Hornby R8247 Decoders

[Trackandfield]

Morning all.

In its simplest form of just using 1 decoder, do all 4 point motors connected have to be the same manufacturer of point motors, in other words, although you can have different makes of car tyre on the same axle of a car and it'll be legal and safe but not ideal, can you mix Hornby and Peco points across the ports - I understand there is a difference in the common wire which could/would preclude this, but seeking confirmation really from those with more extensive knowledge than me.

Thanks

Paul

[96RAF]

You can mix and match as long as each different motor type has its own port. If pairing motors say for a crossover then they should be same make and type. You can adjust each port pulse time individually by CV to cater for differing requirements or set to ON for stall motor types. You also as stated have to take account of wiring colour code differences.

[Chrissaf]

I understand there is a difference in the common wire which could / would preclude this

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You can mix and match different branded solenoid type point motors (one motor per port) on any Accessory Decoder, including the Hornby R8247.

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This is not precluded just because PECO use a different colour scheme to Hornby.

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A Hornby point motor would have the Black wire terminated on the R8247 C terminal. A PECO point motor would have the Green wire terminated on the R8247 C terminal. It is only the wire colour that changes, not the wire function.

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EDIT: As Rob says. If connecting two point motors to a single R8247 port. Then it would be wise to keep the two motors the same point motor model so that the coil specifications of both motors are the same and balanced.

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This is just added to provide further (unasked for) information.

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Note that 2 wire 'stall point motors' are not supported on a R8247 without additional external circuitry. A 2 wire 'stall motor' uses polarity reversal to drive the motor in each direction.

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For anybody who wants to drive a 2 wire stall motor (using reversing polarity) from a R8247 then you can use this DCC Concepts product (DCC SDC) to provide the external conversion circuitry and re-configure the R8247 for 'always on' operation. The DCC SDC design is a very clever and simple circuit using two power transistors and a few discrete components. It needs no additional power supply as it gets power from the Accessory Decoder output port.

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