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Facts: 1. The multiplier is not an NMRA standard, just a recommendation. 2. Is it really that "tricky" to only multiply two (!) Values by 3.6 to get the same results? Don't believe. 3. The real problem is with most of the Zimo decoders, because the acceleration / deceleration curve (not the speed curve) differs from all other manufacturers. Zimo sorted that with the latest MS decoder series, but other Zimo decoders still have this Zimo-specific curve incompatible with other brands.

Sometimes I feel ripped off on this forum.

Let's calculate: (on the safe side) U booster = 20 V R = 50 ohms (example) U / R = I = 20/50 = 0.4 amps P = U x I = 20 x 0.4 = 8 watts short-term possible resistor overload factor: 5 to 8 8 watts / 5 = 1.6 watts ===>> resistor 47 ohms / 2 watts Just as a try (do not try to operate your layout with that): install a fat resistor between booster and layout, (let it hang in free air or rest on a surface that can neither melt nor burn) switch on the booster see if the booster goes off or not (if the resistor becomes hot, switch off) When you found a suitable Resistor: Take a push button switch that is normally closed. Connect it in parallel with the resistor. (The switch must be able to withstand the entire booster current at all times.) Press the switch button, turn on the booster, release the switch button (somehow that reminds me of starting a very old truck).

Modern boosters have 2 types of protection: 1. If the current exceeds the nominal value, it switches off (overload protection). 2. If the current suddenly increases within a very short time, it also switches off (short-circuit protection, called dI / dt switch-off). This happens even if the current does not reach the maximum value! Variant 2 is always important when a short occurs at a distant point in the layout and the resistances in the wiring and / or in the track (insufficient track bus) are so high that the rated current is not exceeded because a current of 4.9 A can sometimes make the loco pickups unusable. Unfortunately, at the very first moment of power-up, capacitors cause something similar to a short with current only limited by the resistances in the layout, wiring and decoders. One solution is to have the capacitors charged in groups one after the other, as has been suggested. Or you can use a soft start device. In the simplest case, this is a resistor between booster and layout that is bridged shortly after the booster is switched on.

Interestingly enough, Hattons is selling some faulty A2's as preowned for £ 150. This should be a reference if you received a faulty model from your retailer and ask for a discount instead of sending it back.

https://www.amazon.com/LANCOSC-Magnifying-5-Diopter-Adjustable-Work-2-25X/dp/B07YZQDVKK/ref=sr_1_6?crid=2YCF5X7Y90OOP&dchild=1&keywords=magnifying+lamp&qid=1616747783&sprefix=magnify%2Caps%2C250&sr=8-6 Just as a little hint. I use something like that and it makes the job a lot easier.

Hi Mark, it is not a split chassis but a live chassis means the whole chassis is electrically connected to one side of the track. Having any parts (Seuthe smoke generator or lighting) connected to the chassis might cause problems. The motor contacts always MUST be insulated from the chassis.

This is what the Zimo manual says, should be the same for other decoders: "Unfit or defective motors (e.g. shorted windings or commutator) are not always recognized by their high current consumption, because these are often just short current spikes. So, they can lead to decoder damage including damage to power amplifiers due to long-term exposure."

Did I understand correctly that you are using 2 separate power sources? One for track, one for the frogs? Is it possible that one of them is set to around 11.6 volts and the other is set to around 15.1 volts? AND that the frog polarity is wrong? If yes you should connect both frog and track to the same bus and change frog polarity.

Calculation example with 100 ohms resistor and low ESR: 95 % charging is after 3 x R x C = 3 x 100 ohms x 0.2 F = 60 seconds. (63 % after 1 x R x C = 20 sec., 99 % after 5 x R x C = 100 sec.) With high ESR of example 50 ohms R would be 150, so charging time is 90 / 30 / 150 sec. .

It all depends on type and voltage of caps and on resistor value. What are the specs for the components you used? How many caps? Example 5.5 V caps are not meant for high power output (due to high inner resistance, called ESR as Nigel already mentioned). Also, a resistor with a high value leads to a long charging time for the super cap (up to a minute or so). Max. ESR should be on the order of approximately 1 to 5 ohms.

