ColinB

What I did with a couple of my Duchess locos was to just buy the newer tender bottom, I don't know if they do the tender bottom for the Black 5, and the 4 way lead. Then you can move the electronics to the tender. Have a search through Peter's Spares to get ideas.

Yes Fishmanoz you are right and yes if it is easy to remove it then do it, but if if means hacking at the loco wiring then don't, not that the capacitor is needed it is just that you are risking damaging something else. As I say if it is on a Hornby loco try and remove, they are lots of posts saying where the capacitors give issue ( I think they must have purchased a duff batch), but it is such a small value, all it will do is slightly round the PWM edges that get fed to the motor.

I would have said no it does not invalidate the warranty. How else are you supposed to fit the DCC device without taking it apart? I have said for a long time that the manufacturers should make fitting the DCC decoder as easy as possible to avoid getting broken locos back, I used to design equipment digital test equipment and the last thing I ever wanted was getting it back broken, some people like it as it makes them feel important. The trouble is on a modern loco, soon as you try to remove the body, unless you are ultra careful, ancillary bits fall off. Unfortunately, most manufacturers haven't quite got to grips with the digital age and customer rights. Next time test the loco on dc before you take it apart, it solves a lot of issues.

From my experience don't ever take the loco body off unless you are absolutely sure that the DCC ready socket is in there. There are so many delicate parts on a modern loco that you risk them falling off, I have broke many speedo drives where I forgot that it is attached to the wheels and the body and that is why it won't pull off. A good guide I have found as to whether the DCC socket is in loco or tender is to see if there is a four way lead between loco and tender, if it is just the two way or the drawbar with "fingers" on it then the DCC socket is in the loco. RAF96 is right TTS probably will fit in the loco if you use a sugar cube speaker, I did that with many of my locos.

Interference is still an issue with digital TV, if I am running the trains the more obscure channels tend to lose data and you get a picture that freezes. As for the capacitor across the motor if it is a Hornby, remove it as they have a habit of going short circuit and taking out your DCC decoder.

Trouble is the slot has to be decoder width. I think possibly use a 6 pin decoder in the bunker and have a 6 pin to 8 pin converter lead, then the slot only has to be the width of a 6 pin socket. Wiring the 8 pin is not an issue for me, I think that might possibly work.

Coming back to the original post, having looked at it for a while, the easiest solution for me, is to cut the end off the decoder put it in the bunker and thread the wires through the holes at the bottom of the bunker and then reattach the wires onto the 8 pin plug in the DCC socket area. Not ideal but it will work. We only need 4 wires, so an easy soldering job. If I use a Zimo MX617, the one I like (the one you can add stay alive to) comes with a 6 pin plug on it, so I have to rewire it anyway. If you remove the body in the future you just have to remember to disconnect the DCC plug. Putting the decoder in the bunker means it has lots of air and plastic around it so no shorting or thermal issues. I could cut a hole and not rewire the plug, but the hole would need to be quite large.

Trouble is Sarahagain you are putting the decode into an area where there is a load of metal. Quite often you figure where it is going to go, but it moves as you put the body on. I have damaged several decoders where it works perfectly ok without the body on but then when you screw the body on it fails.

You have me worried now, not about the Adams but the decoders. Most of my decoders are still set at 3 until I finish the layout, so I check the loco on DC then DCC, but other than a few, virtually all of them are set at default value of 3. I must admit I have tried lots of decoders I have found the Zimo ones to be the most reliable, the others Hornby, Hattons, Gaugemaster, DCC supplies all seem to fail for no valid reason. Two of them failed driving Ringfield based locos, but the currents were all within the limits of the device. I had several DCC Supplies 6 pin ones (they are the only ones that would fit) die when driving some old Bachmann locos I converted, again the currents were within spec, replaced them with Bachmann decoders and no further issues. So far other than when it is my fault, I have not had a Zimo fail. I think a lot of the problems is the components they use are near their limit as far as thermal stability is concerned, so I come along put in a sleeve to avoid it shorting out but at the same time reduce its ability to get rid of the heat.

They sometimes get stuck. My Black Five R3805 has one screw at the front, not two as described, so check which type you have? On mine here is a plastic hook at the the back of the tender if I am right, and looking at the decription it looks about right. Make sure the screw/screws are fully out, in case it gets stuck on one thread at the end , now carefully wobble it and pull backwards. Be ever so careful, or else you will break the hook. I remember mine was tight, as have been many, you have to be so careful in case the detail bits fall off. This is always the difficult bit.

I wasn't going for a Hornby anyway, I have had too many issue with them failing as I said previously. I think they have a thermal issue which in limited spaces will get even worse. I will probably go for a Zimo, for jobs like these I use MX617 and solder my own 8 pin plug on it, it is only slightly more expensive than the Hornby one and a lot more reliable. I was just commenting that Hornby could have made things so much easier and I am still trying to figure why they didn't. I can see you might want to add your own coal, but then there are issues with the cylindrical part fitting in the bunker. I always do a continuity check before I fit the DCC decoder, I have been caught out too many times before, but thank you for warning me.

