Seacommander

I am not sure that a stall test with a stationary armature will reveal any information about the strength of the magnet. My understanding is that a magnetic field needs cutting with a rotating armature for any influence of the condition of the magnet to show up in current consumption. The results of the stall test (ie current consumption) will just be a function of the resistance of the armature and applied voltage.

Thank you very much Bee - much appreciated.

Thank you atom3624 and Rana for your comments. The objective I set out in my first post about this DP1 project was to make a passable representation of the original within the constraints of the accuracy of the kit and extras. I certainly have wipers in mind. The lining are waterslide transfers from Fox transfers as did the etched metal makers plates.

I think the DP1 build is finished now. Well that is until I find some other details to add.

Thank you for your reply 96RAF. Just minutes after I posted yesterday evening I remembered about doing a factory reset. It worked - all is well - but could not retrieve my post to delete or amend it as it had gone to the mods for approval of the photo. The unit in question is old - I updated the firmware from 1.1 to 1.45 about 4 days ago and just as a check ran the diagnostics. I find it interesting, however, that after updating to 1.45 an error was detected. I somehow imagined that updating might have incorporated some form of reset. Anyway, thanks again for your interest.

Just wondering if somebody on the forum can expand on what appears to be an error message (please see photo) displayed when powering up one of my Elites in diagnostic mode.

Brian Webb's book 'The Deltic Locomotives of British Rail' is very informative about the engines in DP1 and DP2/Class 55 which ultimately comprised the fleet of Deltic locomotives. The engines were indeed developed from a marine version with the major difference between both applications being a much modified phasing gear casing to take the traction motor generator. Beyond that there were inumerable minor modifications to components such cylinder liners, pistons (bolt on crowns instead of screwed on crowns) connecting rods (polished or unpolished) etc. Such was the rate of engine failure (reaching a peak between Oct 1970 and May 1971 when 31 engines out of the 57 in the fleet were under repair!) and ever developing remedial work that it could be true to say that at any one time there were probably only a few wholly identical engines. By 1963 when DP1 was withdrawn from service after covering 425,000 miles its engines were removed and added to the pool of Class 55 engines.

Three months on from starting to build DP1 from the Dapol kit and Bachmann DP1 chassis block and Class 55 bogies (modified) this is where DP1 is now, All the detail parts such as buffers, couplings, makers plates, horns, handrails, flushglaze windows (from Squires in Bognor Regis) etc are yet to be added.

Have started 'cobbling' together an English Electric Deltic DP1 to fill in time before Hornby release the Dublo model. It is based on the ubiquitous Kitmaster/Dapol kit - now being subjected to some fairly hefty 'kit bashing' - on a Bachmann chassis. The Bachmann bits and pieces have largely come from Ebay. Accepting that there will be detail discrepancies I am hoping that the finished effort will at least convey the overall image of the real thing.

Thank you Tim for requesting an amended sheet and hopefully others won't chase the red herring I did. One further suggestion for the amended sheet: perhaps remove the suggestion in the illustration that the dome is removable. The dome now appears to be an integral part of the body. This hopefully will prevent others trying to remove it and damaging the fragile part of the moulding where dome attaches to the top of the boiler. I did manage, annoyingly, to lose a small piece of this moulding in futile attempts to remove the dome by following the erroneous instructions on the service sheet. Are bodies available as a spare part?

Yes it was the paper one that comes with the loco. One thing to watch out for once inside: you will need to disconnect the lead plugged into the on-board PCB that connects to lighting on the body. The lead is rather short and it makes for easier work if the body isn't 'flapping around''. The on-board PCB is highly accessible. Simply remove the blanking plug and install a 21 pin decoder (or adapter for other decoders). On top of the on-board PCB and immediately under the blanking plug there is a small piece of dense black foam which I think is for cushioning and maybe preventing the decoder or blanking plug being installed on a slant. Depending on the component layout of the decoder it maybe necessary to carefully cut away some of the foam to enable the decoder to plug into the socket securely and without tilting.

Thanks PH. Perhaps I am being too naive to think that the dedicated service sheet for the model would be accurate? Maybe this thread will be of use to other similarly bewildered modellers!

Still being unable to remove the dome I considered that there would be nothing to lose if I removed the two screws underneath. Bingo! The body was off. Quite clearly there has been a change in design resulting in the abandoment of the screw under the dome and very disappointingly and frustratingly this has not been taken into account in the servicing sheets for the latest models. Finally - the dome on the latest models is definitely not removable under any circumstances either being moulded integrally with the boiler or at the very least a separate part glued in place.

