kintbury jon Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 Looking for a bit of advice here. Installed a TTS decoder in a Bachmann 66 (66200 with 8 pin) thinking it would be a straight forward plug in and go. Sounds work fine as do lights. Problem i'm finding is that the loco stutters and stops (cuts out) when moving at slow speed. Seems like a dirty track / dirty wheels however I have cleaned both the wheels and the track. I have forced the brass pick ups so that they are connected. As the bogies were of the older type with only 8 of the 12 wheels having pick ups, I swapped for a pair of bogies with all wheel pick up. Is there something I am missing as I just can't work out what's wrong here. Suggestions greatly appreciated! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokebox Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 I think you may need to set CV150 to 1. The default is 0. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kintbury jon Posted July 7, 2020 Author Share Posted July 7, 2020 Thanks for the tip. Sadly it hasn't made a difference. I have tried the chip in a different 66 and it's the same. Have tried it in a Hornby 50 and it runs perfectly. Is there a known pick up issue with the Bachmann 66? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philou Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 I don't know what system you're using (and I don't think it matters) but on my ECoS (IIRC) the speed steps have to be set to 128 especially if you want to address the TTS chip correctly. (It's a quirk of the TTS chip). Cheers, Philip 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kintbury jon Posted July 7, 2020 Author Share Posted July 7, 2020 Thanks for the suggestion. I think that's what it's set as but will check. I have come to the conclusion that the issue is with the loco and the pick ups. The wires are connected to the pcb with plastic plugs so I have removed them and soldered the wores directly to the pcb. That has made a huge difference. It's not perfect but is much better. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cravensdmufan Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 May also be worth fine tuning some more CVs. Although I don't have a Class 66 (too modern for me) my TTS fitted Bachmann 37s and 47s run beautifully at very slow speed with the following settings: CV3=35, CV4=20, CV150=1, CV153=215, CV154=0. Also, by turning off DC running in CV29 it cures occasional sudden "take offs" when powering up the layout, or after a short circuit. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kintbury jon Posted July 7, 2020 Author Share Posted July 7, 2020 Thanks. Will have a play around with the settings and see what happens! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted July 9, 2020 Share Posted July 9, 2020 Did you also solder on the motor supply wires? If sound and lights are continuously reliable but the motor stutters, the pick ups are functioning: lack of supply to the motor from the decoder needs to be looked at. Poor soldering of the motor supply outputs from the socket to the board is another possibility, as is a fractured motor supply pin connection on the decoder. If all that is sound then it's getting inside time to check the connections to the brush terminals, and to try cutting away the network of three capacitors. How well do TTS decoders respond to capacitors on the motor? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kintbury jon Posted July 10, 2020 Author Share Posted July 10, 2020 I have not soldered the motor supply wires and probably won't as I think it seems OK. The sound not being reliable was the issue which I would say has been rectified. "How well do TTS decoders respond to capacitors on the motor?" Not sure I know how to answer that question i'm afraid! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cravensdmufan Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 16 hours ago, 34theletterbetweenB&D said: How well do TTS decoders respond to capacitors on the motor? I have fitted a good few TTS decoders to Bachmann and Hornby diesels and, after fine tuning CVs as per my post above, they all run nice and smooth at all speeds. I didn't remove any capacitors. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 Baffled now by what problem you are or were trying to solve. 28 minutes ago, kintbury jon said: I have not soldered the motor supply wires and probably won't as I think it seems OK. The sound not being reliable was the issue which I would say has been rectified. But neither the sound nor the lights needed rectification based on your opening post: On 06/07/2020 at 21:19, kintbury jon said: ...Sounds work fine as do lights. Problem i'm finding is that the loco stutters and stops (cuts out) when moving at slow speed... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kintbury jon Posted July 10, 2020 Author Share Posted July 10, 2020 Sorry yes I realise I was not clear. When I said the sound and lights were fine, I meant they were functioning and when I was referring to the loco stuttering and stopping, I was referring to the lights sound and motor, not just the motor. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Izzy Posted July 10, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 10, 2020 I have had exactly the same problem with a TTS in a Bachmann class 24. It just would not control the loco satisfactorily no matter what cv settings I used, and I went through the lot, trying every combination I could think of. Sometimes it would work okay for a few minutes and I’d think I’d cracked it, then it would regress to the previous issues. As the decoder worked fine with a range of other locos/motors I tested it with I eventually came to the conclusion that it was just that the particular motor fitted wasn’t compatible with the decoder motor controls for some reason spec wise. The class 24, I should explain, works quite okay with a wide range of other decoder makes. It now runs with a Zimo MX600 with the TTS just providing the sound. One day I might put a proper Zimo sound decoder in it, or better still just get a ‘full fat’ Sutton 24. One day...........perhaps...... Izzy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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