Class 66 in OO Gauge - New Announcement

[scottrains29]

2 hours ago, vanbasher said:

Good Afternoon all, I hope I'm posting this in the right place & someone maybe able to help me. I have a DB Schenker Class 66 from Hattons & would love to give it DCC Sound, having watched a few videos on YouTube the sound that Hattons fitted to the 66 as standard was the stand out winner. Please can anyone who maybe aware point me in the direction of purchasing a sound chip that Hattons factory fitted to them in the first place & if possible could anyone please advise if there is a speaker already on the loco or would I have to purchase a speaker seperately? Many thanks in advance for any help or assistance, Kind Regards.

You might find that Accurascale may offer their sound chip to buy separately along with their accurathrash speaker but I think their 66 circuit wiring is going to be different, so you may not get all functionality.

 

I have some 20+ Hattons 66's including factory sound ones. I've also added TTS and HM7000 sound to a few too. To be fair the HM7000 ones sound pretty good for the price especially when using a good speaker. You get all forward lights and switchable tail lights but no cab light. May be worth trying this option. If you don't like it you can simply reprogram it and stick it in a different class.

[Kaput]

2 hours ago, vanbasher said:

Good Afternoon all, I hope I'm posting this in the right place & someone maybe able to help me. I have a DB Schenker Class 66 from Hattons & would love to give it DCC Sound, having watched a few videos on YouTube the sound that Hattons fitted to the 66 as standard was the stand out winner. Please can anyone who maybe aware point me in the direction of purchasing a sound chip that Hattons factory fitted to them in the first place & if possible could anyone please advise if there is a speaker already on the loco or would I have to purchase a speaker seperately? Many thanks in advance for any help or assistance, Kind Regards.

 

https://www.dckits-devideos.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=253_68&product_id=1639

 

That is the factory sound. Select the 3rd option on the right (MKL + EM2 speaker) to get the correct combination.

[vanbasher]

31 minutes ago, Kaput said:

 

https://www.dckits-devideos.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=253_68&product_id=1639

 

That is the factory sound. Select the 3rd option on the right (MKL + EM2 speaker) to get the correct combination.

 

Kaput, thank you so so much this is perfect information. I may need some guidance on fitting this correctly but I think I'll put the order in now. Very much appreciate this many thanks. 

[Creampot Junction]

On 27/03/2024 at 17:16, vanbasher said:

Good Afternoon all, I hope I'm posting this in the right place & someone maybe able to help me. I have a DB Schenker Class 66 from Hattons & would love to give it DCC Sound, having watched a few videos on YouTube the sound that Hattons fitted to the 66 as standard was the stand out winner. Please can anyone who maybe aware point me in the direction of purchasing a sound chip that Hattons factory fitted to them in the first place & if possible could anyone please advise if there is a speaker already on the loco or would I have to purchase a speaker seperately? Many thanks in advance for any help or assistance, Kind Regards.

Hi,

 

Legomanbiffo did the original sound for the Hattons class 66. I have included a link to where you can purchase the chip. PLEASE NOTE: That when ordering you will need to select  'Version 5 MKL' version of the chip so that all the light options work compared to the standard V5 version. 

 

https://www.dckits-devideos.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=1639

 

The loco is NOT fitted with a speaker. So you will need to source one. However with Loksound decoders they come with a sugar cube speaker kit. My advice is still source another speaker such as the Earth Mover 2 as something like this was fitted to the sound fitted examples and are much better speakers.

 

 

Hope this helps.

 

Chris

 

[vanbasher]

2 hours ago, Creampot Junction said:

Hi,

 

Legomanbiffo did the original sound for the Hattons class 66. I have included a link to where you can purchase the chip. PLEASE NOTE: That when ordering you will need to select  'Version 5 MKL' version of the chip so that all the light options work compared to the standard V5 version. 

 

https://www.dckits-devideos.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=1639

 

The loco is NOT fitted with a speaker. So you will need to source one. However with Loksound decoders they come with a sugar cube speaker kit. My advice is still source another speaker such as the Earth Mover 2 as something like this was fitted to the sound fitted examples and are much better speakers.

 

 

Hope this helps.

 

Chris

 

Thank you so very much for this Chris, I'm just a little nervous about the whole soldering thing. I know you can buy the whole kit with an EM2 speaker from DC kits but I'll first have to get a soldering iron & some solder, then I'll need to get some instructions on how & where to wire it up. Thank you so very much though for your help. 