I just taken delivery of a Hornby Adams loco. Chrissaf is going to complain about this, but the space for fitting a DCC decoder is awfully small. The thing that hit me having fitted one in the Oxford version, is why did Hornby not make a hole into the coal bunker so you could fit the decoder there. From my experience of Hornby decoders (TTS and normal) they are exceptionally prone to being damaged if they cannot dissapate the heat, especially if the motor goes into a stall, so trying to fit the decoder in a relative small area is not a good idea. Yes, I know I can drill a hole through, but I shouldn't have. So does anyone have any ideas why Hornby didn't do what Oxford did, and make it such that you can fit the decoder in the bunker, there is plenty of room. Oxford even put cooling holes in the underside to aid cooling.

You probably put the axles in the wrong way round, take them out and reverse them. Peters Spares were doing the updated pair of bogies for about £12.00 when I serviced mine. These are much better as they pickup power from both wheels on the bogie.

Generally from my experience the brass screw will either be 8 ba or M2. The self tapper probaby a 2 mm diam self tapper. You might be lucky Hornby usually does an acessory pacj that contains all the screws, the part number should be on the Service Sheet. Usually though Hornby doesn't have any left. If not its EBay. I found laptop screws are usually ok if it is an M2, as for the self tapper, generally the best selection is found by letting EBay search the Chinese venders.

Let's be honest it is difficult with modern locos keeping the stuff on them that there is supposed to be. You pick up the loco and have to be careful nothing drops off. So if the carriages had sliding doors they would probably be the first things to fall off. One of my Schools locos derailed in a tunnel and the chimney just fell off ( I gather it is a common issue) so what chance sliding doors would stay intact. I bought a restaurant car off EBay and I was amazed that 3 of the 4 buffers were no longer there. The model was not that old, it is still in the Hornby catalogue. Needless to say the ptoto didn't show that. Fortunately I had some Bachmann oval sprung buffers so I managed to fix it. Probably better than the original, that didn't have sprung buffers. The thing that really annoys me is the things that regularly break on Hornby locos, they don't do as spares or are out of stock, never to be replaced. Most automotive manufacturers find that is an easy way to make money.

No, only 4-4-0 locos have traction tyres. As the review says bits keep dropping off, as does mine. I think someone on this site also complained about that, I suspect you have been lucky, I have 3 of them. Have a look to see what holds the front bogie on. On all three of mine it is a bit of pvc tubing, which if you are unlucky eventually pings off. As I say the front bogie pickups on two of them needed constant attention, perhaps they had fixed that on yours. All three of mine now work perfectly, so perhaps I was just unlucky. You probably run DC so have never had to take it apart, I have sound in two of them, which meant taking the tender apart.

There are two issues with my Brighton loco, both fixed now. The drawbar was too short stopping the tender sitting properly which affects the other fault that the pick ups on the front bogie don't always touch the wheels. If you watch Sam's Train's video it is one of the first things he pointed out. They changed the style of pickups on later models. This model has one of the axles with traction tyres, so basically as a pickup it is useless, so if your tender pickups don't work you are reliant on one axle and the front bogie. As I said, I have fixed mine now and it runs pefectly round my long sweeping bends, so no longer an issue. I bought all mine second hand, the tender gets caught under the the loco floorpan extension with the short drawbar, perhaps on some of them it is not fitted, so no need for the longer drawbar.

I have just watched Sam's Trains review of this model and yes they did redesign the front bogie pickups. Funny everything in his review was correct, except the drawbar is too short causing the loco to derail. I fitted a GWR King which is slightly longer.

Could it be that the latest version of HM2000 has gone to pulse width (PWM) modulation output. It is much cheaper to make a PWM controller with modern components and I think that they consume less power, so perhaps they changed the design.

I think the trouble is Hornby want it to appeal to children, so it sits on the top of the baseboard. Given improvements in modern stepper motor design and control with electronics, they might do well just improving what they already have. At least it would be quieter. Just buy a Heljan, expensive but good and incredibly quiet, they even give you a template to cut out the hole.

I think the big issue with sound decoders is finding the room in this sort of loco. It is probably a bit late now, but I would be tempted to buy one with TTS already fitted. I checked the YouChoos page and Zimo do one, it even explains on the website how to fit it.

Rails must have heard my pleas, I noticed they now list tender picks in the description boxes, they never used to. Brilliant, thanks Rails.

Believe or not a round speaker does fit it has a dedicated fitting to take a round speaker. I did have to shorten one of the weights, but that was to make it easier. I must admit if it was now I would use a small iphone speaker they are so thin and sound great. I just put one in a Bachmann Ivatt 2MT tender, I was fixing for someone and it fits really well. The person that fitted the sound previously had fitted a rectangular speaker in the coal bunker because it wouldn't fit in the tender, but an iphone does, which means you can put real coal in the coal bunker.

Tell me about it, I have just bought a BR ex LMS restaurant car. It arrived 3 of the buffers are broken and they are the molded type. I checked the original description on EBay, no mention and no photos front and back. It is fixable but annoying. £65=00 is pretty cheap for a loco, so you can't complain, I have seen them for a lot more than that and if you know someone with DCC you can test that decoder and sell it, if is any good.

Have a look around all the valve gear and linkages, something is touching when it goes in reverse, possibly front or rear bogie wheels. The motor should work the same backwards and forwards.