Electric 85026 continuous flickering lights

[250BOB]

My pal has just fitted a sound decoder from DC Kits to his AC Electric model of 85026.
The lights are continually flickering, even when stabled with the sound still on.

He swapped the decoder with a class 25 sound, and the problem disappeared.

Anyone else experienced this sort of issue.??

Thanks......Bob

 

PS......if you pick up on this thread Charlie(DC Kits), your thoughts and comments would be welcome.

[legomanbiffo]

Bob,

 

If the lights are ok with the 25 chip then it's almost certainly down to the 85 chip. It might be worth trying the 85 chip in the 25 to see if the problem transfers?

 

The Lokound chip is capable of all manner of flashing light effects by changing the CV that controls them. The first thing to check is if the appropriate CV's are correct, they may have been corrupted. I'll check which CV's are involved and get back to you.

 

Have any CV's been changed, if so which ones?

 

Can the lights be turned on and off, and are the lights doing the same thing at both ends?

 

Have the lights always done this since the chip was installed?

 

If the chip turns out to be faulty we will of course replace it.

 

Bif

[250BOB]

Bob,

 

If the lights are ok with the 25 chip then it's almost certainly down to the 85 chip. It might be worth trying the 85 chip in the 25 to see if the problem transfers?

 

The Lokound chip is capable of all manner of flashing light effects by changing the CV that controls them. The first thing to check is if the appropriate CV's are correct, they may have been corrupted. I'll check which CV's are involved and get back to you.

 

Have any CV's been changed, if so which ones?

 

Can the lights be turned on and off, and are the lights doing the same thing at both ends?

 

Have the lights always done this since the chip was installed?

 

If the chip turns out to be faulty we will of course replace it.

 

Bif

Many thanks for your reply Bif.

 

I'll ask John the questions........he has bought quite a few of your decoders now through DC Kits.

 

I'll get back to you too.

 

Bob.

[corax67]

Just a thought to throw into the mix - might this bottom of the pins of the decoder plug be making contact with a bit of chassis??

 

I have a Heljan 14 that does exactly this with the lights if the decoder has been pushed in a smidgin too far.

[legomanbiffo]

That's a good point Karl, that is another possibility. I always put a layer of insulation tape under 21-pin chips in Bachmann locos (actually, in all locos, just as a precaution). Might be worth trying this Bob.

 

Bif

[250BOB]

Just a thought to throw into the mix - might this bottom of the pins of the decoder plug be making contact with a bit of chassis??

 

I have a Heljan 14 that does exactly this with the lights if the decoder has been pushed in a smidgin too far.

Thanks Karl.

I'll pass on your thoughts to my pal and he'll check out that possibility.

Your input very much appreciated.

Hope you are keeping well.

Bob

[Stevelewis]

Have  you  tried  a  factory  setting  re  set?

 

Usually  achieved  by   entering  value 8 in CV 8  but  check decoder specific   instructions  first

[250BOB]

Have  you  tried  a  factory  setting  re  set?

 

Usually  achieved  by   entering  value 8 in CV 8  but  check decoder specific   instructions  first

Hi Steve,

I thought I had in the back of my mind that you should never do a factory reset on a sound decoder...?????

Bob

[250BOB]

Hi Bif

Please see my pals email reply to your questions below.

 

Bob,

The answers !

The chip has done this since I installed it in Friday,it was the first thing I noticed !

The lights can be turned on/off & it is at both ends

None of the cv’s had been altered before I noticed the affect but only the usual CV 2,3,4,5,6 & 63 have been touched.

Note also your other e-mail & will try this out tonight with tape or thin plastic – I have puhed it on hard to make good contact & the PCB is moveable so this is a possibility but think it would also have happened with the 25 chip.

 

Thanks for your efforts on this BUT am guessing that knowing you,You are as interested in the answer as me !!

Have a good day tomorrow

 

John

[250BOB]

Bif

Good to see you briefly at the Peterborough show at the weekend

I have emailed you where we might better carry on this conversation.

