ColinB

I think I might have figured what might have happened. I suspect you might have had a short on the speaker, but because you are using a Select rather than an Elite, it couldn't source enough current to completely damage the decoder. What might have happened, which happened to me is if you didn't adequately insulate the speaker, it might have moved slightly and touched something, which would cause exactly what you are decribing. It happened to me with a LokSound decoder, worked perfectly ok, ran it along the track, went to program the address. It suddenly buzzed and was no more, but in my case I have an Elite that can source a lot more current than the Select, so it can do more damage. Do all the checks I said, but I suspect it is a return to Hornby. As I say, it is only a calculated quess.

I suppose the only thing to add to my original post, is are you sure the decoder still works. I have had them when I have had a major failure, work for about a couple of minutes, then you get the familar burning smell as it smokes and blows up the rest of the circuit. Then off course your controller trips out because the decoder has put a short across the inputs (usually caused by the input diodes going short circuit). So as I say check it still works as a decoder over a reasonable time. As Rob says you did make sure you used an 8 ohm loudspeaker, the Loksound 4 ohm ones look exactly the same as the Hornby ones.

Look Fishmanoz I explained in simple terms how to find if the driver is loaded nothing else. Nothing in the previous text explained that. I take your comment to be unacceptally aggressive, considering if you read it properly I did say that the "other two gentleman wil help you out". So in this instance give it a rest. I was purposely keeping out of this. This is not the first time you have been unduly aggressive to me, the other times I have let it pass. Now Rob has nicely explained the complaints procedure.

The first thing you need to do is unplug the the USB lead going to the Elite. Wait a few minutes and plug it back in. Now check to see if a box pops up saying it has found the driver software, bit like when you plug your phone into the USB socket. I suspect it hasn't found the driver, so the little box will say something like no suitable driver found. If it does find the driver then you can do all the other stuff, that the others are talking about. It is hasn't found the driver then you going to need to load it. I will let the other two gentlemen explain that to you.

I have a number of these and have had many faults, I must admit I have never seen this fault. I think it might just be the speaker, generally if it was a short circuit on the speaker it probably would have taken the decoder with it, that is my experience. Buy another speaker and see if it still works. I very rarely use the supplied speaker, so perhaps that is why I have never seen this issue, I either use ex iphone speakers or sugar cube ones when there is very little space, they also sound tons better. The one big advantage of iphone speakers is they are very easy to electrically insulate, they are also very thin. If it is damaged and is under a year old, return it to Hornby, it is guaranteed(see the documentation that came with it). Unless your controller has something internally wrong with it, which I seriously doubt, as it would have blown everything, the only thing that could have happen is there was a short internally on the decoder, but again if that happened it would take out the decoder. It is a lot of current to melt a speaker, if the decoder tried to source that it itself would probably melt. Believe me you can smell it.

I must admit I don't know what the setup is within a Prairie, but on the standard 5 the DCC socket was raised by two posts. By filing slight grooves either side of the sugar cube speaker, making sure it doesn't impinge on the speaker enclosure, I could fit the speaker between the dcc socket posts, under the dcc socket. They were rather long on the Bachmann so probably easier to do. If it doesn't work on this one it is a thought for the future. I have started placing my TTS decoders in loose fitting heat shrink, the components on the top of the TTS decoder are the ones that need to have some cooling, so the loose fitting heat shrink lets it do that. I have had many issues running my locos on hot days, so finding a way of letting the module get rid of their heat is a priority. I will add it seems to only be an issue with TTS, loksound and Zimo sound decoders all come ready shrink rapped, so they obviously don't have any cooling issues.

Great thanks atom3624.

When I did a Bachmann Standard 5 tank which is about the same size I found LokSound did a micro version which was a lot smaller. Zimo do one that is even smaller. The biggest issue I had was locating the speaker.

Ok then, back on subject are there any reported issues with the new HST, the expensive one. I have an old Ringfield based one, to which I added a 5 pole motor, DCC and lights. Not only does there seem to be issue with the motor current being marginal for the TTS decoder (it has already killed one TTS decoder), but it seems to rely on the traction tyres too much. So I thought I would replace it with the new one which I gather has all wheel drive. Again it is an awful lot of money, probably more than a Bachmann DMU, so obviously a serious investment. Alternatively, I stick with the old one put up with the traction tyres and put the money into buying a decent sound decoder, that will handle the current.

