WIMorrison

Always a good idea when things don’t work as expected - and not just for mode railways 😉

Look at CV153 in Zimo manual 😉

How long have you set the CV on the train-o-matic to run the decoder for when power is lost (assuming that they have one)?

Have you actually measured this, it is not my experience when I place an ammeter is series 😉 Very trues, I have 2 x IP digitals that keep loosing their assigned address and I need to reprogram the addresses periodically - right pain in the backside because they are in awkward places to get to. They will be replaced by MTB MP1 motors when I feel like getting around to it.

John, I am very aware of this issue, however as I mention below I don't see the DCC speed as the issue, rather the converse. Yes, on almost all models, irrespective of scale. There are various reasons, none of which concern me because the DC scale speeds are ridiculously high and the needs tuning to bring the max speed down to a sensible, prototypical value. A common reason is that the DC voltage output by most controllers is around 16v, not the mythical 12v that everyone quotes. Another reason is the universal adoption of can motors which are stock items with very high rotational speeds, allied with incorrect gearing. The MS and MN versions of decoders allow for the DCC settings to be applied to the DC and that makes the speeds much more comparable between DC and DCC, however I generally switch this off because I use DC to clean the wheels whilst the loco is in a servicing cradle and I want the highest wheel speed possible for cleaning. The default track voltage for a Z21 is 18v to allow for the 1.5 to 2v lost due to the operational features of a decoder, (not the 4v suggested earlier) taking the default voltage to much the same as a DC controller, however if you have reduced the Z21 output voltage then this will also reduce the max speed. When you reduce CV57 you are simply reducing the apparent voltage presented to the motor. Another feature that will impact the performance under DCC are the back EMF setting that you have set because they cause the decoder to modify the apparent motor voltage. There is no back EMF control in DC, excepting for limit at max motor revolution and some motors produce little real back EMF therefore the motors will 'overspeed' under DC control. The bigger and more important issue is not why there is a difference in DC and DCC operation, but why the manufacturers create models that break the sound barrier on DC. They should be geared to create a semi-realistic max speed when at full DC voltage (perhaps the mythical 12v that everyone seems to believe exists), and not require CV57 reducing to very low values, often accompanied by reductions in CV5. A realistic DC top speed may also result in realistic operation by DC exhibition layouts where the max speed is often far above what the loco ever performed at - though the current preference for 'shunting planks' with trains running slower than real life has created the opposite problem.

yes Yes .. yes, but ... The other issue you are hitting with your suggested solution, apart from having to use the hand of God, is power - the size of layout you suggest will not be able to handle all the locos, rolling stock and accessories from a single power source, especially when you move to automation. Automation means multiple trains running simultaneously, which means more power being drawn and crucially more turnouts being changed, more often and often simultaneously to all for the multiple routes being run by different trains. The motors you are planning to use can draw 150-200mA when changing and 20mA when 'idling' which means that 36 motors add up to an amount of power that needs to be accounted for in the design. And if you are not planning automation then you don't need to bother with positional feedback of the motor, also remember the positional feedback is only that the motor has moved, not that the actual tie-bar and blades have moved. The flex in the turnout actuating lever (design feature) used on the Cobalt motors means that the motor can operate, but the blades don't me (ask me how I know that 😉). Trustworthy positional feedback needs to be operated from a switch directly connected to, or operated by, the tie-bar without any flexibility in operation. I have 64 turnouts, of which 26 have occupation feedback because the are all in hidden areas where I cannot see whether anything is on them, and none have positional feedback (not even the 24 Cobalt IP Digital). The only times positional feedback would have theoretically helped it would have been of no use because whilst the Cobalt motors had operated and completed their movement due to the flex in the operating lever, the turnout blades hadn't operated because some loose ballast prevented the blades closing fully - result in all the occasions that I recall was derailments. Conversely having occupation feedback on hidden turnouts has allowed me to see when a train has stalled on a turnout, or a train has split leaving some rolling stock on the turnout, preventing it from being changed - much more useful than knowing the position of a turnout motor.