[adb968008]

8 hours ago, vanbasher said:

Thank you so very much for this Chris, I'm just a little nervous about the whole soldering thing. I know you can buy the whole kit with an EM2 speaker from DC kits but I'll first have to get a soldering iron & some solder, then I'll need to get some instructions on how & where to wire it up. Thank you so very much though for your help. 

Have a wander to a local model railway exhibition, chances are someone will have a stand demonstrating soldering… thats how my little one learnt.

[PieGuyRob]

https://clarkrailworks.com/collections/oo-gauge?page=2

 

Several Hattons 66's  available on Clarks railworks website for sale, if anyone is interested.......

[vanbasher]

Good afternoon all, a bit of help required from the tech boffins here if I may please. I've just fitted my Hattons 66097 with the recommended MKL chip with EM2 speaker. I've followed the instructions provided with the loco so I believe the internal switches are all in the correct format for the chip, but I can now only use night lighting, the cab lights are not illuminating on either end, nor can I get tail lights at either end. 

 

Also, following the function sheet provided on DC kits website, F16 is down as automatic Compressor Speed Up. But when activating F16 I get the sound of a bell. I think I've soldered everything correctly otherwise the sound wouldn't even play but I just can't get my head round the lighting situation or why there is a bell sounding which isn't even listed on the function sheet. 

 

Any help from anyone would be very much appreciated, kind regards & many thanks in advance. 

[classy52]

3 hours ago, vanbasher said:

Good afternoon all, a bit of help required from the tech boffins here if I may please. I've just fitted my Hattons 66097 with the recommended MKL chip with EM2 speaker. I've followed the instructions provided with the loco so I believe the internal switches are all in the correct format for the chip, but I can now only use night lighting, the cab lights are not illuminating on either end, nor can I get tail lights at either end. 

 

Also, following the function sheet provided on DC kits website, F16 is down as automatic Compressor Speed Up. But when activating F16 I get the sound of a bell. I think I've soldered everything correctly otherwise the sound wouldn't even play but I just can't get my head round the lighting situation or why there is a bell sounding which isn't even listed on the function sheet. 

 

Any help from anyone would be very much appreciated, kind regards & many thanks in advance. 

 

Just to clarify, the ESU v5 MKL Loksound sound chip was purchased from DC Kits and obviously pre-configured with the Hattons Class 66 sound project?

If this is the case, via my own experience of previously having 23 Hattons 66's, a lot of them had unseen PCB/lighting faults which plagued this model where if you were running DC only you would never know you had an issue but as soon as you fitted a DCC chip such as an ESU v5 Loksound or Lokpilot then if you're unlucky the lighting issues would be noticeable straight away and its very random of what works or doesn't work.

With my own experience lighting issues would encompass night headlight not working, cab lights not working, marker lights not working or they could be working at one end but not the other and was literally like a pick'n'mix which out of my 23 Hattons 66's it occurred on about 6 of them which is a pretty large failure rate.

Not sure about your sound issues unfortunately and whether it's related to unforeseen PCB issues or if the actual sound decoder is faulty which may be causing all the issues you are experiencing???...or did they send you a sound decoder for the new Accurascale Class 66?

Also, I think Illuminated Models provide a service where they can repair the PCB issues on Hattons 66's where the lighting doesn't work properly using DCC but you will have to check with them if it comes to that.

Hope this helps.

[vanbasher]

Thank you for your reply Classy52, I have emailed DC kits last night & it appears that I've been sent the Chip for a Bachmann loco (Bachmann chip has the Evening Star Bell on F16). So that would probably explain why the lights aren't functioning as they should be. 

 

The loco will be going off to DC kits to have the correct chip fitted & hopefully that will solve the problems. Many thanks for your reply though & I will update on here when I've got the loco back again.

[classy52]

2 hours ago, vanbasher said:

Thank you for your reply Classy52, I have emailed DC kits last night & it appears that I've been sent the Chip for a Bachmann loco (Bachmann chip has the Evening Star Bell on F16). So that would probably explain why the lights aren't functioning as they should be. 

 

The loco will be going off to DC kits to have the correct chip fitted & hopefully that will solve the problems. Many thanks for your reply though & I will update on here when I've got the loco back again.

