Brian D Posted December 16, 2020 Author Share Posted December 16, 2020 2 hours ago, ISW said: Brian, Any reason for not simply 'shortening' the coupling length instead (eg: fitting Kadees)? I'd have thought that would be easier. I also have a Hornby Class 110 3-car in need to the same treatment. I replaced mine with a CD-ROM motor and it runs much sweeter now. Ian Thanks Ian. As you are no doubt aware there are no NEM sockets on this model which makes life difficult so I will leave the couplings as shown for now although I do have some Kadees somewhere which would be less obtrusive. The unit has to traverse some curves circa 28 inch radius or less on the lay-out so I can't over do the close coupling. I too have been looking at CD drive motor kits but understand that they are 6 volt rated and may require some sort of voltage dropper. How have you addressed this issue? I'd be pleased to hear your advice. Regards Brian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandhole Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 21 hours ago, Brian D said: There's good news and bad news regarding the Class 110. First, the good news. The corridor connectors/closer coupling has been sorted... ...as has the addition of "gubbins" to the driving car buffer beams and "destinations" inserted in the "blinds". The bad news is that the unit is dead to the controller. My existing multi-meter has also recently died (Santa is bringing a replacement) so I can't immediately identify the fault but the motor doesn't seem to be drawing any current, see below. So, this will have to wait until after Christmas to sort out but I have been researching Ringfield motors on the internet and it seems that the motors can be easily replaced and a number of kits are available so watch this space. I've had the power bogie out and the mechanism is not jammed - I can rotate the drive gears easily enough which makes the wheels go round. A shame though. By for now. Regards, Brian. I have had these motor bogies do this. A wire had either broken or come unsoldered once. The other times were brushes not contacting properly. Might be worth having another look. In the case of the wires, remotor. The brushes can usually be fixed. Hope this is some help. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandhole Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 21 hours ago, Brian D said: There's good news and bad news regarding the Class 110. First, the good news. The corridor connectors/closer coupling has been sorted... ...as has the addition of "gubbins" to the driving car buffer beams and "destinations" inserted in the "blinds". The bad news is that the unit is dead to the controller. My existing multi-meter has also recently died (Santa is bringing a replacement) so I can't immediately identify the fault but the motor doesn't seem to be drawing any current, see below. So, this will have to wait until after Christmas to sort out but I have been researching Ringfield motors on the internet and it seems that the motors can be easily replaced and a number of kits are available so watch this space. I've had the power bogie out and the mechanism is not jammed - I can rotate the drive gears easily enough which makes the wheels go round. A shame though. By for now. Regards, Brian. Nice detailing job. Has stimulated me to do the same thing on mine. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevebr Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 1N4001 diodes drop 0.6volts across each so 8 to 10 in series would drop the voltage 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted December 16, 2020 Author Share Posted December 16, 2020 2 hours ago, Sandhole said: I have had these motor bogies do this. A wire had either broken or come unsoldered once. The other times were brushes not contacting properly. Might be worth having another look. In the case of the wires, remotor. The brushes can usually be fixed. Hope this is some help. 2 hours ago, Sandhole said: Nice detailing job. Has stimulated me to do the same thing on mine. Thanks Sandhole. Once Santa has delivered on the multimeter all will hopefully be revealed. Glad you are motivated to do likewise. I personally think that adding the various missing bufferbeam details makes a huge difference appearance wise. Thanks again for your advice and interest in my ramblings. Regards, Brian. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted December 16, 2020 Author Share Posted December 16, 2020 (edited) 25 minutes ago, Stevebr said: 1N4001 diodes drop 0.6volts across each so 8 to 10 in series would drop the voltage Thanks for the advice but that sounds like a lot of diodes to me and I'm not sure there's room. Is there not a bigger diode that does the work of these 10? I know very little about electronics but I have used resistors to drop the voltage for the LED colour lights. Would a resistor do the trick? Thanks again for your interest. Regards, Brian. Edited December 16, 2020 by Brian D Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted December 16, 2020 Author Share Posted December 16, 2020 I've had another thought about the failed BRCW dmu. The longer platforms on Deneside could accommodate a 5-car unit so I could possibly acquire another 3-car set to create a 2-car + 3-car arrangement leaving a redundant centre car which could donate an unpowered bogie to replace the faulty power bogie. If the problem is not a quick fix, I might go down this route. Food for thought. Regards, Brian. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
