Flashbang

Unfortunately, its seems to be part of the 'new world' run by the internet. Some will say "Thank You" others ignore your posts, if we assume they have found it and to be useful? While some will make completely derogatory remarks. There is no real reason, hard or fast, for the lack of replies to those answers offered to others! The best I can suggest is not to take Umbridge with nil replies or negative answers. Just provide the best and correct detail the questioner has asked for. If you don't get a positive response, move on and ignore their failure to reply. Or ignore the negative responses and ensure you provide the correct and accurate answers to others who are more interested.. From someone who owns a MR forum and moderates on two forums, you need a very thick skin and take responses or the lack of them, without malice or to heart. grin

You don't need to remove the Inductors (Chokes), but if they are removed then wire links need to be soldered in their place. The capacitor(s) across the motor.... My rule is only remove them if they cause problems with poor running. Some models have one capacitor others can have three or more, often you will find them soldered to the motor wiring tabs and the motors metal case, but some are fitted onto the PCB, There is no hard and fast rule! The removal of motor capacitors can allow far better Bemf regulation between the decoder and the motor. If the decoder allows, try turning Off Bemf to see what happens (Not all decoders allow this!) TBH Im not sure what the problem is? Your track readings seem to show slightly above 12 volts on the rails all the time, but it's fairly hard to read the trace. The volts dipping and rising a little as the motor turns and loading is placed on the decoder/motor. I would expect the 'Sound only' trace to show a fairly constant reading, as the load is constant. Does the loco not run correctly? As there seems no mention of how it is actually running? To answer your question re "is this the capacitor"? Yes, it's the light brown item marked C1. The Inductors are the two copper coloured coils seen to the left of the capacitor and somewhat hidden by the yellow circle line drawn. Up grading to the 4.0Amp power supply will always improve a layouts general operation, as you have effectively quadrupled the power available. But a loco will only consume whatever it needs, so if it only needs say 350ma then a 1.0Amp or 4.0Amp Power supply will still provide that 350ma. But of course, if you go over 1.0Amp (1000ma) loading then the 1,0Amp Power supply will soon trip as its on overload! Edit to correct typos!

Far from S-T-U-P-I-D they look like the real thing! What is so bad with these? Other than they need weathering.

Hi You can connect two solenoid motors to one lever or switch and they both move together. Ideally wire each motor back to the operating switch or lever rather than link from one motor to the next. As linking them can lead to the first motor "grabbing" all the power and the second one not receiving sufficient to allow it to move. Taking the wires (Ideally 16/0.2mm equipment wire) back to the switch allows both motors to receive a share of the current available. A CDU will help and they are a great asset where solenoid motors are used. But it is not recommended to be used with the Hornby R044 Black point lever, due to the levers very old internal switching design. But a CDU is fine with virtually every other switch or lever and Stud & Probe. Normally only one CDU is needed for the whole layout. You cannot feed signals from the power going to the point motor that's used to move the motor! You will need a separate power supply (ideally DC and a Regulated one) and feed that either via some type of point operated change-over switch - Micro switch or PL13. Or use a twin coil Latching Relay connected to the point motors operating wires and via the relays contacts feed the signal aspects from the separate power source. Latching relays are sold ready to use from Gaugemaster part GM500 or Brimal part MR204.

Here you go... Feed outer loop form the DC controller in the area where shown and then link outer loop to inner loop feeding inner loop where shown. Ensure the outer rail of the outer loop connects to outer rail of the inner loop and of course the same for the inner rails on each loop. grinning

