Point motors

[Jayjay1707818844]

I have an oo scale  dcc layout  everything is hornby. I have 5 hornby point motors and out of the three I have tried none of them successfully operate the points. I have tried contacting hornby to resolve the issue and after 5 months of endless emails and phone calls still no resolution to the problem. 

And advice and how I can get the points to work ? Do I need to scrap hornby and use another company?

[96RAF]

Welcome Jason

 

As this is in the DCC section and tour layout is DCC we assume you want to operate your points using DCC.

 

To do this you need a points and accessory decoder (R8247) to act as an interface between your DCC controller and the solenoid motor. This device then has to be programmed with the address you want your point to use. Each device can operate four solenoid motors.

 

If you want to operate your points just using a switch then you need what is known as a passing contact switch (R044).

 

Once we know your operating choice and if DCC which controller you have then we can give you more directed advice.

 

[Chrissaf]

I have an 00 scale DCC layout  everything is Hornby. I have 5 x Hornby point motors and out of the three I have tried, none of them successfully operate the points.

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Out of the scant information you have provided. Rather than wait for you to confirm details, I am going to make some assumptions based upon the quote above taken from your post.

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The assumptions I am making is that you are trying to operate the points using DCC and you are using the R8247 Accessory Decoder.

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I take it that you are using a Hornby R8247 Point Accessory Decoder to interface your points to your unknown DCC Controller. You cannot connect your point motors to your controller DCC output without one.

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If the above assumptions are not correct, then do not read my reply further and instead, confirm what you are trying to do and with what.

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The one assumption I cannot make (not enough detail provided) is what Hornby point motor you are using? Are you using the R8014 under-board point motor or the R8243 Surface mount point motor. Each of these have their installation issues, more of which I will cover in this reply.

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You also use the phrase "none of them successfully operate the points". This infers to me that they are at least trying to operate the points but not completely, robustly or reliably. It would have helped immensely to diagnose your issue if you had described the symptoms of your point motor issue, rather than us having to try and second guess what they are.

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For example,

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1. Can you hear a click, but there is no significant movement (particularly if the surface mounted point motor)?
2. Does the point motor throw the point in one direction, but not the other?
3. Or is it a case that they just do not do anything at all. No clicks or movement no matter how slight?

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What follows, are typically issues that come up in forum posts and their solutions, that relate to two of the examples given above.

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Things that can be related to issue 1) above.

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Physical alignment of the point motor (particularly the R8014 under-board point motor if not directly clipped to the Hornby point) is absolutely critical. If the alignment of the point motor is just a degree off perfection it can stick and not operate. This is particularly critical if using the R8014 point motor with the R8247 Point Accessory Decoder (PAD), due to the relatively low voltage output of the R8247 PAD.

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The R8243 Surface Mounted Motor can be prevented from operating if it is fixed to the top of the baseboard too tightly. The case of the R8243 can easily flex and trap the internal soft iron slug if the fixing screws are done up too tightly. The screws should be done up just enough to hold the motor in place, but still allow slight detectable movement of the point motor with finger applied pressure.

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Now with issue 2) in my list above.

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This issue comes up a lot, and it happens as a result of installing the point motor (either type) with crossed wiring. This previous post, click the link below, describes this issue in more detail and why it happens and what you need to do to resolve it.

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http://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/surface-point-motors/?p=1

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Now you haven't given any information at all in your post with regard which Hornby DCC Controller you are using. Your issue may be one of 'incorrect' configuration. Which could be linked to issue 3) in my list above. If the advice given above regarding point motor physical installation does not resolve your issue. Come back to this thread and tell us and also tell us what control system you are using i.e Select, Elite, Elite with RailMaster or eLink with RailMaster. Then further follow on guidance can be given. If the advice above doesn't resolve your issue and you come back to provide more info and request further guidance, then as well as answering the five questions listed in my reply below, you must include in that info, a description of the point operating issue you are observing. If you provide greater clarity & detail in your posts, it really does help us to help you, as we cannot see what you can see.

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To summarise the potential outstanding questions that will eventually need more information to be provided.

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1. What DCC Controller are you using?
2. Are you using the R8247 PAD?
3. If you are using a Select controller, have you changed the R8247 PAD DCC Addresses to make it compatible to the Select (DCC Addresses 61 - 64)?
4. What Hornby point motors are you using R8243 or R8014?
5. When you try and operate them do they click OR move in one direction only OR are they totally silent and unresponsive?

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TIP: I write long posts. If you intend to write a reply, it would be appreciated if you didn't use the 'White Arrow in Blue Box' button. This is not a 'Reply to this post button. It is best to write any reply you want to make in the 'Reply Text Box' at the very bottom of the page and click the Green 'Reply' button.

[Fishmanoz]

And should you be yet to buy an accessory decoder, just be aware that the Hornby R8247 is now of ancient design, has never been the most reliable piece of kit, especially if any shorts should occur in your layout, and there are many other more modern designs available.  You will find many of these mentioned in this DCC forum if you search back a bit.

[96RAF]

As Fishy says they can be susceptible to track shorts which is why it is advisable to run them from a separate accessory bus. Mine are rigged thus and unaffected by any track shorts due to derails, etc. I even have an old R8216 still running.

 

Part of this dodgy decoder urban myth was due to a bug in the early Select firmware which could induce a fault in any attached accessory decoder. Replacing the decoder made no difference as the controller bug promptly broke it again. The full story is on the forum somewhere.