John_Hughes Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 Folks, I've been handed a DCC chip with an additional 'stay alive' unit with the request to please fit them in this engine. The friend responsible knows nothing about how the stay alive bit is supposed to work and has no documentation, and I can't find anything sensible on the Web telling me which wire goes where, only dire warnings about what will happen if I connect it wrongly! So - there are two wires on the 'stay alive' thing and a supposedly compatible DCC chip, but no book of words. Oh, and a mate who will not be happy if I fry the blessed thing! Can someone save my bacon - please - in very simple language! TIA! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hughes Posted March 30, 2016 Author Share Posted March 30, 2016 First, talk to said friend and ask for brand name and model of the decoder. If he doesn't know (which, frankly, wouldn't surprise me given your description ), fire up your DCC controller and read CV7 and CV8. The value you find in CV8 can be looked up in the table from the attachment, which is the NMRA list of manufacturer codes. Then browse the manufacturers website for details on which model you have in hands. Figure that out first, we'll proceed from there Thanks a million! Actually what said mate gave me was an item he'd picked up at York on Saturday, and in fairness it came to me in its original packaging with its original paperwork, none of which had anything useful to say except that more information was available on the website. In their dreams, possibly! Checking their website was the first thing I did, and there is effectively no useful information there - at least, nothing that I could decode into practical instructions. It's a DCC Train Automation DTA845, which has the 4-function decoder and the stay-alive chip in the same packet. I'm more used to Lenz and Zimo, and don't generally have a need for the stay-alive idea, which wouldn't in any case necessarily be an easy fit into my preferred little Victorian tank engines, so this is a new one on me. But apparently the chaps who sold it to him spoke very highly of it! Aaaarrrggghhh! Any help will be most gratefully received! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold RedgateModels Posted March 30, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 30, 2016 If it's this: http://www.dcctrainautomation.co.uk/dcc-train-automation-4-function-decoder-with-8pin-plug-with-stayalive.html I would expect that you connect the black and blue wires from the stay alive unit to the corresponding wires that come from the opposite end of the decoder to the wires leading to the 8 pin plug. Hope that helps Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hughes Posted March 30, 2016 Author Share Posted March 30, 2016 If it's this: http://www.dcctrainautomation.co.uk/dcc-train-automation-4-function-decoder-with-8pin-plug-with-stayalive.html I would expect that you connect the black and blue wires from the stay alive unit to the corresponding wires that come from the opposite end of the decoder to the wires leading to the 8 pin plug. Hope that helps Tthat seems a plausible thing to do; I just hope that nothing goes 'pop' when I do it! Does anyone have any hands-on experience with these particular decoders? I gather they're on the not-too-expensive side, but that may mean nothing... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Mick Bonwick Posted March 30, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 30, 2016 Have you tried telephoning the manufacturer? The number is on their website. You can send them a message from there as well, using their contact form. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 Folks, I've been handed a DCC chip with an additional 'stay alive' unit with the request to please fit them in this engine... Install the decoder, once you have checked over the running of the loco on DC. and test. If it operates well enough to satisfy your friend, then insert the 'stay alive' unit somewhere inside the loco where it can do no harm, and the brief has been fulfilled. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoingUnderground Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 I understand your concern at not damaging your friend's decoder and stay alive, but just tell him that any work that you do is at his risk, not yours. After all you're doing your best to do the guy a favour. He can't complain if he is incapable of doing it himself but is expecting you to do it without damage for free. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hughes Posted March 31, 2016 Author Share Posted March 31, 2016 Right, problem sorted, thanks to all! In the end I followed RedgateModels' advice, and it does work, though in honesty it's not the silver bullet that my mate had perhaps assumed; I'll know a little more when I've fine-tuned it and tested it thoroughly. Not a bad decoder, though, at the price; nice, steady running (of course it was running very nicely before I added the decoder - it's folly to think that DCC will cure bad running) and no motor vibration that I can feel with my fingernail on the motor while it's running! Keith - you're right, of course, but over the years we've swapped all kinds of jobs back and forth, and I'm not about to start getting formal now; he knows I do my best, and I know he does his. That's what mates do ;-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.