mikeg

I ran an O gauge layout with the same controller for several years and had no problems with power. The club I belong to also has a O gauge layout and that runs large locos also with plenty of power we have even had Heljan diesel locomotives running on both tracks pulling up to 12 coach trains no problems. So as others have said suck it and see. regards mike

I have just installed the zimo chip in a Hornby 700 class locomotive as soon as power is at speed step 1 in forward the loco shoots off at full speed , it’s fully controllable in reverse, I have removed the capacitor? anybody know what’s wrong? Regards mike

I have the Z21 system and using both ipad and mobile phone (£35) and for the £340 plus phone I find it a very good system, being able to use own photos of my locos selected on screen means I do not have to remember the DCC number. I have a PA2, Hornby E link and wireless + computer links for both systems used on layouts but the Z21 is the best in my opinion, As already stated it is best to try as many systems as you can and see which is best for you.

Thanks Andrew, I have never updated the Z21 app from the original so hope that I can copy it from my iPad mini. Mike

Can an old Ipad2 be used for operating a Z21? I currently use a lpad mini but would like to use the larger screen of the IPad2 but do not want to buy one if it’s not going to work, I’ve seen one at a reasonable price but need to know that it is compatible before buying. Thanks in advance for any help. Mike

Digitrains in Lincoln, they are the best in my opinion as a very satisfied customer for Paul’s sounds on Zimo decoders. regards mike

Ray, I used 15mm Hornby track pins pushed into the underlay then tapped in with a ‘toffee hammer’ so that they were just touching the sleepers but still allowing the sleepers to move. If you can’t get the Hornby pins then I would use 12mm panel pins but you have to counter sink the sleepers to allow for the head of the pins otherwise they tend to distort the sleepers as underlay will give if you hit the pins to hard. I use a 3mm machine centre drill to make holes in the sleepers and that makes the countersink as well you just need to be careful, I always use a handheld pin drill for this job as even a hand drill I found to be to heavy to control the depth of the countersink. Hope this makes how I do it clear. regards mike

Have a look in B&Q at the 5mm foam underlay for timber flooring it comes in 600mm sq interlocking sheets in packs of 10 for about £10 and is easy to cut with a craft knife, I used 50mm double sided carpet tape to fix it down. regards mike

I think that its because most of the people have now got reliable systems and have worked out how to use them, as I have been using DCC for nearly 25 years I very rarely have any problems but when I have I can nearly always get an answer from this forum in under 24 hours. Many thanks to those that take the time and trouble to answer any questions. Regards mike

I have used this method for O gauge and used it as pickups on coach bogies turning opposing ends and it works quite well. I didn’t take any wheels off, I just used telephone wire with the insulation striped off wrapped around the axles and then soldiered to a length of OO sleeper fixed to the bogie crossmember, a wire from each end connected to the lighting. I have also used this for tail lamps on guards-vans turning the axles round on one end, not very successful as the wheels get dirty quickly and the light goes out, and it only works on plastic chassis I tried it on a metal wagon and got a short, took me a long time to find it as I thought the wagon had plastic axle guards. We live and learn regards mike

The simple answer is yes, have a look on the decoder install section of this forum and you will find a lot of useful information. You have to select the right decoder for the current draw of the loco, many of the older locos need 1-1.5amp capacity and there are many to choose from. Have a look on Digitrains or Coastal DCC websites for the ranges available. Regards mike

Thanks Yardman, I will have a look at the Comet site. Regards mike

I have a Hornby MN loco that has badly damaged valve gear, neither Hornby or Peters Spares have replacement units, does any one make an etch that I can use to replace the existing. I tried to repair the existing but the crosshead casting casting broke and the pins in the drop links bent when I had repaired one side. The original problem was that the connecting rod joint with the crosshead had sheared off on both sides. As the crosshead and valve gear is unique to this loco in the Hornby range and I doubt if I could make it from scratch, I think I remember that someone made an etched kit that maybe I could use the valve gear to repair my loco. thanks in anticipation of an answer mike

