ColinB Posted November 1, 2022 Share Posted November 1, 2022 I know it is not a Hornby product but seeing as I will probably get a sensible answer on this forum I will ask the question. I recently bought a Fell loco with sound, it is dreadful, stopping and starting all over my layout. Now my layout is partially to blame but I don't have these issues with any of my other locos even the 0-6-0 ones. I just wondered if anyone else was having the same issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellocoloco Posted November 1, 2022 Share Posted November 1, 2022 Have you watched Sam's video on this engine? I know he had pick up issues but didn't watch too closely as I had no intention of buying one. I think he improved its performance noticeably with relatively little effort but I don't remember what the main issues were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted November 1, 2022 Author Share Posted November 1, 2022 Yes I have watched Sam's video sadly a long time after I pre ordered it. Yes, the pickups are an issue they definitely don't work very well. At the moment I am wondering whether to get my money back or put extra pickups on the front and back bogies. It has already been back once but it doesn't run any better. I suspect it is my track but I am not going to change it for one loco when the others all work perfectly. That is definitely the down side of pre ordering I doubt I will be ordering anything else off the company that made it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atom3624 Posted November 1, 2022 Share Posted November 1, 2022 Can't you just tweak the pickups?Are they only covering the actual drivers, or do they pickup on the non-driven wheels as well aka Hornby Schools class locomotives?If it's only on the main 8 drivers then perhaps on express points you'll have some issues.Al. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The son of Triangman Posted November 2, 2022 Share Posted November 2, 2022 I would speak to the manufacturer before you do any modifications. It will be under warranty, they should fix it. Repairs or modifications done without manufacturers permission during the warranty period will void a warranty.As it seems to be a known issue, the manufacturer may have a fix for the issue or modified replacement parts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted November 2, 2022 Author Share Posted November 2, 2022 I know fixing it will invalidate the warranty. I have already sent it back once and they adjusted the pickups. Looking at the wheel arrangement even if the pickups on the wheels were perfect it will never work that well because of the geometry, unless the track is perfectly flag. It needs pickups on the front and back bogies.As I say I just wondered if anyone else was having issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDS Posted November 2, 2022 Share Posted November 2, 2022 When you say all over your layout, is it consistent with where it stops. I used to regularly have a problem with 0-6-0 Loco's stopping over Points but an extra track pin in the centre of the Point was all that was needed. (Drill the sleeper first with a 1mm drill) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted November 2, 2022 Author Share Posted November 2, 2022 Just tried it on DC by taking the decoder out and it works loads better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LY shunter Posted November 2, 2022 Share Posted November 2, 2022 I had to adjust all 8 pickups on my Fell, not one was adjusted properly. it now runs very wellDo not try to adjust the pickups without removing them from the wheels as you will only turn them into dog's legs Use miniature pliers and bend them outward at the root of the spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDS Posted November 2, 2022 Share Posted November 2, 2022 Just tried it on DC by taking the decoder out and it works loads better. Strange though that other Loco's run OK on the same track.When you say it works loads better, does that mean it does not keep stopping?Also, when you said it keeps stopping and starting, does it restart without any assistance?Are you able to swop out the decoder with another one?Is it possible that a CV setting in the rogue decoder is causing problems? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted November 2, 2022 Author Share Posted November 2, 2022 I will fit a Zimo one later and see if that improves it. The LokSound with sound in my experience have always been suspect when the signal is bad. Zimo decoders seem to be more tolerant of bad signals. The front and back bogies just bolt on so I am going to do a test with some Hornby ones that have pickups. If it doesn't work I can just put the old ones back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D9020 Nimbus Posted November 3, 2022 Share Posted November 3, 2022 Have you tried it on DCC with the sound turned off? I've found that with some models, the sound stutters and restarts in places but the loco behaves fine with the sound off; both the examples I'm thinking off have Loksound decoders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted November 3, 2022 Author Share Posted November 3, 2022 Yes, I have tried it with the sound off and it runs a bit better. What I am going to do is replace the 4 ohm speaker with an 8 ohm. The Road and Rails ones are better for