Super Detail Class 08 - Stay Alive Needed?

[Sir TophamHatt]

Just a quick question.
 

I'm pretty much out of decoders, so was looking at this DCC Concepts Zen decoder, but I'm a bit put off that it's a fixed position.  They don't seem to supply a 4 function (I guess I need 4 functions for the 08, no sound?) that comes on wires.

 

I have a couple of dead spots on the layout.  It's strange though as some trains travel freely over it, others not so much, even though they're both small wheel bases.

 

So the real question is, could a DCC Concepts chip with stay alive fit in the 08 model?

 

Cheers

[Paul-H]

Hi 

 

from what I have seen of the Hornby 08, not taken my sound equipped one apart so cant be 100% sure but from what i have seen the decoder goes on the end of the chassis behind the front grill and the speaker on the sound version goes behind the grill as well, so given that you have no speaker I would guess there would be enough space behind the grill for the capacitor, if not jut hide it in the cab.

 

Paul

[NickC]

Does the class 08 have lights, if not then you don’t need any functions, only the motor drive. The stay alive capacitor supplied with the DCC concepts decoders is so small (in power) it won’t get you over any dead spots. In fact I’ve found the small stay alives supplied with the DCC Concepts decoders pretty much a waste of time

Edited February 11, 2018 by NickC

[Sir TophamHatt]

Hmm.

 

That's a shame.

 

I guess it means I can easily upgrade to sound in the future if I want to.

 

Will probably just opt for a bunch of Lenz or Zimos then as they've been the best plug and play I've encountered so far.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

...I have a couple of dead spots on the layout.  It's strange though as some trains travel freely over it, others not so much, even though they're both small wheel bases...

 Two things to think about.

 

Better to fix the layout's 'dead spots' than apply an elastoplast. If the dead spots are dead crossing points, then fettling these so that they lie flat will help.

 

What difference(s) can you see between the short wheelbase loco that crosses the dead spots and the Hornby 08?

 

The Hornby 08 mechanism has a limitation, a pretty rigid chassis. On the evidence I have seen it will cut out on a dead crossing point that has the usual 'humped' profile, because when the centre wheelset is on the crossing it lifts the two end wheelsets clear of the rail. The competing model from Bachmann has the major asset of having the centre axle sprung, and this makes all the difference in this situation. You can try slightly slackening the keeper plate at one end of the Hornby chassis to give one end axle a little more freedom of movement, and see if that helps.