Bob

[Dagworth]

Bif

Good to see you briefly at the Peterborough show at the weekend

I have emailed you where we might better carry on this conversation.

Bob

Can you let us know the final outcome and cause here please Bob? That's one of the huge benefits of this place, shared knowledge...

 

Andi

[250BOB]

Can you let us know the final outcome and cause here please Bob? That's one of the huge benefits of this place, shared knowledge...

 

Andi

Andi

Apologies for taking it to email, but my pal, whose decoder it is, doesn't do RMweb, and only uses email when at work. That way I can include him with the conversations with Bif.

I'll try and keep an update going on this thread, I appreciate the importance of knowledge sharing on here......me more than anyone.

Cheers Bob

[legomanbiffo]

Apologies for the slow response. I will email the following, but for the benefit of the group;

 

To check the lighting control CV's are as intended;

 

First set CV31 to 16 and CV32 to 0. This sets an index which determines what the CV's you are about to check / change actually do (in this case lighting). You must do this step first.

 

Then check the value of CV's 259 and 267. These control the operating mode of the front and rear lights (eg steady, flashing, strobing etc). Both should be set to 1 (steady). Change them to 1 if they are anything else.

 

Then check the value of CV's 262 and 270. These control the brightness of the front and rear lights. 85's only had low wattage tungsten bulbs so I set these to a low value of 2. Set these to whatever you like between 0 and 15.

 

Let us know how you get on.

 

Bif

[250BOB]

Apologies for the slow response. I will email the following, but for the benefit of the group;

 

To check the lighting control CV's are as intended;

 

First set CV31 to 16 and CV32 to 0. This sets an index which determines what the CV's you are about to check / change actually do (in this case lighting). You must do this step first.

 

Then check the value of CV's 259 and 267. These control the operating mode of the front and rear lights (eg steady, flashing, strobing etc). Both should be set to 1 (steady). Change them to 1 if they are anything else.

 

Then check the value of CV's 262 and 270. These control the brightness of the front and rear lights. 85's only had low wattage tungsten bulbs so I set these to a low value of 2. Set these to whatever you like between 0 and 15.

 

Let us know how you get on.

 

Bif

Thanks Bif

I'll speak with my pal John tomorrow....I'm visiting his layout on Friday, so we shall see how things have progressed.

Bob

[250BOB]

Hi Bif

Just returned home from my pals, where this evening we have checked and tried your various CV suggestions.

On seeing the flickering for myself , it was not half as bad as I had imagined, it was only slight, but random and quite fast.

When checked the brightness cv's 262 and 270, they were set at 2 as you said. We increased it to 5 and got a marginal improvement, then went up to 8, and it had all but disappeared. At 12 and 15, the flickering had gone.

I can only describe it as if you had a dimmer switch turned right down low, and the bulb was almost out.

All is well now, and John sends his thanks for all the help and advice you have given to help solve this problem.

Thanks Bob

[legomanbiffo]

Interesting. I use those settings in mine and I don't recall any flickering. I'll fire it up and have a close look when I get a minute. I'm glad you got it sorted anyway, happy to help.

 

Bif

[250BOB]

Interesting. I use those settings in mine and I don't recall any flickering. I'll fire it up and have a close look when I get a minute. I'm glad you got it sorted anyway, happy to help.

 

Bif

Hi Bif,

I think John was being very discerning about the flickering.........its not something I would have picked up on that quickly, but once he had noticed it, it was something he couldnt get out of his mind.

 

So dont go looking for something very obvious at first glance, it is extremely minor, and you have to look hard to see it..

 

Nevertheless....John is very happy to have it sorted....and is very happy indeed with your support and recommendations on the fix for the problem....you might say a very, very happy customer.

 

I know he is going to be shortly looking for sound decoders for his 2 x Class 20s, he wants one in each, and I know exactly where he is going to get them from.

 

I was very impressed with the AC Electric sound by the way....well done.

 

Bob.

[legomanbiffo]

No problem Bob (and John), all part of the service.

 

Bif