bigal10

Hi Shroomy, I have had one for a while now, but not actually installed as yet! Had a good play about on the workbench and "it does exactly what it says on the tin" I run on an ESU ECoS 50200, and you have to put a resistor across a couple of contacts on the lighting strip, as per the instruction sheet/manual, but it has a very varied and interesting set of settings via CV's You can do things like 'failing bulbs' or neon tube flickering starts. Regards, Alan.

Hi Mick, You don’t say whose decoder you are using. My Bachy 20 is driven by a 21 pin Zimo MX644D. Now, these have the ability to use Zimo’s own (massive storage, very small physical size) 6800uF storage capacitor with no extra electronics, as the circuitry is built into the decoder. That easily fits into the nose behind the radiator, or in the cab. Problem then is, where and what size speaker...... Decisions, decisions...... The loco won’t do Paul Chetter’s amazing “off roading” (that does need a lot of tantalums) but will certainly run much smoother, and glide over points and dirty track. Regards, Alan.

I don’t think so, Albie, Charley and Bif are at great pains to tell users that the cones need quite a bit of space to move! I had to Dremel quite a bit out of my Hornby 31 to make it work, but well worth the effort Alan.

Like I did with my Heljan 26, a few photos, even of the part-finished project, would be most welcome Albie. Regards, Alan.

As promised, photo of my 'slightly' modified Heljan 26, with Zimo Plux22 ADAPLU, and Zimo MX645P22 plugged therein.. Hopefully one can see also a Zimo SC68 capacitor on the right, and a YouChoos larger sugar cube speaker on the left. There is also one of Charlie Petty's replacement fuel tanks, containing one of his excellent bass enhanced speakers, unfortunately out of sight in the picture, but I can assure everyone that sound generated is pretty good! All the lighting has been converted to SMD LED, some with SMD resistors, and some with standard resistors, as can be seen. I have also got cab lighting, (the very thin wires blue-tacked under the roof), which as mentioned earlier, thanks to Pauliebanger's tweeks of the decoder, are directional, and auto extinguish on moving off. Next job maybe to power that roof fan..... I think the combined Plux22 components are very effective, and a lot smaller than the original Heljan kit. By the way, the Zimo Plux 22 adapter has built-in gizmos that allow much larger capacitors to be connected, hence my loco just goes on forever! Regards, Alan.

Cheers John, Well, I had assumed option 3 at the time, but you know how it is, once you've started, and it all seems ok, you carry on, until.... Ping ! Alan.

Hi Folks, Anyone had this problem? I was using the Dapol Track Cleaner in Vacuum mode to suck up loose ballast, ( - which I had test-placed to see how it looked ) prior to painting the rails, when there was a 'ping' and a piece of one of the impeller blades broke off and ended up in the collection bin, along with the ballast. (It does a good job of vacuuming the ballast !) So, is it possible to replace the impeller / fan / sucker-upper ? - does the impeller pull off the motor shaft? - Do Dapol sell replacement parts ? - (no mention of such on their website) Obviously, I could glue the stray piece back on, but it would be a bit fiddly with the impeller in situ. Any advice gratefully received, Regards, Alan.

Hi Ken, 45 x 15 x 4mm Have a look on Dcctrainautomation.co.uk Look for the Zimo ADAPLU, which takes the 22 pin version, NOT the ADAPLUS which is for US Locos. Currently they show as out of stock, but I've had a few from them, and I'm sure Vienna is over it's summer holidays Edit : CoastalDCC are showing them in stock today, sun 15/10/17 Regards, Alan.

Whilst I don't want to steer this topic in a different direction..... Looking at Ken's lovely photos of his Heljan 26, in post 20/21, I have also tried the Vero Board approach in the past, then a chance comment from Pauliebanger sent me down a different path, and I've now used this method in several of my Locos, - Heljan, Bachmann, and Hornby. Using Zimo MX645P22 decoders matched to Zimo's Plux22 motherboard, gives the user a massive amount of user options, plus, (if your eyesight can stand the extreme sport mentality of tiny soldering!) a lot of extra space inside the loco for those all important decent speakers, and stayalive capacitors! The Zimo Plux22 adapter board is very slim and fairly short, and has loads of solder tabs for anything you can think of, so, if like me, you like auto-fading cab lights, there's an answer! Photos can be supplied if required, Regards, Alan.

Chaz, I'll bet next month's pension that you don't stick to sugar cubes for very long. Nothing wrong with them, in the right place, - thanks to PaulieBanger for suggesting 2 in my Heljan Class 17 Clayton, one in each nose! There is an ever increasing range and variety of speakers coming onto the market, just look on these pages for comments on Charlie Petty's amazing EarthMoovers, or better yet, go to an exhibition or Model Rail show, and listen to a selection 'in the flesh' Zimo's Dumbo range are a next-generation development of sugar cubes, using the same electrostatic drivers (early mobile phone speakers) but combined with 3D printed enclosures / sound chambers. Alan.

