Mid-Cornwall Lines - 1950s Western Region in 00

[Tim Dubya]

5 minutes ago, NHY 581 said:

 

You wouldn't want to say that too loudly in certain situations.........just saying.....

 

 

 

Fortunately (?) my reputation precedes me... they have already been warned at least once...

[St Enodoc]

11 hours ago, NHY 581 said:

 

Or to put it another way....

 

 

Polperran Perfectly Prepared Point Panel Prop Prevents P!ss Poor Propping.

 

Rob

 

Not bad. You could have got Plywood in as well for a full house. Better luck next time.

[Nick C]

19 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Not bad. You could have got Plywood in as well for a full house. Better luck next time.

Polperran Perfectly Prepared Plywood Point Panel Prop Prevents P!ss Poor Plywood Point Panel Propping?

[John Besley]

On 17/02/2024 at 11:29, ian said:

Proper job there. Having its own, labelled prop is a master stroke - and the wiring documentation squirrelled away inside too. 👍

 

I wish a few sites I deal with had the same forethought.... distribution boards with nothing labelled up... ' Oh you'll have to work it out yourself' 'the maintenance guy knows - but he's on holiday' .... ' so it's OK to turn everything off bit by bit to find the circuit I want to isolate is it? - NO IT ISNT'....

 

You could write a book about it

[Keith Addenbrooke]

3 hours ago, Nick C said:

Polperran Perfectly Prepared Plywood Point Panel Prop Prevents P!ss Poor Plywood Point Panel Propping?

Probably

[St Enodoc]

5 hours ago, Nick C said:

Polperran Perfectly Prepared Plywood Point Panel Prop Prevents P!ss Poor Plywood Point Panel Propping?

Good effort!

 

However...

 

The panel itself is MDF - so your second Plywood fails. Sorry!

1 hour ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:

Probably

See above...

[KeithMacdonald]

5 hours ago, Nick C said:

Polperran Perfectly Prepared Plywood Point Panel Prop Prevents P!ss Poor Plywood Point Panel Propping?

 

Plus..

Prior preparation of primer paint and proper planning of procedures and processes prevents piss-poor performance.

Probably and proverbially.

[St Enodoc]

Premeditated playful prolixity precludes prizewinning.

[NHY 581]

6 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Premeditated playful prolixity precludes prizewinning.

 

Thank you, Leonard Sachs...................

[St Enodoc]

A few weeks ago I bought a couple of decoders for the two second-hand Granges. I had a bit of spare time today, so decided to fit them.

 

The first went into the later model R3452, with the decoder socket in the tender, without any problems and the loco now operates nicely on DCC.

 

The second went into the earlier-style model R2548, with the decoder socket in the loco. This refuses to work at all. I don't think I've done anything differently but the decoder doesn't seem to be accepting any changes from Decoder Pro. I was a bit suspicious when it just sat there without the characteristic twitching during updating. Anyway, the upshot is that I think I'll take the decoder back to Mark at the shop. He might have a decoder tester or might just change the decoder for a new one if it's in stock.

 

The loco was/is fine on DC with just the blanking plate in place.

 

For the record, these are both ESU LokPilot 5 DCC decoders with 8-pin plugs (model 59620).

 

All a bit frustrating and time-consuming, which stopped me getting any further with couplings, name- and numberplates and so on.

[kingmender]

I've got a similar problem with Llanfair Grange R2547. A month or so ago I wanted to change the speed CVs to speed match to other locos. Placing it on the programming track my Digitrax system told me no decoder detected. It runs ok, but won't accept any changes. So I put it to oneside and reprogrammed Hardwick Grange R2402 without issue. I've not been back to Llanfair to remove/replace the decoder but I was going to open the tender. Thanks for the tip that its in the loco, the brass wipers on the tender coupling should have been a clue.

Rodger

[Barry O]

5 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

A few weeks ago I bought a couple of decoders for the two second-hand Granges. I had a bit of spare time today, so decided to fit them.

