Forum-1211528 Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 DCC CONTROL might be fine for modern HORNBY locos but when it comes to TRIANG and early HORNBY then its NO CHANCE as the XO3 or XO4 motors might be powerful reliable motors but when it comes to putting a DCC chip in it forget it as it will blow every chip and a TRIANG loco made in the fifties is valuble and putting a DCC CHIP in it devalues it! HORNBY CUSTOMER SERVICE say dont bother to put DCC CHIPS in TRIANG locos so its better to forget it ok! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 Why have you put this in the collectors club section? admin can you move it please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rog RJ Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 DCC CONTROL might be fine for modern HORNBY locos but when it comes to TRIANG and early HORNBY then its NO CHANCE as the XO3 or XO4 motors might be powerful reliable motors but when it comes to putting a DCC chip in it forget it as it will blow every chip and a TRIANG loco made in the fifties is valuble and putting a DCC CHIP in it devalues it! HORNBY CUSTOMER SERVICE say dont bother to put DCC CHIPS in TRIANG locos so its better to forget it ok!There are many Triang and Hornby locos which have been converted to DCC which run very well. In fact the X03 and X04 motors are quite easy to convert.The basic Hornby decoders aren't suitable due to the higher power consumption of the older motors but the Sapphire decoder should be up to the job. Other decoders are also available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yelrow Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 Colin, hi, welcome to the forum. Most people will i am afraid, disagree with your generalisation. I have hornby 3 rail, and even they, can be adapted. There is a specific model shop in Norfolk, that does little else. Hornby , may not recommend their basic chips, but there are many others, that are fine, as roger has said. john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The son of Triangman Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 As Yelrow points out and Rog (RJ) right says there are many Tri-ang locos converted for DCC. Most Tri-ang locos are easy conversions, the smoke locos are a pain as you have to make a relay board for the smoke units as a rule, otherwise easy peasy. Best decoder for them is the Hornby Sapphire which suits the Super12/X.03/04/05 and Diesel/DMU/EMU power bogies and their current draw.Tri-ang-Hornby Hymek circa 1972/73 DCC fitted with Hornby Sapphire Decoder. This is the one with the rear bogie pickups, easy to convert. Runs a treat./media/tinymce_upload/858_zpsd2e869f4.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/859_zpsebc54c88.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The son of Triangman Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 A DCC Tri-ang jinty with micro decoder fitted/media/tinymce_upload/dccjinty1.jpgLoco micro decoder has a clear sleeve but pic doesn't do it justice. Apologies./media/tinymce_upload/dccjinty2.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The son of Triangman Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 Regular decoder is a no as it is rated at 500ma, you need a decoder that can handle a stall current of 1amp. The sapphire is the best for the job. Locos should be good runners and in good clean condition with no running faults before conversion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashbang Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 The most important two things are..1) Both sides of the brush retaining Vee springs arms need to be totally insulated from the actual brush tops. Slipping a short length of PVC wire insulation stripped from a piece of suitable wire will suffice or if there is sufficient cut the existing tube in half and slip the two pieces onto each arm behind the brush tops.2) Use a decoder that has sufficient current output for these old power hungry motors. As suggested the Sapphire is one and there are many other makes suitable too. Avoid the basic Hornby decoder R8249 as it is not suitable with its rather low motor current threshold.Ideally always test your installation on a dedicated programming track connected to the Programming terminals for the system (Not available on the Select), as the current to rails from the programming output terminals is not of a sufficient level to cause decoder failure if there is a wiring / installation problem. Main track power will blow the decoder if any defective installation is present! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The son of Triangman Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Another tip is to NEVER solder to the motor brushes, as when it comes time to change them you may have a job removing them if you solder to them. I use two standard Tri-ang power feed clips to which the grey and orange wires are soldered instead of soldering to the brushes, the insulation I use is also a slightly thinner type than the original sleeve so that the useage of an extra clip is compensated for and brush wear is decreased thus making the brushes live a little longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The son of Triangman Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 You recieved partially incorrect information Colin. I agree it does devalue valuable boxed and mint Tri-ang models to the general marketplace so is best done on models that aren't valuable, better to choose models that are runners or a common model rather than rare, mint boxed or mint unboxed models.As for conversion, as can be seen it's not that hard a job and locos in good fettle before conversion run very nicely under DCC control. I have an unboxed Tri-ang-Hornby Hall (pretty common model) that runs as smooth as silk under DCC control, in fact I would go so far as to say it runs a lot better than a lot of today's China made models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choralc Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Sapphire decoders are almost twice the price here in Australia than some DCC Concept decoders. The specs say 1.4+ amps. Will this be adequate to install with X.03/04 motored locos? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The son of Triangman Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Providing the motor is in good clean fettle, loco is in good running order and the motor magnet is not weak, then the stall current doesn't usually exceed 1Amp. 1Amp - 1.4 Amp rated decoders should be fine as a rule. Things to watch for are the functions as well as these will add to current draw if using bulbs etc. Best to do a stall test before installing the decoder to be sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The son of Triangman Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Not sure if this allowed but Hattons DCR-8pin Harness decoder is a good choice as it can take up to 1 Amp if I remember correctly and it will only cost you a £10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choralc Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 SOT, that is a thought although once you add o/s postage in this case I think the cost will be close plus if there is a failure return postage is worse. :) I will try to rig up my multimeter to conduct the stall test. Not too sure as I have only tested for continuity with it so far and of course the instruction card has been temporarily relocated to an unknown place. Also there are no lights as I am basically all steam and any diesels tend to be modern build i.e DCCr GWR Railcars. The locos that I've considered aren't that bad. Thanks again SOT for your reply. I was hoping you would! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teedoubleudee Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Not sure if this allowed but Hattons DCR-8pin Harness decoder is a good choice as it can take up to 1 Amp if I remember correctly and it will only cost you a £10. I've only ever fitted these decoders and never had a problem (so far!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choralc Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 A double endorsement! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 DCC Concepts decoders work fine too and come direct from WA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howbi Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Converted my HD 2-6-4T to DCC with a Bachmann 36-553 decoder. Runs very smoothly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choralc Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Thanks FM glad to hear a local endorse the local product. Well it's relatively local :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael_A Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 And the topic goes on even though the op hasn't been back since his original 'rant' back in December. I guess it triggered some good discussion, but I do wonder why people post then don't come back and pick up (Or at least acknowledge) the response / helpful advice provided. Maybe I'm having a bad day, but wondering how much value this forum really adds, especially when so many responses go into far too much detail, off at a tangent, and often completely off topic. Can't see the wood for the trees ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Michael, the possibilities for you are endless to solve this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris-K Posted May 4, 2017 Share Posted May 4, 2017 Hi There, 'I'm hoping you can help, I have a Triang Class 31 R357 and am wanting to run it on DCC, I see your post below and detailed photo of this wiring and wondered if you had anymore you could send me at all just to give me a guide on what wire goes where? Also if was to service this any help would be appreciated on what i would need to do to get this running well, It does run at the minute just takes a bit to warm up and think it could do with a clean and oil maybe?any help would be appreciatedThanksChris/media/tinymce_upload/858_zpsd2e869f4.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/859_zpsebc54c88.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo1707820979 Posted May 5, 2017 Share Posted May 5, 2017 Not sure if this allowed but Hattons DCR-8pin Harness decoder is a good choice as it can take up to 1 Amp if I remember correctly and it will only cost you a £10.Hi SoT. Could you say if the HATTONS DCR-8pin is compatible with both the Select and Elite ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted May 5, 2017 Share Posted May 5, 2017 Basic rules for any DCC conversion is the decoder wires are routed as follows: Red and Black to the track (i.e. loco pickups) and orange and grey the other way (i.e. motor brush contacts). The essential caveat is that the motor brushes MUST be isolated from the track before any rewiring takes place. Obviously having a socket installed as part of the retire helps but hard wiring is the usual way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianb26 Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 /media/tinymce_upload/dd7786dbe4dd5529d15355f08340a932.JPG/media/tinymce_upload/98b95910533d141e7a4f9517ec1b0e76.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/37c57eba6ae59a0f0e9c838950cfbfd8.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/c152d943af30c87a03aef615e6ac8abd.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/c5a0c989723a5da3dc6d0c0054920b1b.jpgAs Yelrow points out and Rog (RJ) right says there are many Tri-ang locos converted for DCC. Most Tri-ang locos are easy conversions, the smoke locos are a pain as you have to make a relay board for the smoke units as a rule, otherwise easy peasy. Best decoder for them is the Hornby Sapphire which suits the Super12/X.03/04/05 and Diesel/DMU/EMU power bogies and their current draw.Tri-ang-Hornby Hymek circa 1972/73 DCC fitted with Hornby Sapphire Decoder. This is the one with the rear bogie pickups, easy to convert. Runs a treat./media/tinymce_upload/858_zpsd2e869f4.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/859_zpsebc54c88.jpgGreat pictures, but are there anymore, showing the leads to the rear bogies. I have 2 of these motors to add decoders to. One is the six wheel bogie, the other is a 4 wheel bogie. As this is my first time on this forum, I'm going to attempt to attach a couple of photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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