Due to the crossing and the single connection track at the top it should not be possible to run more than one train through the loops at a time. So both loops can be connected by the crossing without problems and just one module is needed. Even a locomotive or a short train sitting inside of one of the loops waiting until the other train passes would not change anything.

Type in '6R8' on Google and you'll find many similar components. 6R8 means 6.8µH which makes sense at this position on an analogue circuit board. You have measured a resistance of nearly 0 ohms For me it is 99% clear that you have to remove the PCB.

In this case it is either - unusual wiring of the headlamps - tricky mapping - secondary function output setting was used ((CV31=16,CV32=0) CV422,CV430) I find it too risky to do something seriously wrong under these circumstances. You should ask the person/shop you bought the loco from.

Lets assume that the wiring was done done in the usual way which means front lights are connected to 'front light' output and rear lights are connected to 'rear light' output. To change brightness you first have to tell the decoder that you want to change something on the output settings by writing (before doing anything else !!!) CV 31 = 16, CV 32 = 0. Then read CV 262 and CV 270 as these are the brightness values for front and rear light. Maximum value is 31 so decrease these values according to your needs and rewrite them.

Is it possible to swap the DCC output polarity directly at the Elite? This device is known for sometimes having asymmetrical signal output. It is also strange that other Loksounds behave ok. Can you swap decoders with one of these locos? Loksounds sometimes have problems to detect asymmetrical ABC signal if - track voltage is too low (which can happen if load on the Elite is high) - DCC signal itself is already asymmetrical. Asymmetrical signal can be caused by - weak DCC amplifier (which the Elite is), and - asymmetrical load in the locomotive if example one of the lights is not connected to U+ (blue) but instead to chassis or so. EDIT: you mentioned block decoders. Sometimes there can be interference between detector and ABC.

In the ESU forum it was reported that track voltage below 15 V may cause issues. Also asymmetrical connection of lights (example split chassis) is a problem.

Hi Achim why don't you simply set the volume CV (I think it should be (CV31=16, CV32=1) CV259) to a higher value ? CV 419 is volume slot 21 so seems to be a secondary drive sound. BTW: why don't you download the free LokProgrammer software? With that it took me 15 seconds to find out what these 2 CVs are doing.

If the loco has a built-in flicker device that flickers with DC and you add a decoder with the output also set to flicker, this can lead to brightness problems.

Thats because you try to switch off the advanced speed curve setting in order to get back to the old fashioned speed curve with CV6. This is not possible on the Loksound V5 multiprotocol decoder.

You can use DCC and DC at the same time, as long as you follow a few key points: 1. There must only be one common rail. There must be no change from right to left rail as a common rail. 2. There must be 2 separate electrical circuits. There must also be 2 separate power supplies. 3. The power supply units must be galvanically separated from each other. This means that at least one of them must have an isolating transformer (the old coil types) and a bridge rectifier. Under no circumstances 2 switching power supplies (laptop type) can be used. 4. All frogs that do not touch the common rail only, must be completely isolated and supplied with the appropriate voltages when throwing the point. This is likely to become the biggest problem because when crossing an uncorrectly set point the two voltages can connect which can cause severe damage to DCC components.

Sugar cubes usually have an impedance of 8 ohms. Assuming this the following results: V4: 2 in parallel. V5: 3 in parallel. More than 2 in series lead to only measurable, but inaudible distortion. More than 4 series can lead to audible distortion for "sensitive listeners".

No wonder, since 2007 . . .

Open the software, go to 'Decoder, Driving Characteristics', scroll down, the time will be displayed directly.

Activate the delay time by switching on CV 124 bit 2 (value 4). Define the delay time with CV 252 where value 1 means 65.5 milliseconds so that value 15 is approximately one second. The Lokpilot does not recognize a cold start so you have to wait until the sound is definitely in normal idle after the cold start. This can take some time depending on the project. Differences depend on the length of the individual files of the idle sound. The maximum difference is the length of a single file where good projects contain short and bad projects contain longer files (up to 2 seconds). Edit: sorry, i forgot that you have to map this "virtual drive sound" to an Fkey. preferably F1 which means CV31 = 16, CV32 = 8 ---------------------- CV295 = 1