Zimo MX648R sound decoder problem

[kevo]

H i  can any one help . i have a ZIMO  MX648R sound decoder  . problem is function 1 for  the sound is not working  but all the other sound functions work  fine . whistle ETC . I  know it has been working before as i had tried out  in one of my locos  when i 1st got it .  any ideas would be most greatfull thank you .🙄

[norman]

Read CV310 it should be 1 for sound on/off.

 

[peterm1]

Also, depending on the sound author F19 ( digitrains by Paul Chetter)  for muting might be engaged.

[kevo]

Thanks  for the reply's  ime pleased to say that  i do now have the sound back . though  it was a bit of a long task as ime not that ok  with find ing my way around reprogram ing etc un less i have idiot proof follow  it through instructions  in front  of me 😟 any way after watching  a few vids   i have tried a factor  resett this did work  return sound etc but the speed is all to pot  takes ages to get going  and ages to slow up any ideas what has gone wrong there  . thank you 

[kevo]

bit of progress 2 day  started to  actually learning how to alter the CV settings  and i think ime getting there i have now  got my loco to run  much better . so thanks for the tips its pushed me to have a go 👍

[peterm1]

CV's 3 & 4 are acc and dec respectively. Read them and make note of their settings and then try lowering their values. You can also use CV57 to reduce the top voltage to the motor, rather than using CV5. This keeps all the speed steps as they were. BTW, are you using 128 speed steps? This gives finer control than 28. CV6 will determine the speed curve. Adjust it to suit the way you want the loco to accelerate.

 

Hope this helps.

[kevo]

Hi  to try and get to grips with it all i have pulled out a old Hornby j94  i brought with a sound decoder and stay alive fitted  it was never a great runner  very jerky  .  and start from scratch with this  . i have been starting with cv 2 through to cv 4  so far and made some progress  but as quick as you think you got the hang of it and read on it gets a bit complicated  of sorts  . i have got it to start slowly  but the mid range power i doint seem to have had sucsess yet so back to whatch ing some more vids 4 the moment 

[Izzy]

One aspect to be aware of is that no two decoder makes work in the same way as regards the basics of motor control. And some are far better than others. Zimo are pretty good whatever the motor involved while others can be very hit and miss. Will work okay with one loco/motor but not another.

 

Using sound decoders adds yet another level and in respect to the MX648R and it's speed levels I wonder if this is connected to the particular sound project it has been loaded with. Many of these are now 'active' types in that F2 is used to brake the loco. So the loco if not braked using F2 it takes a very long time to slow down to stop. It may also be set to slowly accelerate as well. 

 

Another issue I have encountered is that, sometimes, I have needed to apply a factory re-set - Cv8 to 8 - several times before it will take properly. When I do one I always now remove the loco from the tracks/power after the re-set, and then re-rail it before trying it. A bit like re-booting a computer. Remove the power for the re-set to take properly. 

 

Bob

[peterm1]

4 hours ago, kevo said:

Hi  to try and get to grips with it all i have pulled out a old Hornby j94  i brought with a sound decoder and stay alive fitted  it was never a great runner  very jerky  .  and start from scratch with this  . i have been starting with cv 2 through to cv 4  so far and made some progress  but as quick as you think you got the hang of it and read on it gets a bit complicated  of sorts  . i have got it to start slowly  but the mid range power i doint seem to have had sucsess yet so back to whatch ing some more vids 4 the moment 

I've given you all the info' you need to get a loco running well, if you use that info. You'll learn as you go on. The mid range power (speed curve)  is controlled by CV6. Try setting this at a third of CV5 and then at 2 thirds of the same and see the difference. Most loco's don't have a linear setting, but if you prefer, then set CV6 at half the value of CV5

[kevo]

Just like to say a big thank you to  peterm1  and Izzy  for your thoughts and tips  and help with my questions  . its now given me a bit of encourgement to have a go at programing for my self . some bits i have learned but there are bits that get cofuseing  as there seems loads of ways to do certian tasks  at least  now if things go wrong i can do a factory re set  and keep  practise .ing 👍 

[peterm1]

Forgot to mention that if you use CV57 to reduce the top speed by lowering the voltage, rather than using CV5, it's in tenths of a second, so 90 = 9 volts and so on.

 

[jpendle]

Bear in mind that most sound projects have very high values for CV3 and CV4, i.e acceleration and deceleration. 

This means that locos take a long time to get up to speed and just as long to slow down again, while this may be prototypically accurate, a loco hauling a heavy train may well take minutes to get up to line speed, it can cause problems on a model railway as we typically don't have long enough layouts. It also makes stopping a train accurately very difficult, unless the sound project designer has incorporated an active brake function.

 

Every time you do a factory reset then the sound project will set the values for CV's 3&4 so you'll need to change back to what you prefer.

 

Regards,

 

John P