the fuzzler Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 Well, I'm fairly happy with the aspects of OO DCC, but the Bachmann 150 has got me venturing into N DCC. I've decided to keep it easy and choose DCC ready stuff, and have bought 5 of the Bachmann 35558 6 pin decoders on offer at Hattons. After the "fun" of getting the body off the motor coach, the DCC chip went in and the thing worked. I then decided tro have a go at fitting ond of thew chips in the trailer car, just to operate the lights. This is where is goes odd.....the chip is reversed on this car. If you lay both chassis in front of yopu, with the cabs pointing to the left, pin one is at the top edge of the PCB in teh motor car, but at the bottom edge on the trailer. With the chip in, on default address 0003, the lights work fine, and go red/white as direction is changed. However, I want to match it to the 150's motor car address (1501). But for some reason, the chip won't let me change it's address. I tried another, identical chip, and the same thing happened. I can't read any setting on the chips either (eg manfacturer ID etc). I've even reversed the chip, and the lights don't work at all, but flash reed/white when the when the Elite is trying to write to it. The Elite runs everythign else ok (OO) and controls the 150 motor car fine. But the trailer car doesn't want to know. I don't think it is a chip fault - surely the three I've now tried can't all be faulty....so is it a problem with something on the trailing cars' PCB ? I don't have any other N equipment to test them on, so am a bit stuck. Any ideas ? My last resort will be to take the chip out of the motor car and swap them over, but after the "joy" of getting the body off, I don't want to do that in a hurry. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Moria Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 You may well find that the trailer car is not programming properly as theres no motor in the trailer to provide the load. Try putting both power car and trailer on the prog track (or whatever you use for programming) and program both together. That should solve it Regards Graham Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
russellwar Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 As Moria said, It is probably because it is not picking up as there is no motor. I tried to programme both at once and also had issues. So this is how I did it (with the advice of the guys from DEMU) Have both cars near by and don't put the bodies on until the thing works perfect. 1. Programme decoder in motor car to desired address. At this point you also need to set the decoder to reverse direction otherwise you get white or red lights at both ends, when running. This is CV29, bit 0. 2. Remover this decoder and fit in dummy. 3. Place the second decoder in the power car and programme the address the same as the first. Leave direction as is. Worked for me on the 150, 108 and 156 (which had some issues with the lights when I first tried). Always test run and only when 110% happy, put those bodies back on I would try what Moria said first as it should work Russell Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the fuzzler Posted October 26, 2009 Author Share Posted October 26, 2009 Thank you very much, I'll try that when I finish night shifs and the wife is back at work. She doesn't know about the 150....... Its the first time I've fitted a chip into a non-motored vehicle, so the combination had never cropped up. Another "one of those things" that I didn't know, and haven't read in any DCC book, online guide, or even the decoder or model instruction leaflet........ I have a soft spot for the 150 as I used to drive for FNW/Northern Rail, and this model - plus the forthcoming 153, 142 and the special edition 156, have got me into N units. I may encounter this problem again ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin_m Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 I'm pretty sure I didn't have to change CV29 in the Farish 150. The lights are wired opposite ways round in the two cars so "forward" light white in the motor car and red in the trailer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PaulCheffus Posted October 27, 2009 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 27, 2009 I'm pretty sure I didn't have to change CV29 in the Farish 150. The lights are wired opposite ways round in the two cars so "forward" light white in the motor car and red in the trailer. Hi I definitely did have to change CV29 for my 150 (it was the one from the train set not that it should make any difference). Before I did this I got either headlights or taillights at both ends of the unit. Cheers Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the fuzzler Posted October 27, 2009 Author Share Posted October 27, 2009 I'll find out tomorrow...house to myself !Did notice that the chips' no1 pin was oriented differently on each PCB, so my guess is that I wont have to alter direction. Mine is an FNW one in case that makes any difference. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Dagworth Posted October 27, 2009 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 27, 2009 A very similar topic is also running here with problems programming decoders in dummy vehicles http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php/topic/1489-e-z-command-decoder-problem/ Andi Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the fuzzler Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share Posted October 29, 2009 Well, tried to program the trailer by trying the method of using both cars on the program track, and it didn't work, so off came the bodies. I put the trailer car chip into the power car, programmed it, and put it back into the trailer car. It worked !! Put them on the track, and the lighting worked correctly - no need to alter the directions. Now then, one other problem then arose. I tried to alter some CV's (start voltage etc). The thing ran more smoothly, but the lights on the powered car wouldn't work. They were all lit with the chip oriented INCORRECTLY, but wouldnt respond to a correct fitting, so I'd not broken the lights on the model. So - has a spike sent something "funny" to the chip ? I've put another identical chip in, they as they both run and light up correctly, so I'm leaving it well alone now it works. I cant see a "reset" function mentioned in the Bachmann decoder literature, and might take the dicky decoder back to the shop.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Steven B Posted October 29, 2009 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 29, 2009 Now then, one other problem then arose. I tried to alter some CV's (start voltage etc). The thing ran more smoothly, but the lights on the powered car wouldn't work. They were all lit with the chip oriented INCORRECTLY, but wouldnt respond to a correct fitting, so I'd not broken the lights on the model. I cant see a "reset" function mentioned in the Bachmann decoder literature, and might take the dicky decoder back to the shop.... I assume you toggles F0 (lightswitch) to turn the lights on. On the Bachmann 6-pin decoder they're switched off. Standard decoder reset works on the Bachmann chips. Happy modelling, Steven B. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the fuzzler Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share Posted October 29, 2009 I assume you toggles F0 (lightswitch) to turn the lights on. On the Bachmann 6-pin decoder they're switched off. Standard decoder reset works on the Bachmann chips. Happy modelling, Steven B. That'll be put a 2 in CV8 or CV30 ? Just seen this is the docs for a tcs m1. Never having reset a decoder, I'm not sure. Will try it now.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the fuzzler Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share Posted October 29, 2009 Just done the above, and the "dicky" chip works okay now, lighting 100% and the thing runs fine. So its going back in to box before it goes wrong again!! Yes, F0 controls the lighting on/off, and F7 has a dimming function (not tried it though). I've never had to do a reset before, in 20odd decoder installations. The only trouble I had was very obvious operator error - an underground ernie train buzzed and juddered back and forth when tested with body on. When I took it off, the wiring loom from socket to deocder had "jumped" and trapped itself between body and chassis, which had acted as an effective wire cutter on half of the wires.......... Are these Bachmann 6 pin chips a little, shall we say, delicate ? Or just plain rubbish ! The instruction leaflet says they are a soundtraxx product Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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