No need for any apologies PH; it's good to be encouraged to review all of the possibilities and try to make sure the obvious hasn't been overlooked. I did look at all the service sheets on the Lendon site but your comment made me re-visit HR2753 and indeed on enlarging the image there does appear to be evidence of a lip. I will unpack the loco again this evening and try gently prising from the right hand side, So far I only tried front and rear as these gave the easiest access.

Thanks PH. The exploded diagram of parts and brief instructions that are included with the loco clearly show that the decoder is fitted in the loco and not the tender. They also show that the dome needs to be removed to expose a fixing screw. The decoder can't be fitted into the tender because the connecting plug and socket is only 2 pin and not a minimumof the 4 connections for basic wiring of a chip. I too noted how easily the dome was removed in the first YT video. I have emailed a query to the Hornby Technical Team to see if they have a solution.

I have recently purchased a Big Boy (HR2884) and would like to remove the body to fit a decoder. I have located the two screws accessible from underneath the loco but despite my best efforts I cannot release the dome to access the screw underneath. It is very firmly fixed and I have lost a small piece of plastic flashing trying to remove. I don't want to cause any more damage! In the DCC topic area of the forum reference was made to an body removal article in the International topic area - I have scanned all the contributions but am unable to find it. I expect it is hiding in so called 'plain sight' but would appreciate any help in locating it. Thanks in advance for any help.

Firstly, apologies for reviving this old thread, but I have recntly purchased a Big Boy (HR2884) and would like to remove the body to fit a decoder. I have located the two screws accessible from underneath the loco but despite my best efforts I cannot release the dome to access the screw underneath. I guess Ard Lochan has removed his and would be grateful for any tips on the best way to release it. It is very firmly fixed and I have lost a small piece of plastic flashing trying to remove. I don't want to cause any more damage! Could somebody also please direct me to the relevant article referred to in the International section of the forum - I have scanned all the contributions but must have missed it. Thanks in advance for any help.

On the workbench at the moment is the whole layout on its side for uprating the points CDU output. The CDU until now has been powered by the 15 volt DC auxiliary ouput from my Elite. Although the points (all Peco Electrofrog switched by Peco PL10 motors) switch cleanly almost without fail I have had instances of one particular point very occasionaly failing to throw cleanly. Very minor light adjustment of the motor mount restores normal function. With 15 volt DC being at the lower end of the generally accepted voltage range I set about installing an adjustable step up power supply module readily available on Ebay at a cost of £5 for two. The ones I bought have a maximum output of 35 volts DC. With the maximum input voltage of my CDU being 32 volts DC I conservatively set the output of the booster to 25 volts using the existing 15 volt auxiliary supply as the source. With the original set up of 15 volts the maximum voltage available across the capacitors was 13.6 (a little low perhaps) but with 25 volts in the new set up 23.7 volts are available across the capacitors. The increase in positivity of point throw is easily discernible and reliability of switching has so far been 100%. 

Reputable capacitor discharge units will not burn out point motors if the switch is held on - the current flowing under such conditions is very small. What will happen though is that the capacitor/s cannot recharge to throw another motor. Looking closely at your photograph it looks as if your switches are biased to a central off position which would enable the CDU to recharge after use. If this is the case then I would go along with Rog's comment and check the alignment of the point motors in question and also check that the mid point of travel of the motor corresponds with the blades of the points being in the central position ie not set either right or left.

Because when they start new threads, the new member gets moaned at and told "this question has been asked loads of times before" and "Why not just search the forum instead" so it seems they can't win. It's not exactly very welcoming to new members, is it? Willie asked a very valid question and others have responded positively with their experiences. I echo your sentiments entirely Doc. The forum Search tool is so 'blunt' for want of a better term that life isn't always long enough to trawl through pages of topics totally unrelated to the query made. Starting a new thread is often the only way to go despite knowing that somewhere in the Forum lurks the answer.

I have a small motive power depot layout loosely based on the Southern Region. My grandfather was a driver based at Eastleigh in the days of steam both pre and post nationalisation. My grandparents lived up the road in Allbrook and as a tribute to them I have called the layout Allbrook-c u m-Eastleigh a sort of small sub-depot to the much grander Eastleigh. My grandfather drove many classes of loco from diminutive Terriers to 9Fs and a fair range of non-Southern locos sent to Eastleigh loco works for overhaul or repair. Based on notes that he kept it is my aim to acquire as far as is possible at least one model of each of the classes that he drove.

