Hornby Class 08 with DCC Sound

[Gingerman]

Good afternoon all.

 

I am hoping someone can give me advice on my class 08. The loco has started stuttering at slow speed, both forward and backwards. I have cleaned the track, wheels and pickups thourghly, and still no improvement. The loco is a

 

replacement from Hornby as the previous one screeched. Last night I took the body off and removed the drive shaft, so that I could listen to the motor. Sure enough even without load the motor at slow revs fits and stutters. Now is this the chip or the motor?

 

If its the motor im a bit annoyed as i've only had this loco for about 4 months and it hasn't been used that much.

I also did a decoder re-set and a controller re-set and still no improvement. Is this another return to Hornby loco.

Any help or advice

 

is greatly appreciated.

 

Many thanks

[poliss]

What controller do you have and have you read the decoder manual?

[Gingerman]

Afternoon

 

The controller is a blue box Dynamiss, the infrared model. I've read the esu v4 and hornby manual and the only setting i have ever changed was the volume. But have done a cv8 factory reset of both the loco and controller. Up until 3 days

 

ago the little loco had performed fine and then all of a sudden fits and starts. At first I thought dirty track, wheels or pickups but having cleaned everything the problem still persisted. The motor test was conducted on the service track.

 

Regards

[poliss]

Do you have problems with any other locos?

Try the suggestions on this page for smooth running.

http://www.nmra.org.au/gndu/EasyDCC/Decoders.pdf

 

If you still have the same problems contact HCC.

[2e0dtoeric]

Have you checked for a bad connection between the controller and the track?

[Gingerman]

Only have three loco's and the other two run fine. Both are Hornby models, Schools with sound and a 3800. I am re-reading the esu manual and will try adjusting cv56.

 

regards

[koo9]

Gingerman said:

Only have three loco's and the other two run fine. Both are Hornby models, Schools with sound and a 3800. I am re-reading the esu manual and will try adjusting cv56.

regards

Had the same problem with

ESU decoder. Had to reduce CV from default of 32 down to 10, it works okay now.

[Gingerman]

Have just adjusted CV56, took it all the way down to 0 from 255. At 0 it seemed to start behaving but as I increased the speed the jerkiness started at speed step 16. Loco is on 28 speed step and the problem became apparent at speed step 7 before. No matter

 

what setting I put into cv56 the jerkiness was still there, almost like stalling. Did a CV8 reset again and put the loco on a loop of track, put in reverse at speed step 15 for 15mins and its stared to screech from the motor (body is currently off) I remember

 

having a HST in the early 80's that did that until the motor was lubricated, but this motor is sealed.

 

regards

[koo9]

This is a reply from Richard Johnson of DCC Concepts

 

 

*** This is NOT a speed curve or cv2/5/6 issue. It is a symptom of the back EMF not being set right in a LokSound V4. Your reseller should have set it up before selling it to you.

 

ALSO

 

- do remove all capacitors - these can really mess up LS V4 making adjustment really hard and making "best" chuff synchronisation almost impossible.

 

 

CV2 = 3

CV52 = 16

CV53 = 140

CV54 = 48

CV55 = 20

CV56 = 255

 

CV52 is the likely

 

culprit. It is a new adjustment Cv in the V4 not there in V3/v3.5 (V4 has 5 CVs for back EMF adjustment.. and they all need to be in balance)

 

If you have problems with the way the locomotive drives slowly or starts, while everthing is fine with the

 

medium and high speed steps, you should try increasing the value of CV 52 by 5 - 10. If that doesn't improve it try lowering it in steps of 5

 

This is my reponse.

 

The default CVs were :

02=002

03=072

05=255

52=032

53=140

54=048

55=032

56=255

now

 

 

02=003

03=000

05=150

52=010

53=140

54=048

55=140

56=255

 

Clearly CV 52 was the key, I had adjusted that both ways from +/- 15 from the default of 32 and not seen much or no appreciable difference. This time I took it to zero

 

and eventually got a good result at 10. The rest are now just as I want and it runs perfectly.

 

These are the controlling CVs and they must be adjusted to meet the demands of that motor. It can be difficult but persevere and it will be worth it. Thankfully

 

you can go back to square one as often as you like.

[poliss]

That's really bad advice for UK and EU customers. Remove the capacitors and you invalidate the guarantee. Contact Hornby Customer Care before you do anything else.

[Gingerman]

Many thanks for all your posts and help

 

Im still a little confused as to why its started behaving this way. The loco has been fine up until now. Having played with CV56 and set it to zero, the loco has started to behave at slow speeds, but anything

 

above half on the controller and it can suddenly speed up for short bursts. Im starting to think it might be the chip and not the motor.

 

regards

[koo9]

I would bet that the CV's are still not set properly. The 'running' CV's are interdependant you need to go to a friend or dealer who has JMRI set up on a PC so that you can tweak it as it is running and see what is really happening.

To Quote: LokSound

 

V4 always uses CV2 and CV5 regardless of the "three point" or "28 point" speed curve setting in CV29. If the "28 point" curve is used, then the CV's 68 to 93 set the intermediate places on the curve, but CV67 and CV94 cannot be used (instead things interpolate

 

between CV2 and CV5). This is different to other decoders, and probably not consistent with NMRA standards. Un-quote

 

Have you you looked at the link which is on page 1, it is all there to digest and I am no expert!!

 

 

 

[Gingerman]

Many thanks to all for your help and advice. I have adjusted further CV's and the loco runs alot better again. CV52 and CV56 are both adjusted. I have know found the problem, either the motor is on its way out or it has a tight shaft bearing. Very faint

 

squeaks emitting from the motor in both directions. I have tried to oil the armature shaft at each end, but the flywheel end is nearly impossible to get to. The motor is very clearly catching when not hooked up to the gear train, so I will have to sort out

 

a new motor me thinks.

 

 

[poliss]

Why didn't you take it back to the shop you bought it from?

[Fishmanoz]

Simple answer to that poliss - he doesn't have the Tardis, we do (and I can't believe Aimee and Rory are gone). But you could still take it back Gingerman.

[Gingerman]

Good evening Poliss

 

This 08 is already a replacement from Hornby. The first screeched along in both directions and was very jerky running cab first. The coupling rod center pins always seemed to catch when rotating. Having been away from the hobby

 

for many years, last time pancake motors where the norm. I Thought this time i'd try and see what the problem was as I didn't fancy spending money on postage again if it was an issue I could rectify. Lesson learned mind you, loco has know decided to just crawl

 

along at a snails pace.

[poliss]

Did you buy it direct from Hornby, an online shop or a high street shop? If you bought it online then it's the shop that has to pay for the postage.

[Gingerman]

The original 08 was bought online from a well known retailer in Liverpool as a Christmas present. I originally sent Hornby a email about its squealing and jerkiness and they asked me to send it to them instead of the retailer. I have to add the service

 

was first rate as a few days later to my suprise i received a new model back. At the time I never even thought about claiming postage to be honest, I just wanted the model fixed.