Getting back onto the subject as Sarahagain put it, what you need to do is basically work out which ones you want to keep and which ones to sell. Even simple conversions done properly cost money and quite often it is whether you can source the parts to do it. I recently had a lot of Triang and Hornby locos, that I had gained over the years, I basically worked out which ones were worth converting or I wanted to keep and slowly started selling the excess to fund any of my new locos or sound decoders. So as you probably know it is a case of look up on EBay what they are worth. I think as I said previously Triang trucks and carriages will normally work on new track with a change of wheels, but here again sometimes they look a bit dated but not always. I recently wanted some GWR Clerestory coaches, I just happened to watch a review which basically said the new ones were the same as Hornby sold in the 80's and 90's just with a better paint job and wheels. So rather than buy the new price, I just bought some second hand ones and some new wheels. The real plus point was a lot of the old Triang stuff has "screw on" couplings making it easier to convert to newer types.

@Going Spare Thank you.

Unfortunately with old Triang rolling stock it appears to be the points that are the biggest issue. In my case I use Peco electrofrog points, so generally the coach derails or in the case of locos the actual point takes a hammering. I have a a couple of double slips and these get hit with such force it can even can change them, meaning if the coach didn't derail first time round, the loco certainly will the next time. These things are quite frail so the less stress you put them under, the better. As I said in my first post if they are the push in wheels, then quite an easy fix, the only issue being that Hornby don't sell replacement wheels in packs of 8, but I did find someone on the web that did.

@StuBaggyBoy I think that Hornby may well be going the same way as the original Airfix did. They seem to be putting a lot of effort into that new Gresley loco, not realising that it is quantity of sales that matter and there has to be an adequate backup of spares for a nearly £200 loco. They are doing the usual trick of limiting numbers, but all that does it make someone on EBay a lot of money. I must admit since they stopped dealing with Rails, I don't seem to order any Hornby locos. Rails used to send mails to entice you to buy the next release, so I used to just put my name down. When Rails stopped dealing with Hornby I think I had about 10 locos on that list. There was only one I transfered to a new supplier, but I have been waiting for that for two years so I don't expect to see that soon. Good new is though, all Hornby have to do with next years catalogue, is change the date on this years.

@Going Spare I know, I did say about the class 59. The class 66, wasn't advertised as Railroad, I don't think it still is. I only bought it, after watching the James May program, it portrayed it as so good. The thing that most annoyed me was that it didn't have lights. I bought a class 90 for about the same price and that did. Anyway, I must admit I now only buy Bachmann and Dapol diesel locos and Hattons class 66. Even the second hand ones I have bought have been really good. As a side note it appears they are about to throw me off this site for being too aggressive to certain people ( who said "snowflakes" had to be young),even though they seem to be very aggressive to me. So just to let you know Going Spare I really valued your posts, they have been incredibly helpful. You and Sarahagain really know your stuff. That is probably the only thing I will miss. Thanks.

It looks like my original post got lost. On my Triang Royal Mail van, I pulled the axles out (be careful, the plastic might be brittle). I then replaced the plastic wheels with new Hornby ones. They are a bit of a tight fit but they will fit the orginal axles. Put it back together and set the spacing. You will also find the carriage runs an awful lot better. On EBay they are people doing other makes of wheels, they might be a cheaper option.

Looking at my Railroad class 59 which did cost £70, there is nothing to fall off. Needless to say I was very dissapointed with it. I didn't realise it was the Railroad version when I ordered it. My Evening Star class 66, isn't much better.

You should have told Hornby that they owed you an accessory pack for free rather than pay the £8=00. I had a blue King loco, that worked ok on DC but would not work on DCC. Eventually I tracked it to the DCC socket, the DC blanking plug had fatter pins, which I assume had damaged the socket. Anyway I replaced the socket with one I was saving for one of my other conversions. So I emailed Hornby and said seeing as I had saved them an awful lot of return postage costs and labour, that they owed me a brand new socket. I got one, two weeks later. I read an article ages ago, that Hornby was having issues finding Suppliers to build their locos, so perhaps that is the issue. Over the last few years production costs in China have been increasing a lot I gather Bachmann uses the same one it has used for years.

