Beaminister Road Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 Hi,After taking Hornby's Sir Meliagrance to bits, only to discover that the decoder is in the tender, I am rather wary of asking the same question but for R3445 Camelford.Does this model have a revised location and the interface is no longer in the loco?Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulleidboy Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 Is there a servicde sheet fore this loco - it is very new? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howbi Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 If there are 4 wires betwixt loco & tender then the decoder must be in the tender......HB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jane1707819582 Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 dcc socket is in the tender i believe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 Was there not a maintennace sheet with it showing where the decoder socket is and how to get to it.From memory I think folk have had trouble getting the tender body off as it is tight even with the screws removed and the ladder is clipped to the chassis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulleidboy Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 Try looking at Hornby Service Sheet HSS 428. The is for the unrebuilt Merchant Navy. I'm sure the layout will be the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beaminister Road Posted March 12, 2019 Author Share Posted March 12, 2019 The model has pitched up, the maintenance sheet indicates a location in the tender. Unfortunately, no indication of the type of decoder to be used, experience would suggest an 8-pin but the illustration on the maintenance sheet suggests something utterly different.The instructions direct me to the retailer who has absolutely no idea other than ' what does maintenance sheet advise' a bit of a Catch22 cliche.In the morning, I have a 90 mile round trip to a local DCC specialist who has kindly offered to both supply and fit a suitable decoder, I suppose that I should have simply removed the tender body and ordered whatever I discovered inside but that isn't the point.Instead, it would be helpful if Hornby would follow suit with every other manuacturer and clearly indicate both within the description and packaging, the type of DCC interface fitted to the model but that really isn't Hornby's style. Neither does their website help except to inform me that the model is sold out.By contrast the Hornby R2527X has also arrived, no guessing where the decoder has to be fitted, unfortunately it derails at any speed. This is not a result of 'finescale' wheels, incorrect B2B or lightweight bogie - all of these attributes are shared by my 18.83 stock. It is simply a lack of side control and downward pressure. In other words, poor design by the manufacturer.Beaminster Road Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 R2527X already has a decoder installed as indicated by the X suffix. Except for a few smaller locos all of Hornby’s locos are standardised with 8-pin sockets.Odd that the maintenance sheet shows the socket location but not the type, most sheets show what and where.I was going to suggest you post a picture of the sheet but by the time we see it and reply you will be in the wind to your dealer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulleidboy Posted March 13, 2019 Share Posted March 13, 2019 How can you order a loco and not know whether it has a decoder fitted or not? I would have thought the reason Hornby don't tell you what decoder to fit, is because there are so many different types available - the choice has to be down to the customer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beaminister Road Posted March 13, 2019 Author Share Posted March 13, 2019 Hi Bulleid Boy,One might expect that Hornby might provide the basic info whether it is an 8-pin or 21-pin or even an 18-pin PLUX? It is the sort of info you need when ordering a decoder with the loco.However your response is a nice bit of whitewashing on Hornby's behalf.....Beaminster Road Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted March 13, 2019 Share Posted March 13, 2019 Hornby only ever used 21-pin decoders in its early full fat sound fitted models. Plux18 or other newer sockets are still on somebodies wishlist. As I said earlier it is 99% likely to be an 8-pin socket but a 6-pin socket may be found in smaller locos. The only other exception is a 7-pin decoder found only in DDC fitted Pendolinos. From that most mortals would assume an 8-pin decoder was required for the majority of Hornby models. Bachmann however labels its boxes as ot does use a mixture of decoder pin types. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulleidboy Posted March 13, 2019 Share Posted March 13, 2019 I don't think it was a whitewash on behalf of Hornby. As RAF96 says, for many years - 2003 in fact, Hornby have only been fitting 8-pin decoders - with no options. More recently they have produced loco's that will require 4 and 6-pin decoders. As was said previously, Bachmann have always (?) printed on the box what "pin" decoder was required for that particular loco. It does say in the Hornby Catalogue the "pin" requirements for every loco. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beaminister Road Posted March 14, 2019 Author Share Posted March 14, 2019 The reality is that the maintenance sheet shows a 21-pin receptable, this would indicate a 21-pin decoder but on removal of the tender body it appears that the maintenance sheet tells fibs, it is an 8-pin receptacle.However none of that matters, I always test 'brand new' locos on a DC test track before wasting both time and an expensive Z**o decoder. In this case my concerns were confimed, the loco merely buzzed, followed by a loud click and no moment of the appropriate working parts. Needless to add, it is now back in the box and back to the dealer.Just as a sanity check, my T9 R3107 was placed on the DC test track and it worked perfectly.It is a shame as Camelford was eargerly anticipated and looks very good, the remaining small collection of Hornby locos perform faultlessly (once the CVs are correctly set), it is the first total failure.C'est la vieBeaminster Road Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted March 14, 2019 Share Posted March 14, 2019 Please post a picture of the maintenance sheet.I have them for the air-smoothed and rebuilt versions but one shows the socket in the loco and the other doesnt show the socket at all.It may not help you now but it may be usefull if resolved for others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beaminister Road Posted March 15, 2019 Author Share Posted March 15, 2019 RAF96,I apologise but........the model was returned immediately to the seller, all documentation was returned with the loco.For a simple non-visual explanation, the maintaineance sheet Fig10 shows a tender chassis with 21-pin receptacle but it also shows a 21-to-8 pin adaptor and an 8-pin blanking plug - somewhat confusing until you remove the aforesaid tender body on the non-sound version and find an 8-pin receptable........!If Hornby had fitted a 21-pin receptable as standard to both version, life would have been a lot easier for anyone wishing to upgrade their non-sound model.........?Beaminster Rpad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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