Alanburford9101 Posted April 18 Share Posted April 18 Hi I recently bought an R3182 tank engine with DCC decoder fitted. When I got it home it was completely "dead". Didn't react on the programming track either. If I just want to test the motor, can I just attach two wires from a controller? Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rog RJ Posted April 18 Share Posted April 18 (edited) Take the decoder out first or it will definitely damage the decoder. They don't like power being input on the output side. Edited April 18 by Rog RJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alanburford9101 Posted April 18 Author Share Posted April 18 Hi. Ok do I just unplug it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rog RJ Posted April 18 Share Posted April 18 Yes. You might have to use a small screwdriver to gently ease it out, bit by bit to avoid bending the pins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alanburford9101 Posted April 25 Author Share Posted April 25 Hi, yes i got the motor unit out of the loco and disconnected the decoder connector and tested the motor. It runs perfectly. But the decoder doesn't respond to my controller while on the programming track. Is there any way of testing the decoder alone? When I bought the loco I was assured it was a good runner. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rog RJ Posted April 25 Share Posted April 25 (edited) If you can read cv 8 & cv7 the values they contain can be used to find the make & model of decoder Have you tried resetting the decoder, normally done by setting cv8 to a value of 8. The loco would then default to address 3. Some decoder makers need different values writing to them to perform a reset. Decoder testers are available but these are just a sort of dummy loco really, which you connect to your controller, they don't do any actual testing. . Edited April 25 by Rog RJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brew Man Posted April 25 Share Posted April 25 @Alanburford9101 If you do need to test the decoder you can buy decoder testers for around £40 or so from ESU. They are a very useful bit of kit IMO. LaisDCC also make one slightly cheaper but it is a clone of the ESU one, so for the small difference in price you may as well go for the genuine article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alanburford9101 Posted April 25 Author Share Posted April 25 Hi. Yes I've tried to read the CVs but no joy. Have even done a reset to factory settings, but no. I've just noticed a brown wire hanging down behind a wheel but can see where it's to be connected. Help please Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alanburford9101 Posted April 25 Author Share Posted April 25 I'm sorry to be a bore but upon close inspection I can see a few wires coming down behind some wheels. Are these for the electrical pickup? If so, where are they connected or do they just lay against the wheels? Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brew Man Posted Thursday at 16:18 Share Posted Thursday at 16:18 They should be connected to copper finger like pickups which are positioned against the backs of the wheels. You must be able to sees them if you have the body removed from the loco. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alanburford9101 Posted Thursday at 16:38 Author Share Posted Thursday at 16:38 Ok thanks. I will check . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dBerriff Posted Thursday at 17:35 Share Posted Thursday at 17:35 (edited) Is this it? Edited Thursday at 18:23 by dBerriff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brew Man Posted Thursday at 17:40 Share Posted Thursday at 17:40 Is what what? There is no picture in that link, just a place holder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Going Spare Posted Thursday at 17:45 Share Posted Thursday at 17:45 The image (Service Sheet 391) is revealed by clicking on the icon in the centre of the black area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dBerriff Posted Thursday at 18:29 Share Posted Thursday at 18:29 (edited) I have tried reinserting the link to the service sheet 391 in my post above. You can find it on this website in the Support section if it is still not working. Peter's Spares has the pickup section if that is damaged and the service sheet gives the part number. Unfortunately the service sheet does not include the wiring. Edited Thursday at 18:29 by dBerriff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alanburford9101 Posted Friday at 05:34 Author Share Posted Friday at 05:34 Hi again. Thanks for you input but l can't see any pickups behind the wheels just the wires hanging down. Couldn't see and pickups in the service sheet either. Where can I get hold of these? Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted Friday at 06:12 Share Posted Friday at 06:12 See Brew Man’s last - the pickups are not behind the wheels, they contact the back of the driving wheels. There will be wires connected to them going to the PCB mounted adjacent to the motor - see Parts 3 and 4 in the service sheet diagram. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted Friday at 06:56 Share Posted Friday at 06:56 The pickups are part of item 10 - the wheel wipers are circled in red in this image. The red highlighted bit is one of two actual pickup strips Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alanburford9101 Posted Friday at 07:45 Author Share Posted Friday at 07:45 Hi again. Thanks for the clarification. I will check again with this information in mind. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alanburford9101 Posted Friday at 09:27 Author Share Posted Friday at 09:27 Hi again. Thanks for your info. I've got it now. Do I just need to make sure the pick ups touch the back of the wheels? I may have to bend them a little. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Going Spare Posted Friday at 09:47 Share Posted Friday at 09:47 Yes, the pick-ups need to touch the metallic part of the back of the wheels, usually the rim as the inner part of the wheel is probably plastic, and make sure they stay well away from the spokes. The wheels can move sideways to deal with curves so make sure the pick-ups maintain contact throughout that displacement. If you find you need to reshape any of the pick-ups, do it very gently - they are fragile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted Friday at 12:44 Share Posted Friday at 12:44 Then there should be one wire connected to each pickup strip back to the PCB adjacent to the motor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alanburford9101 Posted Friday at 13:15 Author Share Posted Friday at 13:15 Many thanks for all your texts helping me with this issue. The loco is up and running thanks to all your help. Thank you all! Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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