I know, I felt sorry for the Seller when I read your post. It is like TTS decoders, there are numerous faults with them as a Seller/Dealer they must be a nightmare. I only now buy ones from recognised Dealers, because probably they will need to go back. It is getting to the point now where I am thinking, just buy the decent ones from Zimo or Loksound but less of them. The trouble is if they do return it to Hornby, it doesn't cover their lost postage and all the hassle. I like Hornby Steam locos, but this is the 21st Century and their 1970's attitude doesn't seem to fit in anymore.

I forgot to mention. There is a guy on EBay that does a PCB with 8 pin DCC socket and light feeds already wired, all you do is add the resistors. You will find him by doing a search on "8 pin DCC sockets" and they are decent PCBs where the tracks won't fall off when you breathe on them. I have just bought one for my EM2 conversion, it was about £1=60. He also does really decent 8 pin DCC sockets that put the Hornby ones to shame, again "plated through holes" dual layer, quality product. I only wish he had been around when I converted about 20 of my old Hornby and Lima locos.

I am surprised the shop couldn't fix it. Very rarely do circuit boards fail, but have a look round see if you can see any broken tracks. It is probably one of those four pin connectors causing the issues. I don't own one of these, I have the Bachmann equivalent. It is only controlling lighting, so find yourself someone that fixes PCs, it will probably be easy for them to fix it, without the need for a circuit diagram. I recently did the lighting on my Bachmann DMU (someone had forgot to add some diodes in production). For a decent electrical guy they just trace out the circuit board. The diodes on the circuit board are probably to provide lighting on non DCC applications, my DMU was the same. I couldn't figure out why it needed so many components then logic kicked in. Normally the most difficult part is getting the PCB out.

You need separate resistors as each diode has a different voltage drop across it, so if you only had one resistor it is possible that not all the leds would shine the same (that is the simple answer). Certain people on this site get upset if I go into too much detail. The easiest way I have found is to either buy what is called an SIL comon resistor pack (a search on EBay will get you one), where you add the blue wire to the commoned pin, and take the feeds off the others, or there is a guy on EBay that does does an SMD resistor based board for about a £1=00 which is small and perfect and easier to fit. I have used both on my old converted Hornby locos. I think people use individual resistors because I don't think they know about the alternatives (well that is the diplomatic answer), although they might be slighly cheaper, but I am not all that sure. They definitely are a lot more work.

You need to add a 22 uF capacitor across the LED and resistor chains, otherwise it will flicker like hell. You only need one for all four chains. It is a lot easier if you use caravan leds that come in strips. From China they work out cheaper than buying the individual components.

It has got to be the way they are transported. I recently bought two second hand Bachmann class 47's from Hong Kong, they were advertised on the UK EBay website. When I ordered the first one I was a bit worried what I would get especially being Shipped all that way. It turned out to be perfect as was the second one I ordered after the first one arrived. So they can send them properly.

I noticed on a service sheet for some other loco I was looking up, that it didn't list traction tyres. I just assumed it was a fault with the Service Sheet. There is no way that would work without traction tyres, I don't think it is heavy enough. I have a Hornby class 66 and 59, and they are of similar design and they have traction tyres. From your original question, we know it doesn't work without traction tyres.

You will get your money back, the threats from EBay generally bully the Seller into paying up. It is a shame, immediately I read your post I looked up the loco and Sam's Trains review. It appears it is a good loco but as I said earlier, even on his one the connector fell apart. You even wonder if you could fix it with a load of cheap Chinese connectors, until you find that Hornby glued the wires to the chassis. Really it is unforgivable, Hornby know you will have to take it apart to put the DCC decoder in, so they should make it easy. Long term all it does is lose them sales. I was tempted to buy one, then I read your's and Sam's reports and thought no. Funny, I recently bought a Dapol class73 Battle of Britain loco, Sam's Trains said his kept derailing, mine is absolutely perfect, most reliable one I own, the only issue I have is the cab lights are on all the time when you switch the lights on. Even fitting the dcc decoder was easy.