 

The first went into the later model R3452, with the decoder socket in the tender, without any problems and the loco now operates nicely on DCC.

 

The second went into the earlier-style model R2548, with the decoder socket in the loco. This refuses to work at all. I don't think I've done anything differently but the decoder doesn't seem to be accepting any changes from Decoder Pro. I was a bit suspicious when it just sat there without the characteristic twitching during updating. Anyway, the upshot is that I think I'll take the decoder back to Mark at the shop. He might have a decoder tester or might just change the decoder for a new one if it's in stock.

 

The loco was/is fine on DC with just the blanking plate in place.

 

For the record, these are both ESU LokPilot 5 DCC decoders with 8-pin plugs (model 59620).

 

All a bit frustrating and time-consuming, which stopped me getting any further with couplings, name- and numberplates and so on.

What you need is... a Sprog.

If it isn't twiching try a factory rest but I would just take it back

Baz

[KeithMacdonald]

9 hours ago, NHY 581 said:

Thank you, Leonard Sachs...................

 

Ah yes, the archetypal sesquipedalian. IIRC, he had a lovely cottage at Notting Hill Gate.

[Chamby]

10 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

A few weeks ago I bought a couple of decoders for the two second-hand Granges. I had a bit of spare time today, so decided to fit them.

 

The first went into the later model R3452, with the decoder socket in the tender, without any problems and the loco now operates nicely on DCC.

 

The second went into the earlier-style model R2548, with the decoder socket in the loco. This refuses to work at all. I don't think I've done anything differently but the decoder doesn't seem to be accepting any changes from Decoder Pro. I was a bit suspicious when it just sat there without the characteristic twitching during updating. Anyway, the upshot is that I think I'll take the decoder back to Mark at the shop. He might have a decoder tester or might just change the decoder for a new one if it's in stock.

 

The loco was/is fine on DC with just the blanking plate in place.

 

For the record, these are both ESU LokPilot 5 DCC decoders with 8-pin plugs (model 59620).

 

All a bit frustrating and time-consuming, which stopped me getting any further with couplings, name- and numberplates and so on.

Have a look at the underside of the socket, or test for shorts using a circuit tester.  One of my new Hornby locos had sloppy soldering hidden underneath that shorted across two of the sockets - it didn’t affect DC but DCC didn’t like it.   All eight of the sockets should be electrically separate from each other, if you are fitting a chip… 

[St Enodoc]

6 hours ago, Barry O said:

What you need is... a Sprog.

If it isn't twiching try a factory rest but I would just take it back

Baz

I do all my programming with a Sprog and Decoder Pro.

 

1 hour ago, Chamby said:

Have a look at the underside of the socket, or test for shorts using a circuit tester.  One of my new Hornby locos had sloppy soldering hidden underneath that shorted across two of the sockets - it didn’t affect DC but DCC didn’t like it.   All eight of the sockets should be electrically separate from each other, if you are fitting a chip… 

Yes, that's in line with my thoughts after I stopped faffing around yesterday. I'll try the "good" decoder in the "bad" loco and vice versa first, to see what happens.

 

Watch this space.

Edited February 19 by St Enodoc

[St Enodoc]

Interim update.

 

There is nothing wrong with either decoder. Both work fine in the R3452, which will become 6808. Good.

 

However, neither decoder works in the R2548 (6837). This loco works fine on DC with the blanking plate fitted.

 

After lunch I'll brave the rain and retrieve the multimeter from the railway room to check 6837's socket.

 

Isn't DCC fun?

 

Two hours later...

 

Good news. The meter revealed a short circuit between sockets 7 and 8. Once I'd attacked some rather ordinary-looking lumps of solder on the bottom of the socket board with a needle file, all was well and 6837 now works on DCC.

 

Thanks to Phil @Chamby for reminding me to check the socket!

 

Onwards and uppards!

Edited February 20 by St Enodoc

[St Enodoc]

In other news, I received an email overnight saying that 18100 is on its way south from Sheffield.

