Digikeijs 4024 - Z21 and routes

[Haymarket47]

Hi I received some Digikeijs Dr4024 servo modules from my good lady for a birthday gift. So they came all they way from USA. Finally got round to looking at these last night and all went well with the H-king 141178 analogue servos until I tried to switch them quickly or at the same time. Meltdown ensued as the led activity light was flashing like crazy and the servos doing the same. I tried setting up a route on the Z21 but this did t go too well either - this was the first time I had done a route so I may have done this wrong. Ultimately I would like to use computer control for my layout so I need reliability when throwing points and I thought these would be good. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Edited April 22, 2018 by Haymarket47

[PaulRhB]

Sounds like it's possibly confused by the Z21 sending the commands at once. Probably best to drop Dijikeijs a description and see what they say.

[Phil S]

On software like Rocomotion ( and RR+Co full versions ) there is an option for setting a delay between sending the successive point commands .... consider it like giving the signalman time to move from lever to lever....   Alternatively, and this may be the primary cause - look at the current capability of your wiring to the modules - Servos when moving to a new position take a large current - you may also observe this on start-up   ( I certainly did with our shunting puzzle when it used Servos - and 8 of them off 2 modules ( either ESU/Bachmann or Massoth .. especially if using the dcc bus for power  (as our small LGB shunting puzzle does for simplicity),

[Haymarket47]

Thanks For your reply Phils. With your comments regarding power I’ve connected a Lenz TR100 which I think delivers 3 amps. I’ve got the power straight into the module. I’m not sure how much each servo draws but do you think, given the fact that the power only supplies 3 amps that this is too low?

 

I’ve opened a ticket with Digikeijs too but this is the first time I have done this so I’m not exactly sure how quick their response will be.

 

Cheers

Alan

[WIMorrison]

I think that you will need to resolve the issue without any help from Digikeijs as they almost never respond to support emails even when it is for warranty. I have simly therefore sent kit back and they have sent out replacements and never so much as a thanks you or this is what the fault was/is - even when asking for explanations.

 

Reasonable kit, at reasonable prices - but support? I wouldn't use support and Digikeijs in the same sentence

 

Back to your issue, I am sure you can put a delay into routes between switching using the Z21 app. The servos should be drawing almost no current, not compared to the slam, thud, buzz variety and you should be able to change several easily at the same time. I can change 4 IP digital at the same time with the Z21 power supply and servos take even less power.

 

EDIT - Just looked at the app and there is the ability to put a 'wait' time into the route which I interpret as the 'wait' before firing off the next bit of the route - my points switch in the order in the list and slight after each other so this default 20 is perhaps  20ms? when I am back at railway I may tray making the value much higher, 2000, and see if this is what it is and if it is ms - unless you have got there before me

Edited April 22, 2018 by WIMorrison

[Haymarket47]

I think that you will need to resolve the issue without any help from Digikeijs as they almost never respond to support emails even when it is for warranty. I have simly therefore sent kit back and they have sent out replacements and never so much as a thanks you or this is what the fault was/is - even when asking for explanations.

 

Reasonable kit, at reasonable prices - but support? I wouldn't use support and Digikeijs in the same sentence

 

Back to your issue, I am sure you can put a delay into routes between switching using the Z21 app. The servos should be drawing almost no current, not compared to the slam, thud, buzz variety and you should be able to change several easily at the same time. I can change 4 IP digital at the same time with the Z21 power supply and servos take even less power.

 

EDIT - Just looked at the app and there is the ability to put a 'wait' time into the route which I interpret as the 'wait' before firing off the next bit of the route - my points switch in the order in the list and slight after each other so this default 20 is perhaps 20ms? when I am back at railway I may tray making the value much higher, 2000, and see if this is what it is and if it is ms - unless you have got there before me

Thanks for the info Iain - doesn’t sound promising on the support front - I hope I haven’t made a bad choice with these. Perhaps I should have gone with the digital cobalts but I liked the fact that the servos were small and relatively quiet. I have to say the module was easy to get started and individually the servos work fine so I’ll have a look at the setting the delay and see if that helps. Edited April 22, 2018 by Haymarket47

[WIMorrison]

​some good news for you after the depression I caused in the last post

 

​The delay is in milliseconds and most definitely works I put a delay of 5000 in the cascade of 4 points that I have and the switched one by one, with a delay of 5 seconds between each one switching. I must remember to put it back to the default which I think was 200ms.