Wow! Some interesting replies! I strongly dislike 'Ghost' vehicles of any type, so would always want to put some people in ! I followed 'SR Man's suggestions and centre-punched the poles (metal, not people from the country ) and it worked well. I was surprised to find that said poles are attached to the roof, so taking SR Man's advice, decided to snip them off, which left some 10mm or so, dangling, so a bit of Matt black paint made them more or less disappear. Also surprised to see that the upper deck seating is a 4 seat bench for each row, with a right-hand, low passageway, just like the Ribble 'White Ladies' that I fondly remember from my youth. I used travel from home in Middleton near Manchester to either my Uncle & Aunt in Accrington, or to Blackpool, on holiday. I've would pay good money for a 'White Lady' model in 00 scale, which completely flies in the face of my rules for not paying the ridiculous prices that some sellers now think are appropriate ! Cheers, Alan.

Hi Folks, Can anyone advise me how to take the roof and top deck off on a n EFE Leyland Titan (Todmorden Joint Omnibus) Don't worry, I'm not a Bus Dismantler, or wrecker (hopefully). I just want to put a driver, conductor, and some passengers inside. My Bus has two poles internally, each of which seem to be held in the chassis/floor by a plastic disk with the EFE logo on. The disks will rotate with a little help from a screwdriver, but they're obviously not threaded, as no movement occurs to the poles. No matter how I prise with said small screwdriver, the disks refuse to budge. I don't want to damage any of the model, (other than whatever holds the bus together) The bus obviously is made in separate pieces, as there is a gap between lower and upper decks, if you pull hard, but so far I've not managed to get the top deck off! Any advice gratefully received, Alan. BURY Greater Manchester

Just a thought, If it was one of Charlie's Earthmovers that made the Lochnagar Crater in The Somme, then that was one hell of a bang !! I defy anyone to stand on the edge of the crater, and not go weak at the knees, I also defy anyone to stand in front of Charlie's exhibition stand, and not go a bit weak at the knees, also! Alan..

Has anyone, (who speaks English like a native, oops, sorry) had any dealings with this item ? I'm a Zimo loco decoder fan, and quite fancy trying one of these... A few questions come to mind, the answers to which are not obvious by merely trawling through Zimo's website... Q1. Do they operate ok with the likes of cheap and cheerful £1.50 white digital or analog servos from HobbyKing, or do you need really expensive ones? ie: I hate servos "twitching" while in hold, and being an ESU 50200 user, I can assure any unbelievers, that turning RailCom on and off all the time is a bit of a pain! Q2. Are they easy to program at a long distance from the controller? ie: can they be easily programmed in POM or do they have to be connected to Program Track? Q3. Whilst Rail Exclusive have told me they can supply them in the UK, they don't seem to actually stock them, so has anyone bought them online from any of the many Euro suppliers? Any info / advice gratefully received, Regards, Alan.

Just to add my thoughts, I'm going to get panned on this V4 based thread, but being a Zimo fan, and having read what Albie the Plumber said in post #4 that he would assume he'd remove the motherboard, and hardwire everything, some folks might find my approach interesting. I've done a few conversions using the Zimo ADAPLU board for Plux22 decoders, for Zimo MX645P 22-pin decoders. These adapter boards are far smaller than most OEM boards, and have enough connection pads for all but the most complex installs, (I like individual cab lights, and head and tail lights that are all separately controllable) Like everyone on here, can't wait for Charlie's EMs to start arriving! Alan.

50708 Warm White, or 50709 Yellow. Just wondering what other folks' thoughts are on these? Has anyone used them, are they successful? I'm adept at CV tweaking, and have downloaded the 2-page instruction sheet, and it looks like a useful add-on for non-lit coaches, And (say) older DMUs. (1970's Hornby 142 Pacer in GMPTE orange !) Assume one also needs 50707 Wheel Pickups and possibly 50706 Power pack. - Indeed I think I'd like to try a pack of Wheel Pickups for improving the odd 4-axle Loco with dodgy contacts! I would be grateful for any feedback, good or not-so-good! Regards, Alan

C'mon Tender, don't be a meany, let us all know what tweeks you applied to your Zimo (presume MX649N) decoder to get the DJM 14xx to behave at slow speeds ! I have a DJM J94 which also refuses to run from startup, and which I am about to either throw against the wall, or fit some kind of capacitor to, so would be interested in any suggested CV mods first! Cheers, Alan

