Flashbang

Having carried out a bit if research I found this... http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/38672-hornby-pullmans-power-consumption/ see item 19.

Isn't the resistor colours - Yellow, Violet, Brown, Silver? Hard to tell and be 100% sure? Which if it is, according to my reckoning is 470R 10% ?? If 470R then the LEDs vF is somewhere in the range of 2.2 to 4.0 volts giving a current drain of approx 0.2A or 20milliamp.

Chris... Sorry I was typing my reply when you posted, hence my edit note of Snap! Colin... What is the voltage rating of the capacitor. It will something like 25v or 35v etc? Also what is its uF value? I am very surprised that the resistor values for the LEDs are so low? Also there doesn't appear to be any anti surge resistors fitted. These help stop the huge inrush currents that occur due to the capacitors all charging when several lit coaches are powered up at the same time!

Hi Personally, I would apply 12v DC to the red and black wires marked 'IN1' & 'IN2' observing polarity. If you don't have a readily accessible 12v DC power supply use a 9 volt PP3 battery instead. The Two LEDs should light. If nothing happens removed power and then unsolder the wires that lead off to the sub board marked 'OP1' and 'OP2' This will allow just the main board to be tested. Reapply 12V DC or the 9V battery to IN1 & IN2 connections. Does the main LED now light? If Yes then the problem is on the smaller board. If No then the problem is likely to be on the main board. All the components look OK in the photo, so the main suspect has to be the LEDs. These could be replaced with any colour LED just to test. Observe LED polarity - Long lead on an LED is the Positive or Anode. The next suspect is the electrolytic capacitor which could also be removed to test, as without it all that will happen is there is no flicker free lighting. If the circuits then work with it removed replace it with an identical uF value and DC work voltage rated capacitor. Edit to add.. Are there any other LEDs other than the two shown? If so disconnect them when testing. Chris... Snap!

Hi Yes there is a recommended minimum and that is 1 in 30. i.e. For every 1 inch of rise the length needs to be 30 inches. Replace inches with mm or cm etc. A less steep slope is better if room permites. Don't forget that if curved track is involved in the incline then the drag caused by the curve increases the load on the loco when it's pulling carriages or wagons. So you then need to reduce the incline slope to 1 in 40 or 1 in 50.

He will be sadly missed. Hornby will be hard pressed to find a replacement of equal calibre.

Hi Do be a little cautious with modification to points. As many of these are designed for Electrofrog points, which Hornby do not manufacture. On DCC and where Hornby points are used and all of which are Insulated frog style, you don't need to carry out any modifications other than fit Digital point clips. However, if you want to improve power/data transfer through the point you can add power feeds (Droppers) to the two outer most rails - ideally to the rails underside as they then become virtually invisible. Plus if wished and especially where any short circuits occur where wider metal wheels are able to bridge the two Vee rails at their closest place on the frog area or where the metal wheels can touch inner face of the open switch rail at the beginning of the point, you can remove the metal joiners and add two Insulated Rail Joiners (Plastic fishplates - Hornby part R920) to the ends of the points Vee rails leading away from the frog. Then add more rail feeds (Droppers) after the IRJs.

Hi Electo. point clips will suffice, but they can overtime become loose or displaced completely. The best way is to do as you are doing. On points solder the dropper wires to the points two stock rails (Outer straight and opposite outer curved rail). Ideally soldering the droppers to the rails underside before laying the point is the neatest way.

Further to the above... I can now confirm that the Hornby Select is not able to alter the R8247 accessory decoders outputs from Pulse to Continuous. Only the Elite or any other DCC system capable of altering CVs can do this! You could use a R8249 loco decoder and connect its red and black wires to the rails or DCC bus pair (If you use a DCC bus). Set its address to a number between 1 to 59 (Selects range of addresses) and then connect the R406 signal.... Signals Green wire to the decoders Blue wire. The signals red wire to the decoders White wire and the Signals Black wire to the decoders Yellow wire. Note: All other wires on the decoder are not used for this operation. Then set the decoders address on the Select and press 'F0' (lights on/off function) this will allow the signal to be lit. Then still with the decoders address set, alter the direction of travel will change the aspect between Red and Green. To be honest I have to ask is it really worth the hassle? A simple On/On change-over switch or the Hornby R046 lever and suitable power feed is all that's required!

Hi You will need to set the output of the R8247 accessory decoder output used to feed the colour light signal to Continuous and then connect your Hornby R406 to the one set of three terminal output ports that you have set to continuous. Connect the signals Green wire to the 'C' terminal. The Red and Black wires to the decoders '+' and '-' terminals of that same group of terminals. I am unsure if the Select can alter the R8247 outputs from the supplied Pulse to Continuous as required? You may need a better and more up market DCC system to do this?