Yes it’s best to remove the spring as it puts undesirable pressure on the motor and having watched the blades I could see them going very slowly then jumping over once in the centre. One of my points started to bounce back slightly and caused derailments of locos with fine flanges until I removed the spring. I found the easiest way to remove the springs is to cut them with sidecutters or pull them out with round nose pliers. regards mike

Nigel, you are right I had the zimo connected to the motor with the TTS only to the power for the sound but the TTS was not giving the loco chuffing sounds only the whistle etc so I thought it needed to be connected to the motor. I had installed one in a OO A4 for a friend and it was quite good so I thought I would put one in my O gauge A4, but as it has a large motor that draws about 1.5 amps I had put a zimo MX635 for the power and the TTS but could not program them hence my original question. Still as they say we live and learn, and I have not lost a lot, the A4 will stay silent as it runs well but it would have been nice to have had the sound. Regards mike

Well all seamed to be going OK until I tried to run the loco, then there was a buzz, a smell of burning and the controls showed a short and the TTS chip was dead. Unsoldered the TTS chip and the loco ran no damage to the zimo chip. The only thing I am not sure about is if the TTS chip had accepted the 4 digit address as I did not get any acknowledgement that it had but the sound was working. I think that the overload protection of the TTS was not able to cope with the shared loading of the motor which appeared to be 1.6amps below the 1.8amps of the zimo MX635. It was worth a try, but I think the loco will be left to run silently. regards mike

Thanks for the reply Nigel, I can follow your instructions quite easily and have the info for CV29 for both decoders so I will use the Z21 for the programming as that will be the easiest. regards mike

Nigel, thanks for the reply, will that work for Hornby TTS decoders, the other one is a Zimo which I know will work. I think I will need to use the Z21 as I think the gaugemaster will automatically change CV29 with long addressing as this has caused me problems in the past. Do I need to program the decoders separate from the loco or can both be wired in, as when I tried to change CV29, in the Zimo chip I got an error message on the Z21 which was in German so not sure what it said, but I think it was unable to read chip. The loco is an O gauge A4 with an old current hungry motor which I have used a zimo MX635 to cope with the amps so I thought that a Hornby TTS chip would be OK for the sound, which has been wired in with the supply only hence my original question. regards mike

Is it possible to have two chips with different numbers in one loco to be able to program separately and then consist with both the numbers of the chips ie say 44 + 88 so the consist would be 4488. regards mike

What scale is it, I have used a zimo chip in my O gauge one and that works well, the chip was one suitable for OO but the current draw is less than 0.7amps. Regards mike

Try using a voltage regulating extension lead to supply the command station, this worked for me with my Z21 which would change points at random, also set of locos with 20+ year old chips (lenz 1000's) our mains voltage has spikes which affect the TV and our central heating programmer, so I had an idea what was cousing the problems! regards mikeg

Mike try resetting them with a 9v battery I had two that did as yours and Richard at DCC concepts advised that they might need to be reset using the battery on the input as if using DC as per the manual (see their website) it worked on mine. Regards mike

Keith I would print some as it is very easy to do, I printed some for my class 35 using Word, you need to draw a box the size of the openings and fill it with black then using the right font in light yellow place the numbers you want in the centre then delete them you end up with a black rectangle with white numbers when printed. You may need to try several times before getting it right but easy to do and almost free. Regards mike

Adam, I have run Heljan two motor O gauge on a 1.5 amp multimuss without any problem, although my class 47 has two motors it only draws 1.2 amps and the 31 1.1 amps both are sound with the current measurements taken from a rametter unit so I would wait until you find your NCE needs more power before spending any money on a booster, as has been said the likes of a Dapol terrier draws 0.07 amps on my meter, with upto 5 locos all modern the meter rarely shows more than 1.75 amps being drawn. Regards mike

John, I think that it’s expensive for just one roller, I have a mustard set that cost £25 for a set of 3 but I am not sure if they are still available as M&M models have closed but they may be available from someone else now. DCC concepts do a set but not sure of the price, it has 10 rollers in the set so will take most types of loco. Hope this is of use Mike Green