Good man, Nick! A word or 2 about handling, if you haven't already taken ANY Heljan apart.... Be VERY careful taking the body shell off, otherwise you (me!) can flirt the exhaust pipes off, and/or break the delicate pipework and other fittings under the chassis. I found that inserting a few small loyalty cards (RAC or B&Q key fob types) at the points where the lugs are on the body, - there are small square slots in the chassis just behind the cab doors, helps with prising the body off. Start with the cab away from the exhausts, and rotate the body away from where the exhausts are! Oh, and by the way, Paul's excellent forum postings about Swiss Mapping have helped me with such things as mapping the cab lighting to an F key, having directional cab lights, and auto-extinguishing cab lights! And also soft on/off of headcode/tail lights on swapping ends! Magic! Good luck! Alan

And for those of us that prefer Zimo offerings, Pauliebanger does an excellent job, or via Digitrains. I've just picked up an absolute bargain of a second Heljan 128 from Hattons, (was in their new shop to buy a 17 Clayton, and spotted a few bargains in the display cabinet, and couldn't resist!) I find there's loads of room inside for speakers and stay-alives. I've used 2 x Zimo sugar cubes and it sounds great. A cube at each end black-tacked onto the side walls of the chassis opening, or the cream cover behind the cab. Now just waiting for Paul to complete his revised class 128 sounds, can't wait! Regards, Alan.

Whoops, sorry Shropie, the FA suffix didn't work either. The MXULFA still says 'Decoder not Found' at the end of the read/write of CV144 / CV29. I'm going to have to unwire (well actually I have made some plug/socket connectors, so unplug) the decoder, and connect it to the MXTAP / MXULFA . I'll let you know of progress. Yes, the updating of sounds from Paul is very straightforward, I've so far only done one, a Class 46 Peak. I made the mistake of doing it via the attached track, which Paul says takes a long time, but actually was done in about 20 minutes or so. Apparently that time drops significantly to about 2 minutes, if you do it by the SUSI connection. which means taking the decoder out of the loco, and placing it on MXTAP Not really a hassle, but I had just screwed the 46 back together when i started the update, so continued on the track. - I will try the SUSI route for the next update ! Regards, Alan.

Oddly, all my sound decoders DO have stay-alives, and HAVE updated OK.... If I don't get any further answers, I can resort to unwiring the 622, (there's no fixed body on the tram as yet, - a somewhat aged Tower Models Feltham is being prepared !) Ciao, Vecchio, Alan.

Hi Folks, Santa kindly delivered a shiny new Zimo MXULFA, with a bit of help from the elves at Digitrains! And, with even more help from Pauliebanger, I've got all 13 of my Zimo powered Diesels, and all 3 Steam locos now up to date with Zimo's latest decoder software, Ver 36.8 So now I'm starting on the adventure of upgrading all loco's to the newest sounds, courtesy of Paul, and some cash from me! But, I have a small problem with my only non-sound Zimo decoder, an MX622, hard-wired into a Halling Tram chassis. I am doing these updates using a spare length of track, connected to Schiene/Track out on MXULFA. I also have MXTAP, for which I will use SUSI connection for Sound Updates later. I have downloaded Zimo's latest software file from their website, DS161115.ZPP which contains DS161115.ZSU which, according to their website includes firmware for all their current decoders. I have the ZSU file in the root directory of a USB stick, and this has successfully upgraded all 16 sound decoders, however, I cannot get the MXULFA to do the same for the MX622... When I run the update routine by pressing button 1 on MXULFA, it does the read and write of CV144 and CV29, and then reports that no decoder exists! Which is odd, as the MXULFA can read the decoder, and tell me that it's current firmware is V31.14, I'm assuming I need different ZSU file on the USB stick? Or something else? Any help gratefully received, Regards, Alan, Confused, of Bury !

Actually you are dead right there, Bif, or more correctly Charlie, (hard to believe, he is from Yorkshire !) , have produced a mind-bending sound from their new range of 'Earth mover' speakers. I heard a brilliant demo of Bif / Steve Brammer's new sounds at Charlie's stand at the Wigan show, last weekend, and the dynamic range coming from their recent fleet of 00 gauge locos is just amazing! Highly recommend a visit to any show where the Legoman Trio (quartet?) are performing. Regards, Alan.

Why not buy proper sugar-cubes, from Charlie, Digitrains, or YouCoos, don't cost a fortune, and properly placed sound pretty good! And they'll be the right impedance! Oops, sorry you must be from Yorkshire! Alan.

Phew, was a bit worried, so I just checked, and my iPhone 6 with the latest update to IOS 10 still runs TouchPad perfectly well! Cheers, Alan.