ColinB Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 I was recently asked by someone to fix their failed loco that had a LokSound decoder in it. Anyway on further investigation I found two of the input diodes had gone short circuit. It was a LokSound v3.5 decoder with a 100 ohm speaker. Anyway this seemed a bit weird as normally when this happens the diodes fry and you get smoke, but this decoder looked perfect except it put a "short" across the tracks. So I did the normal and asked LokSound if they did a replacement service but it appears it was too old for the cheap replacement option. So I thought I would try fixing it as it was broken anyway. I removed the four diodes that made up the bridge rectifier and replaced it with a small bridge rectifier that I wired onto to diode pads with thin wires. It now works perfectly. I know this is a Hornby forum, but as anyone else had this sort of fault with this decoder to me it seems very unusual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDS Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 I have no experience of that Decoder Colin but well done for fixing it.It's always satisfying to repair something that is deemed un-repairable! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac-_- Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 Excellent stuff Colin, most if not all would have binned it, but I've never used that decoder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted March 28, 2021 Author Share Posted March 28, 2021 I was about to bin it, it was only that nothing else looked damaged that I persevered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted April 8, 2021 Author Share Posted April 8, 2021 Just as a final ending to this story, I searched around for some proper diodes to fix this item properly. Eventually I found someone that sold ones that would fit and had a better voltage rating. Have you ever tried to solder grains of sand as they were virtually that big. It now works and I am a really happy person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellocoloco Posted April 8, 2021 Share Posted April 8, 2021 I know this is a Hornby forum, but as anyone else had this sort of fault with this decoder to me it seems very unusual. I have a Hornby Int'l loco with a Loksound V3.5 so as ESU appear to be one of Hornby's partners so perfectly good for this forum.Sounds great work you've done. Hopefully I'll never have to try that. My next project is a Nakamichi amp which should be slightly larger for soldering! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted April 9, 2021 Share Posted April 9, 2021 And Hornby were using Loksound for sound-fitted locos before TTS. R number suffix is SX. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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