jamesed

Does anyone know if there's a problem with West Hill Wagon Works? They aren't replying to emails and their phone just rings out. I am trying to chase up an order I placed before Christmas but haven't heard from them. UPDATE : My package was actually delivered this afternoon so they must be working. Perhaps just very busy catching up after Christmas. Strange that they couldn't be contacted.

Adrian, if you can provide the manufacturer and type of decoder fitted that will help. If it's a Next18 decoder that may be all the information we need. If not then please also provide the model loco name, gauge, manufacturer and part number if known. The answer to your question may be as simple as a few cv changes to re-map the function outputs, as Nigel has said. If not then one way or another it should be achievable and someone on here will probably be able to give you step by step instructions.

These threads about 'best dcc controller' come up every now and then and the outcome is always the same. Sooner or later it gets to the point where, for whatever reason, some people start to get defensive about their own choices whilst others become dismissive about other systems. It's quite understandable really because we all put a lot of thought into what will be best for ourselves so much so that we become convinced that what we chose is the best of all. In the end we don't really get anywhere in answering the original question but we do start to get an understanding of why some systems work best for some people. So just to add the reasoning for my choices . . . I use, like several others who have already posted, the Z21 (black) system and I'm extremely happy with that choice. Interestingly one of my biggest factors in choosing it was that I wanted to run a system from touch screen control and having a couple of 10" tablets permanently hooked up to it works really well for me. There are many who will say that they can't get on with touch screen slider throttle control but that isn't an issue for me. I do also have a wireless Multimaus which gives that rotary knob control (and very good that is too) but I find I hardly use it. However, I do get that many people, perhaps especially older users who have used rotary knobs to control their trains for many many years, can't come to terms with the idea of screen control so for anyone who feels that way don't immediately discount the Z21 because the Multimaus (wired or wireless) provides really good traditional rotary knob control. Other big plus points for me: The separate program track outputs on the Z21 make life very much easier, and safer. The ability to read and program CVs with such ease is ideal and the ability to update firmware on Zimo decoders is an added bonus. Never having to remember a dcc address is brilliant. Selecting locos from a photo and organising function buttons how you want them in any order and configured to work in any way is so simple. Being able to control all my points and other accessories from a touch screen mimic was a big plus point for me and one of the major selling points. This has proved to be even better than I anticipated and the route setting buttons work brilliantly. Usually one of my tablets is dedicated to the schematic control screen. I also use it for lighting control switches and activating abc sections. Controlling points and accessories this way has also saved me a lot of time and money as this negates the need for a mimic and switching panel. [As an aside, the Z21 and Cobalt IP Digital point motors are a match made in heaven.] Being able to control any two trains (in tablet landscape mode) simultaneously works really well and switching between trains on each throttle is a quick and simple finger scroll. I haven't yet gone down the route of block sensors and automated control but it's reassuring to know that I have a system that will seemlessly integrate with this when I'm ready to progress down that route in the inevitable future. Short curcuit protection is effective and simple to reset on screen. Likewise the emergency stop button is clear and accessible with obvious visual indication of activation. The system is easily expandable - I have two dcc power zones with one zone running from a Z21 Booster. The Z21 app can be used offline so you don't need to be connected up to your Z21 when creating the layout schematic or adding locos. Sometimes it's nice to do this from the comfort of your sofa! Sharing your layout between devices is also very simple. The system is intuitive to use but there are also lots of YouTube tutorial videos to help you learn how to do things when you are starting out. So, that's why it works for me but that's just my opinion. Others may have different needs and views. My advice is turn to YouTube. You'll find lots of video tutorials or demonstrations for most systems. A bit of online research and you'll have a much clearer picture of what might work best for you.

Assuming you have 4 lights (2 x white headlight and 2 x red rear light) and you want to control them all individually then I think this is what you need to do. cv124=128 which will turn off SUSI control on F3 and F4 cv61=97 which will give you the Zimo optional mapping without the left shift. cv33=4 which should put one headlamp on F1 cv34=8 which should put the other headlamp on F2 cv35=16 which should put one rear red light on F3 cv36=32 which should put the other red light on F4 cv37=0 removes the previous output assignment to F3 cv38=0 ditto re F4 cv39=0 ditto re F5 cv309=5 which reassigns F5 as the break key Note that this removes all directional lighting functions (F0 is now not used) and gives you an individual function key to switch each light on or off as you choose. If you want a different configuration that can all be achieved with appropriate mapping - just post back with exactly what you want and I'll try to make that work for you.

This sounds like it might be a speaker impedance mismatch to me. I think (but could be wrong so someone plesse correct me if I am) that the TTS decoders have an 8 ohm output. This means you need either a single 8 ohm speaker ir two 4 ohm speakers wired in series. If you've got a single 4 ohm speaker or if you've wired two 8 ohm speakers in parallel then the amplifier circuit on the decoder will be over driving and that will be why it is getting hot and tripping out. Check your speaker(s) and try it connected to a single speaker that is labelled as having an impedance of 8 ohms.

