class27

My Dapol 122 is a great looking model, when I ran it in on the rolling road I noticed 1 bogie was much more free running than the other, I took the lower axle covers off and cleaned out the thick gloop and oiled the mech. as Dapol suggest. This gave a marked improvement, so I left it at that and ordered a chip, speakers and Paul Chetter's latest sound file. The Running was not good at low speed, so a phone call to Digitrains gave some CV's to tweak which improved things, but has not cured it, so I decided to put it in the cradle upside down with the axle covers removed and see what's what. It is interesting to note that the slower bogie has an axle that walks from side to side at one end only, which would suggest a mesh issue and on thinking about it, it displays the same symptoms as a Heljan with a hairline crack in a gear, not enough to make it jerky, but pulsing at low speed and smoothing out with speed. I am going to call DCC supplies to see if they will send me an axle to substitute, if not they will be getting the whole thing back. I'll let you know how it goes............

Just for the record . Scotland had 2 power companies Scottish hydro for Perth North and Scottish power South of Perth not connected in any way. Hydro and Southern Electric merged years ago into SSE. The Gossip as I have heard it, is that SSE have haemorrhaged so much money in Smart metering that they have sold Metering off, they are still a generator and power distributor (no National grid in Scotland). I wonder what will happen to OVO in the next 5 years. It's the same old story, the idea is good, but the execution............ it's too complicated and long winded to explain here, basically they thought that by getting customers signed up that they would they would be too lazy to change, but that has not happened, there are a growing army of people only too willing to change supplier and all the meter changes are costing the companies millions, but it was what they wanted, one of the many reasons I left the industry at the first opportunity. They all deserve each other.

I am usually unpopular for saying this, but I do feel that you should resit your test every 5 years. I had to do this for my technical credentials to keep my certification at work. Most tend to look at me aghast that I've said it, but to be honest. If you really do not think you could pass your test again, should you be driving. I will now run for cover.................

Nigel. I think I've got it I didn't start with a powercab and upgrade. I bought a Procab from the start, so ultimately I should look into the software to give me better control of changes I may want to make as there is no way to make the procab work without the glitch Thanks for your help

Nigel I always program on the main with Zimo, but have used the program track with Loksound. The light brightness is adjusted on CV, 262 and 270 after first setting 31&32. This may be where the issue lies. Thanks for that info, I will sort the lighting cv's on the main and hopefully that will be that Best wishes

Ray That has worked!! Strange how everything was ok except F0 one direction only. It is now functioning correctly Thanks. I will have a look at JMRI/ DecoderPro it sounds interesting. I keep forgetting that My Procab program track works fine with my Loksound decoders. It won't work on the big Zimo decoders and I have to program on main. Paul Chetter told me about the anomaly with that, but has always had the answers to the few problems I have had. Thanks for your help Ray.

Yes I use an NCE procab and I have the list of functions. I have also reset the Lighting values just in case I had switched one off by accident. So I Set CV31=16 and CV 32=0 then set CV's 262 and 270 as at full (31) the driver would get a suntan they are both at 6 , but the FL terminal is not switching to earth and completing the circuit. The joys of buying secondhand I suppose.

Ray there is only one white led which does the headcode and has a small hole which allows it to double as a cab light. The Lights are on F0 and are directional. I have traced out the wiring and its all good. If I connect both to RL then both lights work with reverse selected, so it is definately one of the directional switches that has stopped working. I don't know if this can be checked by CV values or not. I normally use Paul Chetter's sound projects on Zimo, mainly because if there are any problems or something that is not quite right, he is great at telling you how to sort it out and you can't put a price on that.

Can you expand a bit on that for me please.

Ray Thanks for that, I will check it out. I have the Headcode/cab lights on FL and RL for directional lighting which is set low so that in daylight it's hardly noticeable, but looks quite good in low light / dark. the tails are switchable directional on F19 and all tails are on F20. Everything works fine except the one end white light. I'll check the multiple feeds for a break though.

HI Ray There are 2 tabs on the decoder FL and RL Which carry the earth paths from each end the power feed changes depending on which direction you select, but FL is completely dead like the switch in the decoder is not switching, if I bridge across I get both LEDs on RL and nothing on FL. Just wondered if there are any CV's I should check.

