as365n4 Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Hi all, I've got an Hogwarts Loco with an 8 Pin DCC socket in which I've put the small Hornby DCC Decoder. But now the Light in the smoke box door stays permanent on! Is this light not switchable (on/off) like on any other DCC Loco? Is there a switch that isn't mentioned in the service sheet to select Analog or DCC funtion of this Light? It bothers me a lot that this front light on my Hogwarts Loco is always on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 I don't think it does switch off. In the films the light is always on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 The light is designed to work with the loco running DC or DCC. To do this, it is connected directly to the loco track pickups, via a small rectifier board and is an LED. On DC, it will light only when the loco is running. On DCC, it is lit all of the time. It is a relatively simple job to change it to be like usual DCC directional lighting. You can remove its connection from the rectifier board and instead connect it to a decoder function output. Then you will be able to switch it on and off at will. And if you connect it to the white function wire, it will only operate when the loco is going forward as white is set up as the forward directional lighting function. Take a look at http://www.brian-lambert.co.uk/DCC.html#Decoder_1 to see exactly how to do it. Remember you will have to disconnect the LED connections from that board mounted in the top of the boiler before you start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
as365n4 Posted January 6, 2014 Author Share Posted January 6, 2014 Thank you very much for the explanation. Time to get the soldering iron out and correct things Hornby isn't able to do right from the start, it's a bit anoying. Other manufacturers can do this proper right from the start, why not Hornby? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 I don't see this as an error by Hornby. This loco with light was first released as straight DC, not even DCC ready. Given that, there approach was good. It would be another matter if the loco was DCC fitted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 In 3 posts 365 has done nothing but slag off Hornby. That is not what the forum is about. If you don't like Hornby products don't use them. They're not perfect and neither are the other Companies. You won't get much help from other users with that attitude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 365 you appear to be very anti Hornby. If you don't like their products why use them. If you want help on this forum it is available by the wagon load in fact a whole rake of wagons. Model railways are supposed to be enjoyable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
as365n4 Posted January 7, 2014 Author Share Posted January 7, 2014 @ Fishmanoz I had an original Hogwarts DC Loco which I chiped my self and I replaced it with the Modelzone Special edition because of its DCC readiness. As Hornby did the job of overhauling the innards of the Castle Class Locos to accommodate DCC Chips they could have done the job right, so that this light works like on any other DCC ready Locomotive. It isn't a good approach to let the customer finish of the DCC modification job, it's just bad Design and Quality by them! @ walkingthedog I'm not anti Hornby, but I've had 5 Products from them and all of them are not thought through and engineering wise half wise done. I have a Class 92 which isn't able to pull any wagons because the Loco is too light and utilizes traction tyres to gain any movement and to be honest the Loco is barely able to move its self. I'm looking for a solution on this one for months now. Then I have a Class 395 the white London 2012 version, on which I had to replace the axle with the traction tyres against a full metal wheel axle so that this unit moves as it should be. I had an Hornby Select Controller which liked to grill my DCC Chips because this thing is not in compliance with NMRA Standards. Then this Trackmaster Software Disaster followed by a Railmaster Software Disaster..... The only thing that keeps me believing in Hornby and their products is my Royal Train Set (the deluxe one in the big red box) with the Princess Margaret Rose Loce and the superb HM2000 analog Controller. Normally I buy European Continental Models and some times from the Company with the big B. Therefore I am used to really high quality models and have very high expectations and standards regarding my models which Hornby doesn't seems to able to full fill. Thats it dead simple. Because as you said in my very limited spare time I just want to enjoy my trains and run them around my layout and not bother with half finished doggy products. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Haven't you had any trouble with the blue box company. I have more trouble with them than all the other companies put together. Luck of the draw I guess. I see your point about the light but I think it is always on because that's the way it runs in the film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