[Oldddudders]

10 hours ago, Chamby said:

Have a look at the underside of the socket, or test for shorts using a circuit tester.  One of my new Hornby locos had sloppy soldering hidden underneath that shorted across two of the sockets - it didn’t affect DC but DCC didn’t like it.   All eight of the sockets should be electrically separate from each other, if you are fitting a chip… 

I once bought a 4-8-4 which shorted the moment the tender hit the track. The loco alone seemed fine, but wouldn't do a lot as all the electrical gubbins were in the multi-wheel tender. It proved to be the socket under the loco cab where there was stray solder. Like St E, a bit of sawing and filing cleared it. 

[Chamby]

7 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

…

Good news. The meter revealed a short circuit between sockets 7 and 8. Once I'd attacked some rather ordinary-looking lumps of solder on the bottom of the socket board with a needle file, all was well and 6837 now works on DCC.…

 

 

1 hour ago, Oldddudders said:

I once bought a 4-8-4 which shorted the moment the tender hit the track. The loco alone seemed fine, but wouldn't do a lot as all the electrical gubbins were in the multi-wheel tender. It proved to be the socket under the loco cab where there was stray solder. Like St E, a bit of sawing and filing cleared it. 

Clearly we are not alone… it doesn't say much for the manufacturers quality control, it is a simple enough thing to check.

[St Enodoc]

53 minutes ago, Chamby said:

 

Clearly we are not alone… it doesn't say much for the manufacturers quality control, it is a simple enough thing to check.

I don't blame the manufacturer in this case. Bearing in mind that this was a second-hand loco purchased at Warley, I think a previous owner had had a go at the soldering for some reason - the lump in question was bigger and, well, lumpier than the others.

 

Anyway, all's well now.

[Clive Mortimore]

14 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Interim update.

 

There is nothing wrong with either decoder. Both work fine in the R3452, which will become 6808. Good.

 

However, neither decoder works in the R2548 (6837). This loco works fine on DC with the blanking plate fitted.

 

After lunch I'll brave the rain and retrieve the multimeter from the railway room to check 6837's socket.

 

Isn't DCC fun?

 

Two hours later...

 

Good news. The meter revealed a short circuit between sockets 7 and 8. Once I'd attacked some rather ordinary-looking lumps of solder on the bottom of the socket board with a needle file, all was well and 6837 now works on DCC.

 

Thanks to Phil @Chamby for reminding me to check the socket!

 

Onwards and uppards!

Have you ever considered investing in a solder sucker?

 

At A$6.95 it is a worthy investment.

 

I recently cleared some unsightly huge blobs of solder off the sides of some "borrowed" track form my local club using my one.

[woodenhead]

15 minutes ago, Clive Mortimore said:

Have you ever considered investing in a solder sucker?

 

At A$6.95 it is a worthy investment.

 

I recently cleared some unsightly huge blobs of solder off the sides of some "borrowed" track form my local club using my one.

Good that you mentioned the Australian version, if he'd bought one from the UK it would blow not suck.

[Oldddudders]

7 minutes ago, Clive Mortimore said:

Have you ever considered investing in a solder sucker?

 

At A$6.95 it is a worthy investment.

 

I recently cleared some unsightly huge blobs of solder off the sides of some "borrowed" track form my local club using my one.

Yes, they are useful. But in order to use it you must first heat the solder, and in the confines of a socket with narrow traces there is every risk of solder running between the traces and making it worse. 

[BWsTrains]

3 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

Yes, they are useful. But in order to use it you must first heat the solder, and in the confines of a socket with narrow traces there is every risk of solder running between the traces and making it worse. 

 

A friend of mine suggested using desoldering braid but I've never had that much joy myself. At least if you can melt the solder it "should" wick into the braid rather than spreading elsewhere.

[Tim Dubya]

1 hour ago, BWsTrains said:

 

A friend of mine suggested using desoldering braid...   ...At least if you can melt the solder it "should" wick into the braid rather than spreading elsewhere.

 

I've used it quite successfully but that wasn't on electronics.