Heavyhaul

Try the Loksound 4 auto tune feature - you'll need at least 4-6ft of clear track - ensure you know which direction the loco is set to travel, then set CV54 = 0 press F1 the loco will shoot off at speed and then stop on it's own, this should help improve slow speed running. It's always worthwhile running-in a new loco in both directions, preferably on DC, only fitting DCC once happy with its running qualities.

 

HTH 

Ken

Yes, I did this to mine and what a difference, very smooth all the way through now.

Pete.

Just had my 141 back from Lee,blueeighties on here,

WOW!!!!

What a transformation I had it weathered while it was in the North East but the quality in running since the pick up mods have been done is amazing.

I cannot get it to stall anywhere on my layout even at speed step 3 it just crawls around without a problem.

Lee have you fitted slow speed control or something as the 40's did not have them!!!!! :wink:

 

I've also just received D211 from Hattons & that seems to be a lot better runner than 141 it will loose sound on bad track (occasionally) but the radon stalling has not been a problem with this model (fingers crossed the problem does not return when muck gets in the pickups).

 

In due course it will end up in the North East for the mod & dirtying up...

 

Steve,

My D211 also shot off at speed when I first put it on my track with the horn sounding, I put this down to Bachmann testing it before it left them and just taking it off the track without letting loco spool down like we would normally do.

I did notice a slight stutter at slow speed which I stopped by that black art of setting CV54 to 0 (I think) then pressing F1 and watching the loco shoot off and sort its own motor control out. I Googled this and found it on here but best check first as not all chips are the same.

 

Two other slight problems I had, was the headlights would only work in one direction but tailamps were ok, I slackened the screws off at that end of the loco and it seems to work fine since.

Also I cannot fit a blanking headcode disc over the middle lower led as there is no hole to push disc into. Has anyone else had this problem?

 

cheers

 

Stu

Stu,

Mine had the blank middle lower holes also, it appears to be just 'casting flash'. I Poked a 0.5mm drill in a pin vice into the holes very carefully and the flashing pushed out thus allowing the fitting of the discs.

Hope this helps,

Pete.

I have just completed a few hours' cleaning out some residual pink grease and any other grease in both bogies of D211. If it is useful, the process used is below. Try not to wince when you read my description of materials used!

 

I do anything with locos in a large deep wooden tray about 14 x 18 inches, and 2 inches deep. (Raid the kitchen or cut a piece of ply and fit a 2x1 softwood surround). Nothing escapes or slides off it. Screws are put on a piece of sellotape stuck to the side of the tray.

 

Remove the 8 body screws. For replacing later, note that the main fan on the roof is at the end nearest the white "DCC Sound" label on the underside of the fuel tank.

 

Put the loco on a table and remove the top pivot screw to the bogie. When you lift up the main bulk of the loco the released bogie will remain, complete with its carden drive shaft which simply comes away from the the flywheel. Put all the main bulk of the loco to one side.

 

Turning to the released bogie, unscrew the front pony wheel and its sprung plate. Note how the sprung plate fits (there is a right way up, but you can always confirm in your mind by looking at the other bogie when you do the rebuild).

Then unclip the bogie detailed outer moulding from the main bogie structure.

 

Pop out the wheels sets. The first popping of an axle is a bit eye-watering, but having done one carefully, you will be confident enough to see that it's not difficult. Once everything is down to component items, it is ready to set about the clean up. My cleaning agents (believe me, they worked) were an eggcup with some malt vinegar, and another into which I sprayed some Cillit Bang "Power Clean Grease and Sparkle" (purple bottle) kitchen cleaner (The label says don't use it on wood, and a test on plastic proved all was well - after all, it comes in a plastic bottle). 

 

I then used a small modelling paintbrush to apply the Cillit Bang all over the gear sets (Note: Once the wheels are out you are left with 2 sub-sets of 3 small white plastic/polyurethane gears in the base of the bogie moulding. One set is gear-locked to the gearbox, but they can be turned for cleaning by revolving the carden shaft manually. The other sub-set of 3 gears are free turning once the wheels are out.). I then gently prodded and scraped variously with a cocktail stick, cotton buds and patted with a paper tissue to get off the worst of the excess. Make sure to get into the recesses of the teeth of the gears I then gave it a brushing over with Cillit Bang to dilute the remaining greasiness and repeated the prodding and patting. Next, another brushing over with vinegar and then, holding it in a paper tissue, I used an empty airbrush running at 65psi to blow out any stuff I couldn't get at under the gears. This residue was airbrushed into corners of the plastic moulding of the bogie and then, with a bit more vinegar brushed on, it helped to push the final bits into a tissue held up close to the area. This might take a bit of time if you do a couple of repeats, but as the worst of the grease goes, you can see what is grease and what is just the shine of the plastic moulding.   