9C85 Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 On 22/11/2020 at 18:52, Brian D said: The latest video is available here... Regards, Brian. That is a very nice 'playable' layout. I would have been tempted to have the 25 and the Deltic parallel running into the station ...it looks like the trackplan would permit this? ... or is that against 'local' regulations? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ISW Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 7 hours ago, Brian D said: I too have been looking at CD drive motor kits but understand that they are 6 volt rated and may require some sort of voltage dropper. How have you addressed this issue? I'd be pleased to hear your advice. Brian, I've fitted CD-ROMs to Lima, Hornby, Mainline, & Airfix locomotives / DMUs without issue. However, I'm DCC and can therefore 'trim' the upper voltage limit (ie: speed) using the CVs. Yes, most of those CD-ROMs were 6v type but, again, I've had no issues whatsoever. I only had a minor problem with the CD-ROM in my Mainline Class 56, where it seemed to be 'incompatible' with the type of DCC chip I had installed. I think I simply swapped out the DCC chip for another type. 7 hours ago, Brian D said: As you are no doubt aware there are no NEM sockets on this model which makes life difficult But not impossible. I did get some Kadees fitted. Ian 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted December 17, 2020 Author Share Posted December 17, 2020 22 hours ago, 9C85 said: That is a very nice 'playable' layout. I would have been tempted to have the 25 and the Deltic parallel running into the station ...it looks like the trackplan would permit this? ... or is that against 'local' regulations? Thanks 9C85. I see what you mean by the simultaneous arrivals (Deltic + Class 25 & hoppers). Other than testing the driving skills and concentration of "The Fat Controller", such a movement is entirely feasible. I missed a trick there. Thanks again for your interest. Regards, Brian 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted December 17, 2020 Author Share Posted December 17, 2020 20 hours ago, ISW said: Brian, I've fitted CD-ROMs to Lima, Hornby, Mainline, & Airfix locomotives / DMUs without issue. However, I'm DCC and can therefore 'trim' the upper voltage limit (ie: speed) using the CVs. Yes, most of those CD-ROMs were 6v type but, again, I've had no issues whatsoever. I only had a minor problem with the CD-ROM in my Mainline Class 56, where it seemed to be 'incompatible' with the type of DCC chip I had installed. I think I simply swapped out the DCC chip for another type. But not impossible. I did get some Kadees fitted. Ian Thanks for this Ian. I guess if I keep the controller knob well away from the the full maximum, there shouldn't be a problem. I tend to drive everything on the layout quite slowly so I doubt very much whether I ever get the voltage above 6v. I could always fit a speedo (voltmeter) I suppose . Thanks again for your interest. Regards, Brian. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted December 23, 2020 Author Share Posted December 23, 2020 As it's the time of year... ...and for goodness sake I hope the New Year turns out a lot better than this one! All the very best to you and yours, Regards, Brian. 3 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted December 26, 2020 Author Share Posted December 26, 2020 (edited) The latest addition to the roster (thank you Santa) has been tested... ...and pressed into service on an oil train. This is a Bachmann Class 25/3, lightly weathered, full yellow end, no train heating boiler so mainly for freight. A second hand acquisition from flea bay allegedly barely used by the previous owner. The usual sweet Bachmann mechanism so all is good. Santa also came through with this... ...so I should be able to get to the bottom of the Hornby Class 110 electrical gremlins in due course. More news in a day or two. This pic was taken with the probes connected to the rails to monitor the voltage of a departing Hornby Class 101 so at "cruising" speed it was consuming nearly 4 of the available 12 volts DC. Regards, Brian. Edited December 26, 2020 by Brian D 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted January 8, 2021 Author Share Posted January 8, 2021 (edited) The new multimeter has been used to check for gremlins on the Hornby Class 110 DMU. No easy fix was found so the motor was condemned and a Strathpeffer Junction replacement CD player type motor kit purchased and the ringfield motor replaced - see below. All pretty straightforward to fit and the DMU set now runs nice and smoothly. The kit is therefore highly recommended. I didn't bother with any form of voltage dropper so I will take it easy with the "throttle". The DMU can be seen running here... ...so I'll leave you to judge. Regards, Brian. Edited January 8, 2021 by Brian D 7 1 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted January 12, 2021 Author Share Posted January 12, 2021 Here is another Rail Cam style video recorded at Colliery Junction. This time I have added sub-titles to describe each train. Enjoy it or otherwise here... Regards, Brian. 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted January 22, 2021 Author Share Posted January 22, 2021 (edited) For a while now I have been having problems with the turntable, in particular turning heavy locos - the turntable stalls or sticks and refuses to rotate. I tracked the problem down to the Expo Tools gearbox - while all the cogs were going round, the drive shaft wasn't moving. So a replacement was necessary. As a reminder, this was the Expo gearbox drive set-up photographed from below. Fortunately, Santa very kindly delivered me one of these.... ...namely the Peco PL55 Turntable Motor which also includes the relevant control switch. However, when I examined it, I was a little disappointed to find that it (1) required a 12v 2 amp power supply (the accessory output on my Morley controller is only rated 1 amp) so I had to buy an extra power supply, albeit a cheap phone charger type unit, (2) the main power output shaft was a hexagonal plastic spigot (see below) ... ...and (3) the whole Peco gearbox had to be glued to the underside of the existing turntable well. Thus, a lot of plastic engineering here to successfully attach the gear box. I just worry about longevity and durability but, heyho, it is what it is and you'd think Peco had thoroughly tested this product prior to release. Anyway, I've cracked on. Firstly, the existing Expo drive and controls had to be removed including the timber batten on which the gearbox was mounted below the baseboard... ...leaving a nice empty space. The smaller diameter circular spigot just visible above is the main turntable bridge spindle. The Peco kit requires you to glue (the instructions say use