Seacommander

Thank you for your kind offer RAF96, however, I think I have seen at least 2 of the publications you mention and agree that there is no mention of module revisions. I dug out my Zero 1 file which included newsletters from the Command Control Register back in 1983 - I didn't think it was that far back that I kitted myself out with Zero 1 !! - but again no mention of revisions. I was only trying to find the background to the revisions so that I could mention it in the advertisements for the modules when I get around to selling them. Anyway, thanks again for looking 'stuff' out for me.

Thanks RAF96. Look forward to any news you might have - I hope the kitchen refit is going well. Thanks for the dccwiki link; I have seen it but interesting to know that the Raildoc is still active. I visited him must be 20 or or so years ago - a veritable Alladin's cave of model rail bits and bobs and a very interesting and amiable chap.

I would just like to support Chrissaf's positive comments about the CDU in question. I use them on my layouts and found that they have a very quick recharge time and also work reliably with Hornby passing contact switches (of which I have amassed many over the years) just as long as the lever is not moved at lightning speed but more along the lines of the steady pull of '12 inches to the foot' scale signal box practice. Furthermore I have had completely reliable operation of the points (Peco PL10 motors) with this CDU connected to the 15 volt auxilliary output of my Elite.

I use my Elite on a number of stand alone layouts and successfully and safely use appropriately rated laptop power supplies (permanently wired into the layouts) in addition to the Hornby one supplied with the Elite. Toshiba make some 15 volt 5 amp supplies with, as luck would have it, a jack plug of the correct dimensions and polarity. These can be picked up on a well known online auction site for about £10.

Thanks everybody for your suggestions. I think I will go along with WTD's modification and drill out the axle boxes along one side and slip out the axles and wheels. I will then turn up some new pinpoint axle boxes to look like the original Hornby ones on the outside of the frames and use some commercially available pinpoint bearings to locate on the inside of the opposite frame. As for the centre wheels I think I will remove the flanges.

Thanks jimyjames for your detailed reply, however, the number is definitely R6183 on the box and a quick Google of it will show many examples of the crane. Unfortunately the axles are not held in position with a plate as per your model and indeed many locomotives, but are located at each end in the side frames like is often found on coaches.

Before I commit lasting damage to the crane sideframes of the Hornby R6183 Breakdown Crane set, I would be grateful for any ideas, suggestions etc how to remove the plastic wheels plus axles so that I can replace them with metal wheels. It looks like the axles are assembled at the time the two halves of the body are glued together. There is some flexibility in the frames but I am hesitant to use any more force than I have already to 'ping' out the axles and wheels. The jib support trucks - large and small - are already fitted with metal wheels.

Echoing the sentiments and comments of the other respondents. My Elite is the best controller I have ever used. Any problems including tripping out have all been down to me.

The measurements were made off load as Chrisaff aludes to and were only taken for interest as I have no reason to suspect any problems with the Hornby PSU - it works faultlessly. I used a multimeter to confirm 15 volts dc - which was spot on. My AC ripple measurements were made using a scope but again as Chrisaff suggests I merely attributed the high peak to peak as being a result of no load on the output. I suspect as soon as a load is applied the peak will fall right off. Again as a matter of interest the plug fitted as standard on the Toshiba PSU is the same size as the Hornby so I was lucky there.

Thanks everyone for your comments. I took the plunge and connected a Toshiba 15 volt 5 amp laptop supply to the Elite (after double checking the polarity of the plug and the DC voltage) and all is working well. Out of curiosity I connected the output of the Toshiba and Hornby (the 4 amp power supply) to an oscilloscope and discovered, not unexpectedly, that both supplies had an underlying somewhat noisy AC ripples, however, what did surprise me was that the peak to peak voltage for the Toshiba was around 0.5 volts but about 48-49 volts for the Hornby. I assume the current is negligible but just wonder is this typical?

I use Scotch or 3M double sided tape to hold down all my wiring in locos and underneath the baseboard of my layout. It is also excellent for securing modules in locos or other rolling stock.