Hi If you are using the Hornby R8247 accessory decoder, it tends to suffer from the fact that it only has a really small CDU inside and to make matters worse, that CDU is shared between all four outputs! This is really not the best and there are Accessory decoders that offer separate CDUs per output, such as DCC Concepts AD-Sxx range. Also, what DCC system is being used? If the Select, the 1.0 Amp power supply suppled with the Select isn't really large enough to power locos and accessories. If you have the Select with the 1.0Amp wall plug power supply, consider upgrading the power supply to the 4.0Amp version P9300. We have to assume you have R8247 with R8243 surface motors? If so, each motor has three wires and are coloured Red, Green and Black. The red and green wires connect to the accessory decoders terminals + and - and the black to C. Next comes the length of wire run between the Accessory Decoder and the furthest point motor. The supplied factory fitted wires are quite fine and really need to be larger where any length of wire run is 2Mtrs or more! Suggest these wires are terminated underneath the motor/on the baseboards underside, into a three way terminal block and the three wires from the decoder to the block are in at least 16/0.2mm equipment wire. Do not link motor to motor where two are to move together - Take all three wires per motor back to the decoders terminals with two wires in each terminal. Finally, surface mounting motors need to be fitted so as they are not too tightly pulled down. Ensure each motor on its own can be operated correctly from the Accessory Decoder before adding the other motor.

Personally, I would remove all locos from the tracks and then ensure the Elite remains powered OK. If it does then turn off the Elite and add one loco. Power back up and run that one loco for a short while ensuring it runs correctly. If it does, power off the Elite and remove that loco and try another loco then do this same testing loco by loco until all have been tested. If any one loco causes the Elite to trip then investigate that loco as to the cause. If the Elite trips with no locos on the track as per the first check above, remove the two Track feed wires from the rear terminals and also the Programming wires if used. Power up Elite and see if it now trips. If it does suspect the power supply, its cable or the Elite itself. If its OK after a while, then the problem is in the track wiring or the track layout itself.

Bachmann 21 pin are ESU decoders in both their sound and non sound DCC fitted locos. They apparently have now switched to Zimo in their latest Plux22 and Next18 decoder fitted locos.

TBH Ive never read such utter rubbish! - Sorry, but if you believe adding a second decoder to a fully working one is a issue, you need to understand DCC far more. Bemf has nothing whatsoever to do with the second decoders operation - This second decoder only providing motor (fan) and Function controls! Adding a second decoder is very simple and needs nothing more than room for the decoder and a soldering iron! It introduces a second motor output (used for the fan motor) and many function controls! Edit to correct a typo spelling errror!

Hi Firstly due to the age of this loco it MUST run faultlessly on DC rail power before any conversion is considered. The slightest hesitancy to start or general poor running on DC will become far worse on DCC. Many of these early locos had poor quality wheels and do not make the best electrical connection rail to wheel which is essential for a good DCC signal to reach the decoder. Secondly, the old XO 3 or 4 motors draw quite higher current than modern motors do. Therefore, if you consider a conversion and the loco meets the good running checks, consider a high quality decoder that offers far better motor control adjustments than the R8249. Consider those whose names begin with Zi or Le,

Assuming the existing ESU LokSound V3.5 decoder is working correctly; I personally wouldn't mess around trying to upgrade the decoder fittings to another type! Instead, I would add a second low cost wired decoder and use its motor output (Orange and Grey wires) to drive the fan motor so as the fan motors speed can be easily adjusted and then use its 4 (or more?) Function outputs to operate other devices - LEDs etc grinning

The Gaugemaster Reverse Loop module is relay operated and designed to work with their higher current powered DCC systems. Both their PA2 and smaller Express systems. The Hornby Select, as sold only has 1.0 Amp power supply and the GM RLM won't trip and reverse power with such a low power DCC supply. To note: a RLM that is relay based is very slow in flipping over the reverse loops rail power and may cause the DCC system to "See" the short circuit and trip out before the RLM has had time to flip over the rail power and remove the short circuit. An all electronic RLM will be able to do this far quicker than any relay based RLM! IMO the PSX-AR is probably the best Reverse Loop Module with a very close second comes the Dual Frog Juicer.