plastic glue) this plastic adapter... ...to the spindle. I used Gorilla super glue and put a separating piece of grease proof paper between the adapter and the rest of the t/t. The deck polarity plunger contacts tend to raise the turntable above where it should be so I weighed the t/t down with some "kentledge" (see pic below) and left it overnight to cure. The kit comes with three sprues which assemble into cruciform spacers or hangers as below. These attach to the motor unit by the clip-on device shown in the pic, the wider opposite ends of the cruciforms, according to the kit instructions, glue directly to the t/t well underside. Erm...actually this is wrong - there is a gap which has to be filled with something. Fortunately, each sprue also contains the requisite parts (of which there is no mention in the instructions) to fill the gap, see below. So, these pieces were added to each hanger and a check for fit revealed they filled the offending gap. Moment of truth time! A liberal amount of Gorilla glue was added to the cruciform hangers and the motor unit offered up into position and held there for several minutes until I was moderately sure the glue had set sufficiently to carry the weight of the motor/gearbox and some masking tape was added to give some ongoing support while the glue hardens overnight - see below. Tomorrow, I will connect the power supply and switch unit and see what happens. Will it all end in tears? Stay tuned for a further update tomorrow. Regards, Brian. Edited January 22, 2021 by Brian D 5 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
manna Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 G'day Folks Nice work on the TT, Santa always misses my house............ manna 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Edward Posted January 23, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 23, 2021 Great videos and so satisfyingly to see locos obeying signals instead of the other way round. And all at a realistic speed. One of the "joys" of lookdown is lying in bed late on Saturday and watching videos! No appointments & nowhere to go. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted January 23, 2021 Author Share Posted January 23, 2021 3 hours ago, Edward said: Great videos and so satisfyingly to see locos obeying signals instead of the other way round. And all at a realistic speed. One of the "joys" of lookdown is lying in bed late on Saturday and watching videos! No appointments & nowhere to go. Thanks Edward. I think signals that actually work are a must on a layout. They just add so much to the operational side. Mind you, the "Fat Controller" has been known to slip up a few times with the resulting SPAD enquiry. Thanks again for your interest. I have another video in the pipeline. Regards, Brian. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted January 23, 2021 Author Share Posted January 23, 2021 As promised, today I removed the masking tape support, connected up the control module and power supply and................. ...........the turntable deck now revolves. Whoopie doo. We will see how it goes in terms of durability. I put the Deltic on as a test and it rotates fully albeit a little jerkily. I have added some lubrication to the turntable bridge wheel axles (the wheels rotate when the bridge is loaded with a loco) and also to the two points at the top of the polarity plungers (hopefully this will trickle down to where the plungers rub on the two semi-circular electric feeds under the bridge). I'll see if there is any improvement tomorrow because the jerky rotational movement is making it very tricky to index by eye. Regards, Brian. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
manna Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 G'Day Folks (All in jest) Got to run it in, switch it on and run it round and round for 12 hours !!!! LOL manna Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted January 23, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 23, 2021 1 hour ago, manna said: G'Day Folks (All in jest) Got to run it in, switch it on and run it round and round for 12 hours !!!! LOL manna Forward and reverse. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold tom shaw Posted January 24, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 24, 2021 18 hours ago, Brian D said: As promised, today I removed the masking tape support, connected up the control module and power supply and................. ...........the turntable deck now revolves. Whoopie doo. We will see how it goes in terms of durability. I put the Deltic on as a test and it rotates fully albeit a little jerkily. I have added some lubrication to the turntable bridge wheel axles (the wheels rotate when the bridge is loaded with a loco) and also to the two points at the top of the polarity plungers (hopefully this will trickle down to where the plungers rub on the two semi-circular electric feeds under the bridge). I'll see if there is any improvement tomorrow because the jerky rotational movement is making it very tricky to index by eye. Regards, Brian. This is all very useful Brian, I have had the same problem and will look to follow your lead. Christmas is too far away so I may need to spend some money. Tom Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted January 24, 2021 Author Share Posted January 24, 2021 15 hours ago, manna said: G'Day Folks (All in jest) Got to run it in, switch it on and run it round and round for 12 hours !!!! LOL manna 13 hours ago, BoD said: Forward and reverse. I might actually give that a try if all else fails. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted January 24, 2021 Author Share Posted January 24, 2021 17 minutes ago, tom shaw said: This is all very useful Brian, I have had the same problem and will look to follow your lead. Christmas is too far away so I may need to spend some money. Tom Sorry to hear that Tom but gladdened by the news that it's not just me If money was no object I'd ditch the Peco tt and go for something with auto indexing but, of course, loads of money. Regards, Brian. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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