I bought a secondhand Heljan class 26 fitted with a Loksound L decoder and converted it to a class 27. I am looking for help with a fault on the decoder itself. I noticed that one of the headcode lamps was not switching with direction change. I did check this was all working correctly when I converted the loco and had the sound chip reblown , so I know it was all ok then. After a bit of chasing I have found that there is no voltage present on the FL terminal on the decoder. The voltage appears and disappears on the RL terminal, with direction change. I have checked the lighting CV's just in case I had switched them off on one end only when dimming them but there is no voltage even with the lighting set at maximum. Can anyone suggest a next course of action please. every other function is working as it should be.

Now that's interesting. I did have a 122 sound fitted on order which was faulty, so I have cancelled that and gone for a DC version reasoning I would do the soundfit myself. I personally prefer Paul Chetter's soundprojects and the F2 brake is invaluable. I think I am glad I changed my mind. I have an order in for my 47 sound decoder at digitrans, so will speak to them after the holidays about the new 121/122 sound project. Glad I waited now.

There is a fix for the lights shown on Digitrains website, this does involve wielding a soldering iron. This was in conjunction with their own Zimo sound project. Hal Nail was being funny as it's never great being reminded how nice it is somewhere, when you are somewhere else, which is Wet and Cold. Health and Happiness to all for 2022

The gears are all 0.5 module 14T and 18T are common to the fault. RS components keep some.

I have had all the same issues with my Heljan Hymek and 26's. I have been a cheapskate and used gears from RS to effect repairs, but the primary drive gears are 2 seperate gears and both can fail, so I have had to do repeat repairs, which is annoying more than anything else. One of my 26's had failed again (whilst resting) so I decided to try the newer style replacements through Gaugemaster. The gear is now a one piece moulding and runs on a smooth axle (no serrations to cause the stress raiser) It looks a bit Heath Robinson flapping about on the smooth axle, but works well. It is a pretty good solution to a complex problem and not too expensive compared to brass alternatives, which to be fair, are the proper engineered solution. My little shunting plank will not tax the driveline. If you follow Heaton Lodge Junction you will have seen that several kit built loco's drivelines did not stand up to the punishment of being on Britiains biggest model railway, whereas the RTR stuff copes much better. I have managed to get a couple of pictures of cracks propagating through the plastic which is interesting, so here goes. This pic shows a failed 14t gear which has opened and is causing jerky running. The next one shows a crack that is nearly all the way through, but not quite. The last one shows a crack that is all the way through ,but not opened as it was one I replaced the 14T gear on and had filed the peaks off the serrations and refitted the original 18T gear, but the damage was done and it has still cracked. Sorry the pics are not wonderful, but it's a cheap phone.

Enjoy your break!! Merry Christmas. Hopefully lots more people will see it next year. Best Wishes Steve

There seems to be an issue with the sound fitted models. My retailer e-mailed to say they tested mine before dispatch and it was dragging on one bogie, so they have sent it back. Why did the soundfits take so long? Is this why there seem to be running issues on DCC rather than DC. I have asked for a refund. Disappointed, yes, Dapol don't seem to have done well with this, although I accept it is not all their fault

Compliments of the season to all here.

Brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enjoyed the piece on the Hornby programme on TV the other night. Did have a mounting sense of dread as the resin started smoking!!!!!!!!! Thought you managed to remain calm very well, don't know how many takes there were though......

Update on Tower's site. Dapol now have them and they should be available SOON!!!!

This is only for very large users. Large users used to have a choice of Firm or interuptable contracts, but now they are all interuptable and most large users have a plan B (dual fuel burner heads is the most popular) I used to visit these sites as part of my day job and it was very sad to see that over the last few years before I left, that I was down to one industrial (Michelin) and even that has now gone forever.

If you get nowhere with this, you should be able to get the meter sent for official test. This is carried out independently from the supplier. You will have to pay for the test, but if the meter is indeed faulty you will be refunded. I worked in the industry for over 35 years and this was always an option for end users/ customers.

Just checked on Andy' thread and saw the news. The new gears appear to be free turning on the shaft no serrations to cause stress raisers.