Sancheng 0 gauge 08 with Zimo chip

[robertwm3110]

Hi, i have acquired a Sancheng 0 gauge 08 with Zimo chip.  It sort of works but with issues. Control is NCE procab.  Main issue is the loco coming to a halt under low or even medium power, sometimes on straight track sometimes through points. The latter made me think there might be a gauge issue but checked and the wheel to wheel measure is just on 30mm.  When the loco stops the engine sound continues but the loco needs a shove to move it on, even more power doesnt always move it.  Have checked basic acceleration and power CVs and set to default.  This may not of course be a chip issue but everything seems free mechanically. Any bright ideas from anybody appreciated. 

[Ray H]

Can you revert it back to dc as that would be a good indicator re the running. It might be a bit of a faff but it might save the decoder from failing.

 

Have you got a PowerCab? Can you try running it with that so that you can check the current consumption when it stalls?

 

Presumably the contacts are all clean.

 

Has it got a stay alive capacitor?

 

Does it always do it in one direction or always at the same spots?

 

Is there a dry joint in the wiring? I'd look at the wiring to the motor from the decoder as the sound continuing tends to indicate that there is still a flow of current to the decoder.

 

Hope you find something.

 

We have one at the club and it runs very well.

[robertwm3110]

Thanks your response and  comments, i did run it on DC stripping out the chip wiring and it ran fine.  So mechanically it was ok.  After reinstalling the chip I decided to go for broke and reset to factory settings (Cv8 =8).  Hey presto...its perfect.  Somewhere along the line I think the CV settings had got corrupted and it ran erratically. Also resetting has enabled me to change the volume which CV266 wasnt allowing me to do before.  Which also fitted in with the settings being wrong.  So a result there but now I’ve got a Cobalt IP point motor playing up - polarity isnt changing on the frog....running straight through is fine, but when switched its either wrong polarity or just dead.   Tried reprogramming it but no result.  Any thoughts on that appreciated if you know the Cobalt motors. 

[Ray H]

Is it a digital point motor - i.e. with built in decoder?

 

Either way, take out each wire in turn and re-seat. Also check that each of the wires connected to the point motor switch are correctly connected at both ends.

 

You could also try swapping the two connections from the track/bus around and see if the other route then displays the same problem.

 

There are a few other tests that you can do if you have a test meter.

[robertwm3110]

Thanks again your comments.  Yes its the Cobalt IP digital.  I have looked at the wiring and it seems ok.  I did swap the power supply leads from the bus and that just gave me a short on the frog, which is what it should have done.

 

i tried reprogrammimg using input 197 as I originally did when the motors were new.  This hasnt solved it.  I did post this as a separate question and somebody suggested it could be a contact failure in the motor, also suggesting using the other switch on the motor, with power in from the track bus.  Think thats contacts 4 5 and 6 on the Cobalt???

[Ray H]

This is the information from the ip digital' paperwork:

 

1 & 2 dc/dcc power (accessory or track bus)

common for 1 & 2 or frog power with dcc

4, 5 & 6 are a changeover switch with 6 as common

7, 8 & 9 are push buttons/passing contact with 8 as the common.

 

3 should only be used for the frog connection if the point motor is connected to the track power bus. It doesn't work if your motors are connected to the accessory bus. You need to use 4 & 5 for the track power connections and 6 for the connection to the frog.

 

I think (but can't swear to it) that there is a tab over 1 & 2 but it could be over 8 & 9.

[robertwm3110]

Thanks for that. I’ll probably rewire the frog feeds from the track bus and use 4 5 6 as suggested .  It does work using the accessory bus, or rather it works on the other 7 point motors. I had considered when I did this if it was the right thing, but electrics arent my strongest point.  

 

once again thanks for taking the time to help