Dapol Class 142 DCC Fitting and Operation

[R1ch1ew]

I've fitted a new Next18 chips to the Dapol Class 142.

 

I've used a Zimo in the power car and a Laisdcc chip in the dummy car.

 

All is OK and works as expected, operation of both power and dummy car are fine. 

 

Something new for me on this DMU is the dummy car lights do not work on function 0, but function 1 switches on the white light and function 2 switches on the red light so you can switch all lights on at once.  The power car works fine, function 0 switches the lights on and off and the direction changes the colour.  Is there a way of programming the dummy chip to operate the same as the power car?

 

Thanks in advance, regards,

 

Richard.

 

[R1ch1ew]

Having been given some pointers by Jeremy at Digitrains (no affiliation) and a copy of the LaisDCC manual I've re-mapped the lights to operate from Function 0 on the dummy car.

 

I used the following settings:

 

CV51 was 32 not 0

CV52 was 32 now 16

CV35 was 4 now 1

CV36 was 8 now 2

and invert direction

 

This worked with my Lenz setup and the LaisDCC Next 18 decoder chip.

 

Hopefully it will work with other chips.

Edited May 26, 2019 by R1ch1ew
invert direction added; CV52 incorrect - typo...

[richierich]

Useful information. I have just ordered a couple of Laisdcc Next 18 chips to try in my 142.

 

Not sure whether to use Laisdcc chip just in the dummy and a Zimo in the motor or just use Laisdcc chips in both. 

[R1ch1ew]

So, thought I'd chip my Dapol Northern Cl142 today using the same setup as before, LaisDCC in the dummy and Zimo in the drive unit.

 

Programmed the the CV's as above (after I realised my typo for CV52) checked the lights and function were all OK, then pushed the bodies back on securely.

 

Now I'm not sure if the LaisDCC was playing up as it reset itself to factory default, so I re-programmed, checked, pushed the bodies on a small puff of smoke appeared.....

 

The LaisDCC chip has gone pop, melting the plastic cover.  I'll return it to the supplier, but given the cost of locos these days I'll probably steer clear of these for the time being, shame as the price point was great for use in dummy vehicles or as a function only decoder.

 

[WIMorrison]

Familiar story to me, I have decided to only use LAIS chips when I want real smoke coming from the loco chimney or exhaust. When I want the loco to run is use Zimo

[jpendle]

Given that the Zimo Next18 Decoder is 20 quid, just how much cheaper is the LAIS one?

 

Also I think the Dapol Imerium is just a badge engineered Lais chip as well.

 

John P

[Amand]

Lais Next 18 (and most other configurations) are around £10 each, so worth a pop if you only want lights. Until they go pop! I've not had one fail on me in either USA Kato / Atas locos, where it can be expensive to convert to digital as the whole circuit board including the directional LEDS are replaced. I've tried a Next 18 decoder in a recent release Bachmann V3. On speed step 1 (with CV2 at 0) the loco runs too fast. Not fried though as the loco does change direction and accelerates / decelerates as expected. Its the only Next 18 loco I have, so can't cross check to see if I have a rogue decoder.