 

No worries, I suspected you were sent the wrong chip and I did look at their Bachmann 66 ESU sound file and didn't see the 'Bell' on F16 but didn't realize or scroll further down their page to see the Bachmann sound file which does have it so yes the culprit is right there.

Anyway, glad that you got it sorted and fingers crossed the PCB doesn't have any hidden issues that may affect the lighting as I mentioned and everything will work fine with the correct sound chip/file.

[TomScrut]

On 17/04/2024 at 16:22, classy52 said:

If this is the case, via my own experience of previously having 23 Hattons 66's, a lot of them had unseen PCB/lighting faults which plagued this model where if you were running DC only you would never know you had an issue but as soon as you fitted a DCC chip such as an ESU v5 Loksound or Lokpilot then if you're unlucky the lighting issues would be noticeable straight away and its very random of what works or doesn't work.

With my own experience lighting issues would encompass night headlight not working, cab lights not working, marker lights not working or they could be working at one end but not the other and was literally like a pick'n'mix which out of my 23 Hattons 66's it occurred on about 6 of them which is a pretty large failure rate

 

I completely agree here. Anything that makes use of the logical functions were very prone to not working. I have 4 Hattons 66 and I think I had to handle 8 to get 4 that all worked properly in this regard.

[classy52]

6 minutes ago, TomScrut said:

 

I completely agree here. Anything that makes use of the logical functions were very prone to not working. I have 4 Hattons 66 and I think I had to handle 8 to get 4 that all worked properly in this regard.

 

Yes know what you mean.

Since its release I probably handled up to 40 Hattons 66's over the years with a lot of them exhibiting the PCB/Lighting issues, dead on arrival for whatever reason as well as motor/driveshaft problems where the loco squealed when starting off and/or right thru the speed step range at varying audible levels accompanied by jerky running thus found the Hattons 66's motors/driveshafts also problematic, as if the Hattons 66 was cursed when you bring in the other issues i.e. axle boxes, bug-eye variants lighting not working properly and the nightmarish task in taking the body off and putting back on again without breaking or losing bits.

I'm down to 1 now, kept GBRf 66783 Biffa as a souvenir and sold off the other 22 to better homes and now have 6 Accurascale 66's coming my way for the dawn of a new Class 66 era...lol never again with what I had to do with the Hattons 66 but yes the upside I did learn a few things when fixing them.

[TomScrut]

4 minutes ago, classy52 said:

I'm down to 1 now

 

I still have my 4, but have the AS 66769 on the way (was tempted by Evening Star too). I have become far more rational with my pre orders recently in terms of not ordering loads of different liveries on the same things (such as sheds) when they play the same role on my layout. Partially due to the cost but also because they don't get run enough if I have too many. I have 2 FL, 5 (soon 6) GBRF and 2 DB sheds, plenty for the rolling stock I have.

[classy52]

28 minutes ago, TomScrut said:

 

I still have my 4, but have the AS 66769 on the way (was tempted by Evening Star too). I have become far more rational with my pre orders recently in terms of not ordering loads of different liveries on the same things (such as sheds) when they play the same role on my layout. Partially due to the cost but also because they don't get run enough if I have too many. I have 2 FL, 5 (soon 6) GBRF and 2 DB sheds, plenty for the rolling stock I have.

 

As have I, not only Hattons 66's but sold off a few other loco's as well and now just keeping current day diesel loco purchases from Accurascale & Cavalex as they do everything I want with the top quality and basically from personal choice more or less avoid the other manufacturers apart from my 2 Bachmann loco's which I only got thru sheer luck of bidding and getting them very cheap, for example got the Bachmann SFX Colas 37175 for £215 which was my first ever purchase of their new Class 37 but in a lot of areas doesn't stand up to the Accurascale 37 but worth it for the price, the other is the Bachmann 47 47712 with its dreadful sound output but again got it cheap.

So yes, the costs have narrowed down my purchases and very selective on what I get and from whom, the AS 66's will probably do me for a while but I am a sucker for Sheds, especially top quality Sheds.

[ColinB]

Before I pull my Hattons class 66 apart to replace the DCC decoder with a sound decoder can anyone remember if these locos came with a speaker or do I need to source one. When I originally took mine apart I remember the steps were an issue so I don't want to take it apart until I have all the bits.

