Is my Lenz system dead?

[Firecracker]

So, I suspect my elderly Lenz setup (LHZ100 base station, LH90 throttle) may have expired.  Went for a pre-supper testing and development session (OK, playing) and when turned on, the throttle only displayed 4 flashing horizontal bars on the LED.  So, a bit of quick googling later, I’ve found the following a) the power supply output is fine when checked with a multimeter, b) the flashing continues when the system is completely disconnected from the layout and c) no combination of key presses can clear it (although weirdly I can apparently get into the system menu although a factory reset changes absolutely nothing).  Then, when reconnected to the layout and fired up, the loco present on the layout (Bachman standard mogul, zimo decoder, was running fine last weekend) suddenly sprang into life and launched itself along the layout at something that would scale to about Mach3.  Fortionately a) I’ve got very quick reactions and b) there are plywood stops on the ends of the layout, so nothing tragic happened.  Said loco has since been tried on the SPROG-driven test track and appears to be completely unharmed by its attempts at giving me a heart attack and the land speed record.

 

Now, the system is at least 12 years old, so if it’s died, it’s not the end of the world, it’s just damned annoying.  So, good folk of RMweb, a) is there anything else to try (I should add I’ve checked every connection and there’s no visible loose wires or visible damage) and if it is an ex. DCC system that has joined the choir invisible, what’s a recommendation  for a replacement system that’s got a similar throttle on a wander lead setup and plays nicely with lenz, Zimo, Gaugemaster and Bachman decoders?  Alternately, what’s involved in getting a SPROG to chat to a throttle, be it WiFi, Bluetooth or old fashioned bit of wire?

 

Owain

 

 

[grriff]

If you want to connect the SPROG to a throttle this is done by setting up the SPROG on JMRI (which presumably you have done), loading the  'Engine Driver' app onto a smartphone and then choosing Wi throttle on JMRI (sorry can't remember the exact menu route). The Engine Driver app should pickup the JMRI link and you have control!

 

Sorry, can't help with the Lenz problem as I use a SPROG.

 

David

[norman]

Owain

Don't despair, A&H Models for the Lenz fault/repair.

A&H and Lenz are very good at sorting out problems and if A&H have to send it back to Germany it maybe sometime but I'm sure you'll get a good result in the end.

Mean while if you need a replacement you could go down the digikeijs DR5000 route - Lenz and Z21 etc compatible gives you options on using your LH90 and your smart phone. 

[Firecracker]

Right, thanks for the quick replies so far.  In no particular order, grriff, yes, the SPROG on the test track uses JMRI on a laptop.  It was bought purely as a more user friendly interface for decoder programming (and with the results from resolving the speed record attempts of a Hornby sentinel and the far more sedate results, justified its existence).  I wasn’t aware of the app, so thanks for that.  Norman, also thanks, I didn’t know H&A were lenz agents, so if my man at my local (where this was purchased, somewhere between 2003 and 2006) can get results, I’ll give them a go.  Thanks also for the recommendations, I’ll have a look at those.

 

Owain

[RFS]

Sounds like it could just be the board in the LZV100. As it's 10-12 years old it's possibly not on the latest 3.6 level which I think came out a short while later. I would certainly contact A&H as replacing the board with the 3.6 version is not a big job and not too expensive.  As I remember when my LZV100 was upgraded, the LH100 throttle also needed to have its firmware flashed to 3.6 also, but I think that was done at home. But A&H Models can advise on that. 

Edited November 28, 2020 by RFS
3.60 -> 3.6

[Firecracker]

Right,a quick progress report.  Thanks RFS, as per your suggestion and Norman’s I’ve fired A&H (apologies for getting them and H&A models confused) an email, I’ll see what happens.  I’m thinking of giving the app and SPROG (mainly because there’s one here on the test bed I can borrow to try and it’s looking as the cheapest route) a  go, I’ll let you know how I get on.  If it can be repaired for inexcessive cost, I’m planning on getting the lenz repaired as well, as a backup if nothing else.  Thanks all for the replies, I’ll try to update this with progress.

 

 

EDIT - within ten minutes of the email being sent Chris at A&H has replied (a very impressive start!) so it looks like my Lenz is off for a holiday to Brackley.

 

Owain

Edited November 28, 2020 by Firecracker

[Firecracker]

So, on Friday, the lenz expired.  I had another play with it yesterday and nada.  Today, I climb up into the attic and find the boxes for its holiday to Brackley.  Then into the garage, where the system hides in the bottom of a repurposed joiner’s toolbox that lives under the layout.  Before disconnecting it to package it up, I say ‘sod it’ and turn it on for one last time.

 

You all know what’s coming next.....

 

Yes, the little darling, in a Lazarus-esque rise from the dead, works perfectly.  Now in conversation with Chris he suspected it was a fault in either the base station or the lead from that to the handset.  So I jiggle, stretch, tweak and tease the stuffing out of the lead to fail to get the fault to reappear.  Turn it all off, back on, still alive and kicking.  Before anyone says ‘you must have changed something’ it was exactly as it had been left on Saturday.

 

I love intermittent electrical faults (having had a belly full of chasing them in my career).  

 

So, it doesn’t look like a holiday to Costa Del Brackley is on the cards.  Instead plan B.  That’s a SPROG3, wireless throttle and an honourable retirement  for the Lenz as the spare.  Reasoning goes roughly as follows a) a weekend’s playing lead to the testbed SPROG2 running happily through the app grriff mentioned on my phone, b) I really like a wireless throttle (having never used one before, I’m sold), c) it looks like being the cheapest and most compact solution, d) I’m already very taken with the SPROG as a programming interface  and finally d) after this fiasco, I’m determined to have a spare system available and once something plays up once, I never trust it 100% again.

 

Thanks all who replied for their help, I’ve been very impressed with A&H models communication and advice, so I’ll file that contact away for future reference.

 

Owain

[grriff]

Owain, thanks for the update. I certainly find the SPROG meets all my needs and is very useful for programming decoders. I also use JMRI for accessory control using MERG kits http://www.merg.org.uk. .

[Gavin Liddiard]

Does it live in the box with the transformer and does it get hot during operation?

On Mauch Chunk, one of my club's layouts, the Lenz LZV100 lives in a Really Useful Box along with three transformers and other control circuitry. I had just put this control box together when we went to Glasgow exhibition at the SEC last year. During the show we experienced intermittant loss of power which I finally diagnosed as overheating Lenz controls. Removing the lid temporarily solved the problem.

For the next show at the NEC last year I re-organised the internal layout of the box and fitted a 12v computer case fan at one end and drilled holes at the other to create a through draught that successfully controlled the temperature inside the box resulting in no control failures.

For our P4 layout Mostyn we had to fit two case fans in the control panel to control the heat.

[Firecracker]

On 01/12/2020 at 21:09, Gavin Liddiard said:

Does it live in the box with the transformer and does it get hot during operation?

Yes it does and no it doesn’t get hot.  The case is a converted joiners toolbox, (photo below) with plenty of air movement.  Also the fault started from startup (and disappeared just as quickly) so I doubt a heat buildup is to blame on this occasion.  It’s the first time the system has played up in the slightest, so that’s not a bad performance record.

Quote

On Mauch Chunk, one of my club's layouts, the Lenz LZV100 lives in a Really Useful Box 

Completely random and totally unrelated point, but the shallow Really Useful Boxes are my rolling stock storage box of choice.  The narrow ones take a 2 car DMU or the Bachmann R&R crane as if designed for it.

 

Owain