locojoe Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 I know TTS decoders are cheap but it`s no good being cheap if they don`t last very long, having bought one from amazon last Friday it arrived the next day Saturday connected it to my ESU tester message was no loco on track tried it in a loco nothing. to my surprise a replacement came today (full marks to Amazon) connected it to the ESU tester again nothing apart from it getting really hot i guess it`s fried. I am just sick of TTS decoders that`s it for me no more TTS decoders back to the good old silent days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morairamike Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 Have 2 X A4s and 1 Castle. Only problem I had was a speaker blew in one A4.Changed all to sugar cube speakers. No further problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 Presumably you have switched OFF the ESU test rig speaker and are not trying to run the attached TTS speaker and the test rig speaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 I have had a lot of issues with TTS decoders. In your case though I would check that the loco you are putting them into is not causing them to fail. Then there is the issue of if it is fully insulated and none of the PCB is touching the chassis. Finally what loco are you fitting it to, these things are critical on current, so no trying to run Wrenns or Ringfield motors. They do have an issue with heat, which causes them to fail. I must admit of late, not so many have failed. I did have one I bought which just buzzed a bit and then did nothing else, needless to say I returned it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
locojoe Posted August 3, 2021 Author Share Posted August 3, 2021 Thanks Colin I didn't get to put the last one in a loco it was tested on the ESU decoder tester, message was no loco on track, thanks anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yelrow Posted August 3, 2021 Share Posted August 3, 2021 It does seem that the early fitted ones were of a better quality. I have 7 locos with them in, and, Touch Wood, they are all fit for purpose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PTB Posted August 3, 2021 Share Posted August 3, 2021 Same here. I have an 0-6-0 diesel shunter, with factory fitted sound. Worked ok for last twelve months or more, but now every time I switch sound on F1 the loco stops dead in its tracks and there is no sound of either the engine running or any other of the sound functions, eg air horn etc. only way I can get loco to move again is to switch sound off by pressing F1 again, then press emergency stop on Elite, before re starting. Loco then runs ok, but will have to remain silent……. Unless anyone here has any suggestions, which would be gratefully accepted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted August 3, 2021 Share Posted August 3, 2021 I think PTB, TTS decoders have an over current trip, 96RAF can probably enlighten us. Trouble is whoever designed the software forgot to restart it if the over current was no longer there. I could write a book on the issues I have had. The thing that does worry me is as in your case if they go wrong after a year. I must admit I am amazed how they have managed it, electronics is generally incredibly reliable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PTB Posted August 3, 2021 Share Posted August 3, 2021 Thanks Colin, must admit I’m new to digital control. Been building layout for months and months and had been using this little loco for checking continuity etc and just to ensure the points worked etc. So I’m an out of the box type of user at present. Reprogramming locos remain quite a mystery at present!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted August 4, 2021 Share Posted August 4, 2021 If this is an 08 shunter, aren’t they the last of the Locksound fitted locos before TTS? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted August 4, 2021 Share Posted August 4, 2021 Class 08 was an ESU 21-pin factory fit sound loco but has since been rereleased as a TTS 8-pin model.The latest TTS 08 decoder is very good with extended cold start and good representation of the loco sounds.Both models used a smallish rectangular speaker in front of the radiator, which isn’t the best.As with all decoder problems try a reset by writing value 8 to CV8 to get it back to factory settings.I don’t understand why the decoder is not self resetting after a perceived overload, mine do if they hit a dead spot on the track. If the loco stalls in such a situation the sound reboots and the loco moves off again. The decoder is self protecting on the motor circuit but there is no such protection on the function side, but it is obvious you can overload the whole decoder if a motor is hogging most of the available oomph.To prove the point unplug the decoder, plug in a blanking header and carry out a motor stall current check on DC. Do not perform this test on DCC or with a decoder in circuit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PTB Posted August 4, 2021 Share Posted August 4, 2021 Thanks RAF, I’ll try the decoder reset first. I assume that also resets the loco address to the default number 3 too?The sound chip is apparently a lock sound. Sorry didn’t realise that was different to TSS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 I think those early Lok Sounds weren't that reliable either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 @PTByou can download the sound manuals for these older ESU decoders from the Hornby main support site here...https://support.hornby.com/hc/en-gb/sections/360004186779-Sound-Locomotives Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PTB Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 Thanks RAF. I’ll check out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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