite1/Manuals/LS150.pdf

[dapatter]

Thank you.

[dapatter]

The leaflet refers to a common point on the motors. I am using peco and they have 4 points, so presumably I wire 2 of the 4 together to create a common point?

[Gregd99]

I learn something every day....

I have some PL11 surface mount motors and they are three wire.

I see from http://www.brian-lambert.co.uk/Electrical-2.htm (search for PL10) that the PL10 is a 4 wire motor. The web site I mention shows how

to wire them up.

[dapatter]

Perfect! Thank you very much for that. Was as I expected. Very good website for future reference.

Is it best to use switches with the point motors, even when wiring to a decoder and doing DCC? Seems to me they can be good to determining directionality

of the points, or is that overkill and the dcc controller can do that?

Gregd99 said:

I learn something every day....

I have some PL11 surface mount motors and they are three wire.

I see from http://www.brian-lambert.co.uk/Electrical-2.htm

(search for PL10) that the PL10 is a 4 wire motor. The web site I mention shows how to wire them up.

[dapatter]

Perfect! Thank you very much for that. Was as I expected. Very good website for future reference.

Is it best to use switches with the point motors, even when wiring to a decoder and doing DCC? Seems to me they can be good to determining directionality

of the points, or is that overkill and the dcc controller can do that?

Gregd99 said:

I learn something every day....

I have some PL11 surface mount motors and they are three wire.

I see from http://www.brian-lambert.co.uk/Electrical-2.htm

(search for PL10) that the PL10 is a 4 wire motor. The web site I mention shows how to wire them up.

[Gregd99]

my general comment is that dcc control of points only really makes sense if you want computer control. otherwise all it adds IMO is cost and complexity.

[Phil_Spiegel.]

It probably depends on how/where you operate your railway, and whether its design is likely to change over time:
With a 'Central Control Position' - as was perhaps forced by the fixed wiring of 'analogue control', then you can leave the switches as

analogue, and represent a signal box. However, if you enjoy the flexibility of a handheld controller, which could operate the points as well, then you might find it annoyingn to be at the wrong end of the layout to be able to change the (centrally-controlled

only) points. This is when dcc control of accessory is appreciated the most. The old panel-diagram can be replaced by multiple printed copies of the present track arrangement - or this can, of course, be displayed 'live' on a VDU.

[Gregd99]

good point. I hadn't thought of that.

have you found a had held throttle that gives easy point control while operating a loco or two?

[Phil_Spiegel.]

Gregd99 said:
good point. I hadn't thought of that.
have you found a had held throttle that gives easy point control while operating a loco or two?

Phil: Yes, but they are different makes ! In the Garden, for G-Scale, we initially

used LGB wireless handsets (1-way comms) but then changed to Massoth (2-way comms - so it reports problems back to the handset) and which cn also control 2 locos or 1 loco and Points 'at the same time' having both knob, buttons and grpahic display.
For

00/H0 and 'indoor G' we use Roco Mulltimaus - which is cabled, Expressnet, and therefore comptible with the Elite, but we now also have the 2-way wireless version of this. Obviously in a garden, the freedom of movement, and ability to control from anywhere

is an importnt feature - but it also applies to the 00 loft layout. At a show last year, I sat/stood behind the visitors, controlling the trains they were looking at ... cordless has its advantages. Hornby HAD planned to release a cordless handset ... it may

reappear some time ??