Hi To get a complete 180 degree curve in Radius 4 on a solid baseboard you will need a board that is approx. 4 feet wide. Maths is .... 4th Radius has a radius of 572mm to centre of the track x 2 plus a minimum of another 60mm. So 572 x 2 + 60 = 1204mm absolute minimum. A standard sheet of ply or similar is 1220mm wide (approx. 4 feet). What you must consider is the 'reachability' of items along the rear as you won't be able to reach across a four-foot wide board! So either arrange rear access or have an operating/access hole (known as a 'well') in the middle of the board. If you're thinking of baseboards around the sheds walls, then I would be looking at L shaped sections of at least 600mm depth and if necessary add a wedge shaped section into the inner right angle to allow the smaller radius tracks to be supported.

Hi Peco do not recommend using Hornby point clips on their points. Whether this is because they are from another manufacturer or it's because the rail fixing is slightly different, I have no idea? While point clips work, IMO its far better to wire the layout using a DCC Bus pair of wires and droppers to the rails. If you can fit clips to Peco points, then go ahead, you then really only need one power feed to the rails for all tracks. All Insulated frog points (Except the Peco Single and Double slip) cut off the power to the unset direction. On a DCC layout this needs to be overcome to allow power to flow in all rails regardless of the point blades position. So you either fit clips or wire in a DCC bus pair and droppers to the rails. The Peco SL80 single slip is insulated frog. However, I believe it is like it's bigger brother the SL 90 Double Slip in that it does not self-isolate the unset direction, so clips on the slips would not be necessary, as power flows out to all directions regardless of the point blades position.

Hi If all your Peco points are Insulated frog (Peco SL xx or ST xx) as are all Hornby points, then no Insulated Rail Joiners (IRJs) are needed on a DCC layout. Just add dropper rail feeds as shown by the arrow heads in the Peco drawing and this will ensure all tracks are live regardless of any point position. Ideally run a DCC Bus pair of wires from the DCC console around under the layout and tap off these two wires with the smaller wire droppers to the rails. On a DCC layout you only need IRJs where Electrofrog points are used (Peco SL-Exx) Note the "E" denoting they are Electrofrog. Edit to correct typing.

I have just seen this and what a shock! Chris will be dearly missed and my thoughts go out to his family and friends. RIP Chris.

@Michael~32/0.2mm is rated at least 6 Amp. If the Amazon 50Mtr reel is £15.19 Not a bad price, but Switch Electronics the seller (who I have used) are also selling the same reels on eBay for £13.79 post free! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254436601894?hash=item3b3d9a7026:g:VC8AAOSwGbhd396m You may also like to consider using Wago 221 connector blocks (Toolstation and Screwfix and many electrical wholesalers stock them in the UK) Sold in 2, 3 or 5 way connections. Simply strip the wire end, raise the lever on the 221 and insert wire and press lever down to clip in place and lock the wire. Accept wires mostly used in model railway wiring - 7/0.2mm through to 50/0.25mm and larger. No cutting of insulation or damage to internal wire due to insulation displacement as with Scotchlok and no worrying about getting the right size of connector as needed with Scotchlok connectors! Wago allows two (or more) wires to be stripped and twisted together and then inserted into one terminal, especially the smaller sizes of wires.

Hi My rule for wiring is very simple and ensures 100% reliability DC or DCC. It has never let me or anyone Ive advised down if followed. 7/0.2mm LED wiring, colour light signals, building lighting plus street lighting and rail feeds for DC plus droppers for DCC when every section of track has a dropper pair. 16/0.2mm for all solinoid point motor feed wiring and the return where just one motor is being operated. DCC rail droppers where every track section is not dropper feed. 24/0.2mm for solinoid point motor returns where two motors move together. 32/0,2mm minimum size for DCC track bus feed wires. Solinoid motor return wire where three or more solenoids all move together in conjunction with a CDU (Capacitor Discharged Unit) Note a CDU is often included in a DCC Accessory point decoder but always check if obtaining one for solinoid point operation. e.g. Hornby has one CDU shared between all four outputs, DCC Concepts has one CDU per output If your layout is fixed and not able to be moved then a solid wire can be used for the DCC track feed bus pair, here 1.5mm2 is about the smallest I would recommend.