sound and being 8 ohm will draw half the current. I am also looking in to adding pickups to the bogies as on some Hornby models. I won't be returning it to the manufacturer so it doesn't matter what I do to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpjallan Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 I'd be looking at installing a stay alive if the sound is stuttering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted November 5, 2022 Author Share Posted November 5, 2022 Well I spent this morning putting in my fix, talk about dubious engineering. Sam criticised it for not being able to release the "keeper plate" well if they hadn't used a clip to hold the wire it would be a doddle. It is not a good idea to have a plastic clip on wire that thin, as it strips it as you push the wire into the clip. It is better to have a channel as Hornby do on most of their models. Anyway I bought a Hornby Thompson replacement bogie which has pickups, amazingly it is the same wheel centres as the Fell bogie and is a better part. I needed to slightly enlarge the slot it moves in but it was minor. Hey presto it now works reliably. I think I will convert the other bogie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadgerV8 Posted December 31, 2022 Share Posted December 31, 2022 ColinB, I'm a bit late to the party, not been on the Forum for a long time!I too pre-ordered the Fell, and based on issues with a previous purchase of KR's GT3, I should have known better...!My Fell has the same stuttering, jerking, cutting out, caused by the exact same defect - badly adjusted / engineered pickups. Adjustment has helped and following some decent running-in it now performs to a just acceptable level. Can you tell me exactly what bogie you are fitting to get pickup from the bogies please? Unfortunately I also have another fault....My controller (Railmaster) doesn't seem to recognise the ESU LokSound 5 decoder, and whilst it tells me it is writing to it (cv changes for volume, acceleration and deceleration) nothing actually changes. I tried to re-assign the loco's DCC address, and that's where it all went wrong! It then refused to communicate and a decoder reset has not reset the address back to 003 as it should, leaving me with an ornament. Following communication with them, KR have sent me a replacement decoder to install, that is this afternoon's task - should I decide to endure the cold in the loft. I'm wondering if it's possible that my Railmaster needs to do an update to recognise this decoder, although I have written to "unknown decoders" previously with no issues and changed their address, volume etc. This has been 2 out of 2 fails for KR models - the GT3 had severe derailment issues due to an incorrectly engineered front bogie, also its front buffer beam sits twisted due to incorrect fitment of the beam against other components. I now have pickup and decoder (not necessarily KR's fault, to be fair) faults on the Fell, plus an over-glossy finish..... I won't be returning to them again. The thought of their Lickey Banker is tempting, but twice bitten and all that...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted December 31, 2022 Share Posted December 31, 2022 Is the Locksound seen in the drop down list from CV7 (8?). If so select it there but as you say writing blind to any decoder should work if your programming output is working.You do not say what your existing RM version is - Download the very latest version of RM from the forum link and over-write it to your existing version - do not uninstall the old version, as it is not necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadgerV8 Posted December 31, 2022 Share Posted December 31, 2022 96RAF, latest updates all done. Turns out the decoder isn't an ESU LokSound 5 as KR claimed prior to shipping the Fell, it's actually a Loksound 4! I swapped decoders, checked all functions worked correctly on the replacement, then altered sound volume, acceleration and deceleration rates - all new values written just fine and working ok. I then attempted to change the address again, and it all went wrong yet again! Now, I've set up over 40 locos within Railmaster with no problem so I doubt if it's something I'm doing wrong, but I ended up with the same problem as the original decoder except this time I was able to write 008 into CV8 to reset it, and it all works fine again - but only as loco address 003! I can even write 004 to the decoder, remove the loco from Railmaster and then add it in from scratch as a new loco with address 004 - and it still will not work! No sound, no lights, no movement. It will only work if the decoder is set to address 003 and Railmaster set to the same. I tried reinstalling the original decoder, it still won't even reset using CV8, but strangely it does not identify in Railmaster as an ESU decoder - it is physically identical to the replacement but idents as "unknown"..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rog RJ Posted December 31, 2022 Share Posted December 31, 2022 Try writing 6 to cv29 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
What About The Bee Posted December 31, 2022 Share Posted December 31, 2022 This Jennifer Kirk video may be of some interest to those who have the Fell Bee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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