I have a couple of stand alone layouts that I use with my Elite controller and Hornby 4 amp power supply. To simplify transferring both the controller and power supply from layout to layout I was wondering if the spare 15 volt 5 amp laptop power supply I have would be OK to use with the Elite. It would be convenient to have this permanently installed underneath the baseboard. The size and polarity of the connector is compatible with the Elite. Maybe one of the more electronic savvy members could advise me please.

I had a similar problem with a Hornby 9F tender drive when going over the complex of a point on a sharp curve at the beginning of an incline. I eventually traced the problem to wheel pickups on the loco. When on the curve with the wheels displaced laterally a couple of the contacts failed to make contact with the backs of the wheels. Some carefull bending of the contacts to ensure that they were making a connection when the wheels were displaced to the side cured the problem and all ran smoothly.

Hello ColinB. I wanted to avoid putting the decoder in the loco so as not to have a plug and socket to connect to the tender. There is indeed loads of room in the loco if you want to locate the decoder there. I have managed to fit a Lais 860012 decoder in the tender but am now using a Hornby R8249 - thinking it may have improved the erratic running - without success. I have finally come to the conclusion that there is a problem with the motor since the tender drives for my 9F and Britannia both work well with the Schools loco and the Schools tender drive is still 'iffy' with the 9F and Britannia locos. Apart from the Schools my remaining 13 locos run well on a mixture of R8249 and Lais decoders. The 9F and Britannia both have 3 pole ringfields and the R8249 decoders work really well with them and I have a couple of Lima ringfields that work equally well with Lais decoders.

I am having problems getting my tender drive Schools to run smoothly. I have checked the pickups and wiring from wheels to motor and all are clean and good. I have cleaned as much of the motor as is possible with it being in situ eg brush gear and commutator. I have run the Schools successfuly using the tender drives from my 9F and Britannia so am sure the problem lies with the motor. I have searched the Forum and although finding some good articles none seem to exactly match the set up for the Schools. Any pointers, instructions etc to help me remove the motor would be most welcome.

For LAIS decoders and possibly TCS - both of which I understand share very similar technology and firmware.. Yes, I know the 8249 has very little scope for tuning response.

I have now checked running using my pulsed DC controller and motor response is smooth and progressive - for a 3 pole Ringfield. The erratic running I refer too is consistent ie the acceleration and points where speed slows down followed by acceleration again always occur at the same stage in progressively increasing the speed control knob. Reading about similar responses on other forums strongly points to a conflict of some sort in the CV settings concerned with speed and acceleration but the solutions offered have not fully cured the problem with my Schools.

Thanks for the replies. I thought about locating an 8249 at the rear of the tender but was a bit concerned about the proximity of the two phosphor bronze strips (extensions to the tender pick ups I think) that run upwards. Will have another look. The loco worked well on Zero 1 but will wire it up for a test on DC. Brushes should be OK because the loco has probably only ever had about 2 hours running. I did clean the commutator thinking that it may have been dirty but this did not improve performance.

I am steadily working through my collection of locos converting them from Zero 1 to DCC. I have an Elite controller. All has gone well so far with all locos to date running smoothly, however, but my Schools (R2181) has very erratic slow running. Because of limitations of space in the tender drive (3 pole Ringfield) I have fitted a small LAIS860012 decoder. At the very low speed end of the range the loco performs erratically. As I slowly advance the speed control the loco accelerates then suddenly slows down and regains speed with further advancing of the speed control. It does this about 2 times before it gathers speed more consistently. I have tried various settings of CVs 2, 5 & 6 but to no avail. Recommendations elsewhere suggest switching off BEMF and/or changing the speed step that BEMF switches off - all to no avail. Again because of limitations of space I have fitted the same model of LAIS decoder into my Bachmann N Class and Nelson and performance has been good - although with perhaps more refined motors. I have fitted R8249 decoders to my other two 3 pole Ringfield tender drive locos and they respond well. Any ideas or recommendations of a solution would be welcome. If all else fails I will perhaps have to try 'shoehorning' an R8249 into the tender after a bit of surgery.