as365n4 Posted January 7, 2014 Author Share Posted January 7, 2014 Oh no the blue box company does fine for me, have around 15 Locos/DMUs from them. Mostly irish Class 141, Class 071, Class 201 Locos and 2 sets of Class 2700 DMUs plus a Stobart Class 66 which is really a work horse pulls a fully loaded 16 Container wagon train without a blink of an eye and a nice tiny Class 03 Shunter. And some wagons & coaches from them of course. But all my other stuff comes from Continental Europe... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 54 of my 96 locos are blue box and although I've had nothing seriously wrong with them I reckon 70% of them had something that had fallen off or broken. So far with Hornby a buffer had become detached. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graskie Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 I'm absolutely amazed you haven't at least had a few Hornby tender couplings drop off, WTD. I know I have, and so have others, as mentioned in previous postings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 I always remove the couplings and add a bit of glue. One of the blue box locos had a piece of shaped wire in the box. It took me weeks to find it was the sand pipes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The son of Triangman Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Aren't Hornby products Blue box company products anyway? The way I understood it the Blue Box lot make stuff for Hornby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDS Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 @The son of Triangman Really? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 A reference to being made in the same factory, nothing to do with design or production information packages which each do for their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilbo2 Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 I'm on the same page as the OP on this one having just received the Hogwarts. The "rectifier board" has EIGHT wires, two going to the LED and 6 from the main loco. This tells me its doing more than just lighting up the LED, so does anyone have the schematic/connection detail for this PCB? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 I'm on the same page as the OP on this one having just received the Hogwarts. The "rectifier board" has EIGHT wires, two going to the LED and 6 from the main loco. This tells me its doing more than just lighting up the LED, so does anyone have the schematic/connection detail for this PCB? I'm sure if you phoned HCC and spoke to them about your project they would let you have the details you need to modify your Hog. There must be a schematic in their system as part of the loco design process. They may be willing to extract from that for you. HCC are very helpfull just don't email them if you want a rapid response due to thier well advertised (on this forum) workload. A further alternative, (although I don't think it is part of his job and shouldn't be seen as a routine queue jump method), is to ask Adam the Forum Admin to help, as he has progressed things that got stuck in the CC pipeline before for people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poliss Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 No SOT. Sanda Kan did make Hornby products. They were bought by the B Team, but the B Team's products were made in a different factory. Kader closed the Sanda Kan factory and manufacturing was moved to one where the workers were not familiar with model railway products.Hornby now use different suppliers with no connection to Kader. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael_A Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 I agree with you on this one. As part of the conversion to DCC ready, they should have rewired the front light to the correct pin on the DCC socket, and not left it connected directly to the track pick ups. By doing so it then would operate correctly: with DC it comes on only when the train is running, and with DCC it can be controlled (correctly) by the on / off function, so you can then decide whether it is on or off when the loco is running or stationary on DCC track. I think this is a sloppy rework by Hornby, no DCC ready or fitted loco should have the lights effectively wired by-passing the decoder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 So you are suggesting that for DCC ready the light doesn't work on DC? Working from track on DC and decoder function on DCC isn't simple. It would require further complication in the already complicated board for the light to include some electronic switching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren_mchugh Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 The hogwart is based on the loco in the FILM that ran with the light ON and NOT based on a real life in service loco. So Hornby have NOT made it wrong as sugested in prior comments. That is why the light is on. Basic logic really. It is what it is.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 365 I got bored at moan number 4 so didn't read the rest. Get a life. I have a Blue Rapier Class395 with standard fit traction tyres/solid wheels and it runs ok on DCC after conversion. My Hornby stuff is as WTD says not perfect, but if you can find perfect these days then send me the address. You seem to get on well with Bachmann stuff so why not ditch all your Hornby stuff and this forum and migrate over there - happy days when it comes to finding their forum (which forum) as useful as this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 Think he may have got that life RAF, the post from him is over 12 months old now and dredged up by Darren above to tell us about the real loco light when running. I think it's some time since we've heard from 365. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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