[TomScrut]

1 hour ago, classy52 said:

Class 37 but in a lot of areas doesn't stand up to the Accurascale 37 but worth it for the price, the other is the Bachmann 47 47712 with its dreadful sound output but again got it cheap.

 

For me if I have a particular use for a certain loco/livery I'll buy that one even if it's dearer. My Bachmann 37418 was far dearer than the AS equivalent but AS haven't (AFAIK) done one that's suitable to run with Caroline. The AS one doesn't make the Bachmann a bad model.

[classy52]

1 hour ago, ColinB said:

Before I pull my Hattons class 66 apart to replace the DCC decoder with a sound decoder can anyone remember if these locos came with a speaker or do I need to source one. When I originally took mine apart I remember the steps were an issue so I don't want to take it apart until I have all the bits.

 

No they didn't come with a speaker.

If you're getting an ESU Loksound v5 with the Legomanbiffo Hattons 66 sound file you will also need to purchase the EM2 Speaker which is the perfect match for the decoder and the loco.

Edited April 19 by classy52

[classy52]

31 minutes ago, TomScrut said:

 

For me if I have a particular use for a certain loco/livery I'll buy that one even if it's dearer. My Bachmann 37418 was far dearer than the AS equivalent but AS haven't (AFAIK) done one that's suitable to run with Caroline. The AS one doesn't make the Bachmann a bad model.

 

Yes I practise that as well but not getting Caroline saved me from getting the Bachmann 418 but even if I needed it there was no way I was going to pay the set asking price for the sound versions which are still shockingly high.

Agree, the Bachmann isn't a bad model and my Colas one is good but just find the AS 37 better quality overall especially the weight and how certain detail areas are done and the far superior sound quality for the money due to a more refined chassis design that allows a proper speaker to be installed as well as not having to deal with screws to take the body off.

Anyway, it will be very interesting to see if Bachmann re-tool their Class 66???...no doubt they will at some point.

 

[adb968008]

16 hours ago, classy52 said:

 

As have I, not only Hattons 66's but sold off a few other loco's as well and now just keeping current day diesel loco purchases from Accurascale & Cavalex as they do everything I want with the top quality and basically from personal choice more or less avoid the other manufacturers apart from my 2 Bachmann loco's which I only got thru sheer luck of bidding and getting them very cheap, for example got the Bachmann SFX Colas 37175 for £215 which was my first ever purchase of their new Class 37 but in a lot of areas doesn't stand up to the Accurascale 37 but worth it for the price, the other is the Bachmann 47 47712 with its dreadful sound output but again got it cheap.

So yes, the costs have narrowed down my purchases and very selective on what I get and from whom, the AS 66's will probably do me for a while but I am a sucker for Sheds, especially top quality Sheds.

 

ive more than 2/3rds reduced pre orders, and am basically on a wait and see when stuff arrives.

I dumped 59003 last night, originally ordered as I wanted to see the real thing in GbRF, The loco livery was updated June 2020 when it was running in this livery it was often a light engine bunny… then since Salisbury it was on jacks until just recently.

now its gone Colas i’ll never see the real thing as the model is, plus as its spent most of the last 3 years out of service anyway its faded to irrelevance,…

 

My wcrc mk1’s have just been charged, which is a good thing as they too are looking like they are likely to become history.

 

Sounds like a worrying trend, if one or two cut back its low impact, if a lot of us are doing the same nd becoming discerning rather than sweeping our purchases, it could become an issue.

Edited April 20 by adb968008

[dj_crisp]

I've fitted several bug eye illuminated models kits to Hattons 66s and they're excellent. A really straightforward forward fix that i recommend.

 

Also I changed around the wiring on all my 66s to end up with 10 seperate functions for lighting as that's my preferred setup.

 

I haven't yet come across any other circuit board issues with the Hattons versions but I guess that'll be seen with time.  So unless they die I have all the 66s I can ever have the use for.

[charliepetty]

On 19/04/2024 at 19:54, classy52 said:

 

No they didn't come with a speaker.

If you're getting an ESU Loksound v5 with the Legomanbiffo Hattons 66 sound file you will also need to purchase the EM2 Speaker which is the perfect match for the decoder and the loco.

Everything is available for the Hattons 66 here, see:

https://www.dckits-devideos.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=68&product_id=1639