Hi Only one tender has a motor - the one next to the loco. The other is unpowered. For spares try either Peters Spares or Lendons of Cardiff AFAIK only two wheels are powered by gearing the other are free to turn unpowered. Edit to correct typo.

Ensure if using Hornby Surface point motors that Black wire connects to the C terminal. You can have two point motors work from the one R8247 output. Connect the two Green wires to the + and the two Red wire to the - terminals and both Black wires to the middle "C" terminal. If the two motors operate the wrong way from need, swap around both Green and Red wires in the + and - terminals of that group of three output terminals. Do not move the two Black wires from the C terminal. If the pair of motors do not seem to work correctly, check each point motor is not to tightly fitted down and any extension wires from the Accessory decoder to motor are in 16/0.2mm wire for all three wires. In fact, I recommend using a three way terminal block per point motor, fitted right by the motor underneath the baseboard and then terminate the factory fitted wires into one side of the block and the 16/0.2mm wires into the other side. Hope this helps?

Hi I'm not sure if this answers your question? But... Unlike Hornby, Peco produce two types of OO track - Setrack and Streamline. Setrack is identical to Hornby products (except Express points) and can be a drop in replacement. Tracks are automatically spaced at 67mm parallel lines centre to centre. Streamline is not a direct drop in, as all items are mainly to a larger footprint and turnout radius than Hornby or Setrack and the Centre to Centre parallel spacing is 50mm. All Setrack is Insulated frog and to Code 100 rail profile which is the same as Hornby track. Streamline things begin to get different! Points are supplied now in three versions and are identical in size. They are sold in three types and these are Insulated Frog, Electrofrog and some produced in the new Unifrog versions. Next Streamline in OO is sold also in two rail profile heights - Code 100 same as Hornby rail and Code 75 which is smaller sometimes called Finescale. Finally, all Hornby and Setrack items are supplied with metal rail joiners (Fishplates) pre fitted. Streamline has to have separately purchased rail joiners added. To use a Streamline diamond crossing in with Hornby track would involve adding short pieces of track to bring the parallel tracks back to 67mm centres. Hope this helps?

Why do you want to use two DCC controllers (Consoles)? Just take the Track output from the main DCC controller to an all Electronic DCC overload cutout then feed the rails from the overload device output and the accessories from the main console output side like this drawing...

You need to be a little cautious re the left hand silver brush strips connection! Ringfield motors had several means of connecting the left brush strip to the chassis and wheels.. Wire link, a "Pip" of metal touching the rear of the tab on the left hand strip and the final, the strip has a screw connecting it directly to the metal of the motor and wheels! If the Pip is used, it seems as thought the wire link is missing, but there was never a wire! Of course if you are sure the wire link is missing, then either obtain a replacement. Make one from suitably sized spades and flexible wire, Or solder a wire in its place!

Hi Adding additional rail feeds is always worthwhile. But I don't believe it will overcome your problem. I think the problem is due to the point not being dead flat along its length. Test this if possible with the edge of a 12 inch steel rule laid along the rails of the point. No daylight should be seen between rail top and rule edge. If there is, correct by lightly pinning down the point more or add card packing to raise any low area, whichever is needed. Also ensure the rail tops across the point are spotlessly clean and that the points moving switch rails inner faces are clean as too should the mating fixed stock rails inner faces be cleaned where the switch rails make contact onto.

The Prodigy Express handset does not support old style Universal Consists. It can only operate Advanced Consisting (CV19). However, if a Prodigy Advanced 2 handset is plugged into the base of the Express both types of Consist can be operated. Note though, only one old style Universal consist can be operated regardless of the number of handset used. So, as the TTS range is Universal old style consisting only (No CV19 support) then as supplied, the Express cannot operate the decoder in consist. Consider giving two locos the same address number which will allow them to work together on one address set of commands, but not quite as a true consist!