Isolating tracks are not included. You will need two and ensure you unplug and remove the short bridging link wires from each section. You don't have to use R618 isolating track sections at all. Simply remove the metal rail joiners on the rail ends where the loop starts and ends (Four metal joiners removed) and fit in their place four insulated joiners - R920 or the 'other firms' SL11 ones. This is a much cheaper option than using the isolating track sections and IMO looks far better too.

Sorry....I wish this forum had either a 'pre view post' or better an 'Edit post' option and then we could correct typing errors! But it doesn't, and there are several errors in the above post. So it should read..... The reason is that the whole train has to be inside the loops IRJs is simply any metal wheel rim will bridge the IRJs and cause the 'short circuit trip' to occur and allow the RLM to flip its output. So for example, if the loops length is shorter that the longest train then as the train exits the loop its very first metal wheel will short the IRJs and 'tell' the RLM to swap over the loops rail power to match that of the exit rails power. But if the whole train hasn't entered the loop? As soon as any metal wheel crosses the entrance IRJs the the RLM will be instructed to flip the rail power back to that matching the input tracks. Then WHEN the exit IRJs are bridged by the train leaving again the RLM is required to set the loops power to match the exit. Eventually the entrance and exit IRJs are likely to be bridged at the same time - Result IS then a total shut down of the main console, rather than the RLM being able to flip the loops rail polarity seamlessly.

The reason is that the whole train has to be inside the loops IRJs is simply any metal wheel rim will bridge the IRJs and cause the 'Trip' to occur and allow the RLM to flip its output. So for example, if the loops length is shorter that the longest train then as the train exits the loop its b=very first metal wheel will short the IRJs and 'tell' the RLM to swap over the loops rail power to match that of the exit rails power. But if the whole train hasn't entered the loop as soon as any metal wheel crosses the entrance IRJs the the RLM will be instructed to flip the rail power back to that matching the input tracks. Then the exit IRJs are bridged by the train leaving and again the RLM is required to set the loops power to match the exit. Eventually the entrance and exit IRJs are likely to be bridged at the same time - Result then is total shut down of the main console rather than the RLM being able to flip the loops rail polarity seamlessly.

Hi These thing should be observed for a reverse loop to work correctly.. 1) Four insulated rail joiners (IRJs) are fitted to the beginning and end of the loop. They are fitted into each rail of the loop and the pair are directly opposite each other. 2) The distance between the two pairs of IRJs should always be longer than the longest train (loco plus carriage or wagons) ever likely to travel around the loop i.e.the whole of the train MUST be inside the four IRJs. 3) Using a reverse loop module is probably the easiest to do. It has four connections - two from the input side of the loops rails or DCC bus pair if you use a DCC bus. The other two which are the Output pair of terminals connect to the rails of the loop somewhere between the four IRJs. 4) No other electrical feeds must be connected to the loops rails. Reverse loop module produced by Hornby for use with the Select or the Elite is part number R8238.

Hi While I haven't read four pages of text or looked at the supplied hyper-links, I do know that Tender drive locos were a thing of the past! Manly from the 1980 to early 2000 period. Modern locos are in the main loco drive. There are a few exceptions where cheaper costs are required. But most are now loco drive. Tender drive locos are always Ringfield motor powered, earlier models had the rather poorer three pole motors fitted while more recent ones had the better five pole Ringfield motor. Older three pole Ringfield motors are notoriously poor performers. They often fail to start or just don't run well unless near full rail volts are supplied to them. Skidding or non turning of the locos driving wheels was a common visible defect of this type of propulsion! Conversion to DCC is possible for all types but the criteria is the loco/motor combination MUST perform faultlessly before conversion.

Hi It reads as though your dc controllers internal over-load cutout is operating with the load of the loco plus the three lit carriages. If by removing the carriages and just running the loco it runs ok, then everything is ok with the loco. You could consider upgrading the dc controller. The Hornby HM2000 controller is a good buy as too are some from other manufactures which were not permitted to refer to on this forum. If you go DCC you will need to not only obtain a DCC console, but also suitable decoders for each loco and fit them yourself or take the locos to a model shop and pay for them to be fitted. The good news is that Pullman carriages will work on either system - dc or DCC without any alterations

Hi Assume you're not trying to give the decoder an address number its not capable of accepting? e.g. early Hornby decoder and some others including the two function from B*****nn can only accept two digit address numbers. If your trying a two digit address and it still wont accept, try lightly holding down on the loco during the programming sequence. This is probably easier to do with someone else helping you. The only other thing is to try a decoder reset. See the decoder manual for the value required Hornby basic R8249 uses CV8 enter value of 8.