I sought similar advice here some years ago for my tender drive Schools. I did eventually release the motor but a considerable and frighteningly large force was required to prise the motor out of the metal chassis. To make things easier for future maintenance I filed away a small amount of the lug on the motor block.

Following the decision to halt work on an overambitious loft layout I opted for the other extreme in size. I began exploring the possibilities of building a small motive power depot restricted to a 4 x 2 foot board which was to be entirely stand alone incorporating not only the track and other infrastructure but also the control gear. Access to the loft layout was becoming increasingly difficult (age - mine that is!) and the extremes of temperature were detrimental to the structure of the layout. The much smaller layout is housed in a garage attached to the house thereby making access much easier and avoiding the extremes of temperature. Being much smaller it will enable me to eventually add the level of detail that I would never have been able to achieve on the loft layout. The depot is a freelance design loosely based on the Southern Region during the 50s up to the end of steam in the 60s - the period in which I clearly remember my grandfather working as a driver based at Eastleigh. My grandparents lived in nearby Allbrook and the layout is called Allbrook - cum - Eastleigh in memory of them. Over many years I have built up a fleet of over 20 locos - mainly steam but also some diesels of the period eg classes 33, 73, 07 and 08 - that would frequent the area. A requirement of the layout was that all locos from the largest (eg 9F, Britannia, Nelson etc) to the smallest could be accommodated. Hence, no curves are less than 18 inches radius (slightly greater than 2nd radius). Access to the shed, coaling stage and storage tracks are all via a turntable much in the same way that the semi-roundhouse depot at Guildford operated. The coal stage is an old Hornby kit and closely resembles the one at Eastbourne depot albeit some years prior to the intended date that this layout represents. To add interest in locomotive movements I have incorporated as many sidings as possible whilst still keeping within my objective of being able to house any of my locos in any of the sidings. Laying the track and fine tuning adjustments to achieve as faultless running as possible was spread over about 9 months before I took the almost irreversible step of ballasting. All current, and any future structures, such as the shed, coal stage, diesel refuelling bay, coal stage, yard lights etc are removable to avoid damage when working on the under-board wiring when the layout is propped up on its edge. The whole layout including the turntable is DCC using a Hornby Elite and a Select as a walkabout. The points use Peco point motors actuated by a CDU switched by standard Hornby passing contact switches. I opted for Hornby switches because I had lots of them , they look vaguely authentic and if thrown gently present no problems despite their basic electrical layout often alluded to on this forum. The turntable is the usual Hornby offering and converted to DCC operation. I rebushed the somewhat sloppy standard spindle bearings, eliminated end float on the spindles and firmly screwed the motor housing to the baseboard. These modifications coupled with a 'scale' speed of rotation have eliminated the vast majority of the nasty grinding sounds that emanate from the mechanism of a 'straight out of the box' turntable operated on a 12 volt auxiliary supply. The unrealistic slope up to the turntable from the access tracks has been disguised by filling in all of the spaces between the tracks. Another unrealistic feature of the Hornby turntable is the fact that not only the bridge but a whole rim of plastic around the outer edge rotates. I painted the rim coal black leaving just the bridge in grey and this does an acceptable job of giving the illusion - at least from a distance - that it is just the bridge that turns. In order that I could undertake shunting operations such as coal and diesel deliveries, ash removal etc I eventually decided to use Kadee couplings with strategically placed magnetic sections of track. I have previously described on this forum the type of magnets and their placement such that they are virtually invisible unlike the large slab magnetic available from Kadee. I did try scale 3 link couplings but found them far too fiddly to use especially at arms stretched across the layout. Finally, in order that they layout can be expanded at some later date additional boards can be attached at either end of the layout - one via a tunnel/bridge portal resembling the juxtaposition of Chalk Tunnel and the MPD at Guildford. So to date, the basic layout is established and now begins the perhaps forever ongoing process of adding detail that gradually brings the whole project to life such as the red LED warning lights I fitted to each of the buffer stops together with the yard and engine shed lighting.

To NB - the short arm is about 8 mm long and the long arm about 11 mm. Thanks in advance for looking. To DC - thanks for the suggestion. It is definitely not spring steel and does not really match up with any part of S9890. Also the can motor on the M7 is held in place with a plastic cover and a bracket that locates over the rear motor bearing..

Thanks 96RAF and Bulleidboy. I too have scoured what detailed and clear pictures are available and drew a blank. I think Bulleidboy that you having closely examined your M7 without finding a similar pipe confirms that it doesn't belong to this model.