I don't know what router you are using, but generally you will see it beside the SSID as the default password. Be careful that you are not using the Admin password which is used to manage the router 😉

Press shift+menu to get into the menu structure and simply select the SSID and enter the password

thank you - corrected in original post not yet, but keep an eye on https://www.dcctrainautomation.co.uk/search/for/MTB/ and you will see them when they are available - they are very good, quiet, slim and 2 x real SPDT microswitches iTrain does not need positional feedback for turnouts. Occupation feedback is more beneficial- but only where required.

what are you feeding back to?

One thing is a quirk of the DCC Cobalt Motors. if you are using a a separate bus to power the motors as I describe above then you can’t use the Frog output on the motors for the frog on the turnouts. You need to take the track feeds from the turnout to the SPDT switch that they have built in and take the frog output from the common of the SPDT switch. if you didn’t do this then the Cobalt will bridge the track and accessory busses 😒

I would advise you to consider a booster to power the track as this layout will have quite a few locos, and possibly coaching stock with lighting. You should then use the command station to power the accessory bus for turnouts, signals, lighting etc. This will ensure that you can always switch turnout when the inevitable short happens because you have over-run a turnout. There is a new MTB motor about to hit the market which will have a decoder built in and I would advice you to consider them because the price will be advantageous to you, they are quieter, and smaller 😉

All you should need to do is make sure that bit 2 of CV29 is set on. if you read the current CV29 value then use this link to work out what has been set (enter existing CV29 value in bottom box and press Backcalc to see what has been set. DCC CV29 Calculator (2mm.org.uk) If Bit 2 has not been checked, then check it and write the new CV29 value shown in the box back to CV29.

@ISW The 'mimic' will created in iTrain and look similar to this 😊

There is no difference between DCC switching or DC switching, plus the wiring is the same. You get exactly the same short circuit if wired incorrectly with both DC and DCC

I have just measured some decoder wire that is cut off during hard installation and it varies from 0.33mm OD to 0.75mm OD. With 0.5mm being the most common. What this shows is that there is no standard wire OD, and given the minuscule voltages and currents involved I can imagine that OEMs just use the cheapest they can lay their hands upon when ordering stock.

The MP10/MP5/MP6/MP4 all have two microswiches making them an ideal way to solve the issues presented by this design. There will also be another version soon that will have a decoder built in that will also have two microswitches 😀

ITrain will set the routes correctly through the turnouts without issue, however it won’t to the wiring for you 😀

You could get away with sharing two addresses if you simply made it two distinct crossovers, rather than two crossovers complicated by a three way turnout. that would spoil the symmetry but be much easier to manage and wire.

What’s wrong with Amazon? Cheaper than DCC Concepts (mind you that isn’t hard 😀) and delivery tomorrow Fermerry 30 AWG Electrical Wire 0.05mm² Flexible Silicone Tinned Copper Wire Hook up Kit Stranded Wire Spool 25ft Each 6 Colors Gauge https://amzn.eu/d/acxiNxA

Sven van der Hart has some very useful coreless motor settings on his website. I know that they work as I have re-motored several locos using his motors and I only use Zimo decoders and his comprehensive set of CV. Digital (tramfabriek.co.uk) I would recommend that you start with these settings and perhaps modify for your specific loco.

No one can view your eBay purchase history because we would need your username and password to view it. You are welcome to look at this link and look at what I have purchased https://www.ebay.com.au/mye/myebay/purchase However you won't be able to because you don't know my username or password, nor do you have my phone 🤣 You might also note that the link is exactly the same as the one you posted.

You can use the so called ‘decoder wire’ throughout for all the functions coming from the decoder.

One of these will make it really easy to trace everything Plux Adapter Boards

Chances are that the Bachmann decoder is actually a Zimo decoder 😉