 

​Try doing it this way, I hope it helps

[Haymarket47]

Hi Iain I set it up as you suggested. It worked a treat I then reset the wait time to 200ms as you have but instead of taking the power from my Lenz TR100 transformer I used the input from the Z21 track and disconnected the Lenz unit. Low and behold it worked the servos all changed with no issues. This would be a great solution if it wasn’t for A) I’m worried about overloading the Z21 when everything else is hooked up and locos running and b) one of the attractions of the Dr 4024 is that you can program on the main but only if a separate power supply is connected!

 

So I’m not sure where I go from here. I don’t really have an in-depth knowledge to explain why it works with the power coming from the Z21 but not from the Lenz unit?

 

Thanks for taking the time to help - I’ve learned a few things today.

[WIMorrison]

​Alan,

 

I think that it is probable that the Lenz unit is underpowered - it is described as 45VA@15v which will be around 2.3A and the voltage is also on the low side - both lower than supplied by the Z21. The Z21 voltage is likely to be around 17-18v (measured at track using True RMS meter) and it has 3.2A at the track.

 

As you can see a significant different in power of ~35w compared to ~55w, and this is probably the root cause. I suggest that you look for a PSU with more oomph, if you  are happy to use DC for the supply I would use a laptop power supply, most are rated at ~90w, and i find that they breed in my cupboards as I have several that have come from somewhere uinknown 

[PaulRhB]

With the Z21 you can monitor the current drawn in the app if you have two devices.

On one go to - settings - Z21 settings

Up the top of the screen is the current consumption. Run a couple of trains using another handset and change a complicated route and watch what it peaks at.

[Haymarket47]

​Alan,

 

I think that it is probable that the Lenz unit is underpowered - it is described as 45VA@15v which will be around 2.3A and the voltage is also on the low side - both lower than supplied by the Z21. The Z21 voltage is likely to be around 17-18v (measured at track using True RMS meter) and it has 3.2A at the track.

 

As you can see a significant different in power of ~35w compared to ~55w, and this is probably the root cause. I suggest that you look for a PSU with more oomph, if you  are happy to use DC for the supply I would use a laptop power supply, most are rated at ~90w, and i find that they breed in my cupboards as I have several that have come from somewhere uinknown 

Hi apologies for the long gap in between posts - needless to say work and other issues got in the way of progress... Anyways to cut a long story short I raised a ticket with Digikeijs and I’m happy to say that I got a reply within a week or 2 which was very clear and echoed your comments regarding the power supply. I duly bought another psu and I have just gotten round to trying it out today and it works a treat.

 

I now have to think about the choice between Traincontroller and I- train for software...there seems to be more info generally available ie YouTube videos for TC but the price is, well, mouthwatering. I was hoping to do things such automatically trigger a whistle on a locomotive as it approached a tunnel or station. Is this possible on either of these programs or am I dreaming

 

Anyways thanks for your help with this issue.

 

Alan

[WIMorrison]

I looked at both commercial products as Alan knows and I have chosen iTrain.

 

I have yet to find something I need it to do that it doesn’t and the price is significantly better, plus the killer for me is the user interface. I find the iTrain interface much easier to navigate, cleaner more modern and generally more pleasant and easier to use.

 

Feel free to ask me any questions you have around it either here, on another thread or as PMs

Edited August 9, 2018 by WIMorrison

[Haymarket47]

I looked at both commercial products as Alan knows and I have chosen iTrain.

I have yet to find something I need it to do that it doesn’t and the price is significantly better, plus the killer for me is the user interface. I find the iTrain interface much easier to navigate, cleaner more modern and generally more pleasant and easier to use.

Feel free to ask me any questions you have around it either here, on another thread or as PMs

Thanks, will do.