Chipping a Smokey Joe

[artizen]

OK - the Smokey Joe is not the best offering from Hornby but it is the chassis supplied with my 1:24 Heywood Katie kit (Smallbrook Studios).

 

Wiring the TCS MC2 1013 chip onto the motor was straight forward thanks to Hornby putting up the instructions on the interweb thingy.

 

I tested the chassis only and it now runs really slowly at a speed of 4/128 in both directions. Remarkably better than when it was just a DC pup running like a slot car motor.

 

I left the only capacitor wired across the motor as per the Hornby instructions and everything runs fine until I add the body. With just the footplate the loco still ran slowly but when the resin body / boiler / smokebox was added on top it started to run really strangely. Now it runs in short spurts of approximately quarter revolution at a minimum speed of at least 14 - is this a quartering issue or is it decoder CV settings? I am assuming it is either the added weight bringing out an inherent fault in the lightweight nature of the coupling rods or somehow I have managed to get something in the wrong place when stuffing all the electronics up into the boiler recess. Remove the body and all is OK again.

 

Have visually tested where all the bits and pieces sit when the body is added and nothing appears to be touching or shorting other bits etc. I get no error messages on my PA2 handset.

 

Thoughts?

[smokebox]

Hornby's instructions for DCC conversion are flawed. Don't wrap ANY decoder in tape (it can cause overheating) and, in this case, remove ALL the capacitors (can result in poor running). Instead of wrapping the decoder in tape simply apply a layer of insulating tape to any metal parts that the decoder could come into contact with. Kapton tape is sometimes recommended because it doesn't become gooey after a period of time.

[artizen]

OK - the TCS came already wrapped in red shrink wrap. The capacitor can be simply cut off if it makes the loco run betterer.

 

I will try ASAP. After I have got Mother's Day material out of the way. (Unfortunately I am paid to work occasionally.)

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

I have to say, the DCC chip made the running qualities remarkably better than the original DC setup which makes the chassis a bit of a bargain for bodging. I did this jobbie after chipping my Bachmann 08 diesevil and at speed 255 the 08 runs so slowly it's almost embarrasing!