 

The wheels were liberally brushed with Cillit Bang, sloshed with vinegar and then dealt with using the cocktail sticks, cotton buds and tissues. Once it looked grease-free, I rewashed it in vinegar and airbrushed it onto a tissue held on the inside of the wheel, and tucked under the gear. Then a final wipe over with a piece of tissue, and the wheels were done.

 

Once everything was degreased, the rebuild was straightforward. However, check the brass bearings on the (main wheel) wheelset axles. Two axles have bearings with a broad channel that sits on the bogie, and also a very narrow channel that takes the phosphor bronze pickup strip. The other wheel has only the broad channel for mounting on the bogie. This is the MIDDLE set of the three main wheels and does not pick up current. On the outer wheels you must make sure the pickup strip fits inside the narrow channel. All but one of my pickups fell into place automatically, but it was easy to lightly ease the other strip outwards a very tiny amount and then it all fell into place as the axle was push-fitted back onto the bogie moulding.

 

Once the first bogie was done and re-fitted, only then did the second one get removed to repeat the process.

Once done, the body fitted back on like a dream and the loco went on the track.

 

Does it work? Perfectly. At speedstep 1 of 128 it took 53 seconds to move 5 feet fault-free including crossing 4 points. There is no stuttering or hunting. A good indication of this is that a Bachmann coach, with the sprung extender couplings which they carry, doesn't judder along behind the loco. This is simply D211 out of the box, but now minus grease.

 

I hope this is of use. It was a very worthwhile exercise. If you do it, just take your time.

Very interesting procedure, but does this not invalidate the warranty?

I still have two of them

Andy,

I have a brand new one of these, is it possible to fit RP25 wheels to these?

Pete.

A few more photo's for the magazine but ended up not being used. Credit to Derek Shore & Railway Modeller

 

Alderford photo 8.jpg

 

Alderford photo 11.jpg

 

Alderford photo 15.jpg

 

Alderford photo 16.jpg

Hi Carl,

The layout looks great, can't wait to see it at Wigan.

Peter.

Well yes, hats off to Hattons - received mine this morning after yesterday's e-mail confirming despatch, and all at the pre-order price of £128...!

 

But, unboxed and onto the track and the noise started straight away... but a loud screeching, nothing a class 40 ever made....

 

A quick re-address of the chip, all quiet then the same screeching again...

 

Not wanting to risk serious damage, removed from the track...did I perhaps note a slight burning electrical smell as well ?

 

Anyway, will be sending it back - Before reboxing, I did take a look around the wheels, etc, no sign of white grease, but possibly light oiling - Has this already been 'remedied' yet it's still faulty...?

Hatton's also honoured my early pre-order price, very impressed.

A further  observation  on the  above  mentioned  'sound  stutter'   I tried  running  the  loco  very  slowly on speed  step 1  which  is VERY slow, to see what happened  when it  reached  the  point on the  gentle-ish curve  where the  stutter occurs,, nothing  happened  loco  continued  without  any  stutter   occuring, tried this  a few  times with  the  same  results,  BUT   then increased  speed to full  and  the  stutter  occured again,  its  a strange  one,  just  thinking  as  i  type  this  I will turn the  loco round  and  run  it  with  the other  cab  leading to see what happens!

 

Edited  later

further  to  this  post  see my  later  post  re  the  way  the connections to the  speaker is  set  up  by springy contacts in the  inside of the locos  roof,  this  may  have  a  bearing on   intermittent  sound  loss. 

Yes, I found the same thing with my Class 40, and turning it round cured the problem! Obviously a pick up problem as you suggest.

Incidentally, on first running the loco out of the box, it ran with a slight jerkiness which 'running in' did not cure. Tried the Loksound trick of setting CV54 to 0 then 1, loco ran off quickly for over a metre and, 'hey presto' now 'smooth as a baby's' ! The crazy top speed has been reduced also.