This may help if you are trying to keep it simple: CV124 = 128 switches off SUSI for functions 3 & 4. CV33 = 9 CV34 = 6 maps front and rear lights to F0f and F0r Then just map whatever other lights you want to F3 and F4

Come on @Taigatrommel that was quite a reasonable and sensible first step suggestion that Iain made and he even provided the link to get help. It was unfair to retort in that way - perhaps you are having a bad day! Iain @WIMorrison is one of the most helpful people on this forum and I've seen him provide complex detailed help to many people. His contribution to this forum is most valuable and he deserves respect for that. Anyone on the receiving end of his help would do well to read it carefully and follow whatever he suggests. I appreciate that sometimes we don't always get the answers we are hoping for, or sometimes the answers may start to sound a bit complicated but please everyone be nice to each other. It's Christmas after all.

Let's be clear, blaming Brexit is not an acceptable excuse and is obviously untrue. It's quite possible that when importing electronic parts it may be necessary to pay vat but equally the manufacturer exporting the goods won't have needed to charge vat so the cost won't be hugely different. There may be a little more paperwork involved but that shouldn't be too arduous. As far as the end customer is concerned there is absolutely no difference whatsoever. If the retailer is vat registered then the customer pays vat, if the retailer isn't then vat isn't added to the charge. In this case the service agent / retailer has most probably got enough work without needing to do repairs for Lenz equipment so why bother trying to source spare parts from abroad. It's a commercial choice and nothing to do with Brexit. Bexit may be responsible for lots of things but this certainly isn't one of them.

I use a couple of THESE on my layout and will almost certainly add more in due course. The Roco 10836 Z21 Switch Decoder can take a dcc signal input for the control signal only and then a separate 12v dc supply input which is what is then switched and output through the eight outputs. It does do more than just switch 12v on or off if you want it to but that's how I mainly use it either to switch lighting or to switch relays which control my abc circuit IR sensors. Using a separate power supply there's no drain on your dcc power. You can buy a 5A 12v dc regulated power supply easy enough on Amazon for about £15. I've added a 12v 5A circuit breaker to the output feed just to protect it and it's then connected to my 12v dc bus.

Try cv8=4 which is another common reset value.

Thanks Iain, that's useful information. Have you worked out if the setting is device specific or layout specific. If the latter then would that setting export/import with the layout?

in stock (1 left) good supplier https://www.coastaldcc.co.uk/products/roco/digital-z21-xl-control-system

If you are using a dc voltage setting on your meter then that's why you are reading zero volts. DCC is not dc. You need to set your multimeter to read AC voltage. The reading you get won't be accurate because dcc isn't a true ac signal. In one polarity you'll get a higher reading than the actual output and the other way around it will be lower. The actual voltage will be somewhere between the two.

Are you using a Dapol Imperium decoder? (We have discussed this before, they appear to be rebadged Lais decoders). If so, some of the default settings are a bit odd. For a start: Set cv5 to value of 255 (max speed setting) set cv6 to value of 100 (mid speed setting) set cv2 to value 5. (start speed setting) This will hopefully sort out your maximum speed problem. At 255 that should enable you to run it at full speed if you want to. You can play around with these settings if you need to to adjust the speed curve. If you want a more complex speed curve that can be achieved with other cv settings - come back and ask or read the manual if you want to know how to do that. Your lighting issues should be able to be easily sorted out with function mapping. If you need help with that let us know the exact model of decoder you are using.

That should be fine then so we can rule that out.

Which version of Loksound Decoder are you using? Loksound v3.5 or older have a 100 ohm output so if you connect up an 8 ohm or 4 ohm speaker that will probably blow the amplifier circuit and may cause further damage which could render it completely useless. Newer Loksound decoders will drive anything between 4 and 32 ohms which should be fine unless you have a 100 ohm speaker installed. If this is the case then the speaker probably won't work but it shouldn't cause any damage. It's worth checking the decoder version and the speaker impedance. If there's no label on the speaker, use a multimeter to read the resistance across the speaker terminals. The reading you get will be just a little bit lower than the rated impedance.

Have you got one or more than one speakers fitted? If more than one are you sure they are correctly wired to match the impedance to the decoder output? If your overall impendance is lower than the specified decoder output that could blow your decoder.

That's a very nice looking controller but, to use with a Z21 or z21 very expensive at €389 or €409 depending on the version. You can pick up a couple of decent 10" tablets or even two Samsung A13 phones (with a 6.6" screen) and still have change for that much. You can buy a wifi Multimaus for £100 (if you really want a speed knob rather than a screen slider) which maybe isn't as nice but you have to ask, is the Lodi-Con really worth three and a half times the price? A pity really because the design looks good.

I bought a couple of Train-o-matic Lokommander II Next18 decoders as a stop gap which aren't bad. I chose these because they have abc braking which, as it turned out, isn't as good as Zimo with a bit of slow and crawl action but still works. Overall though they are definitely 'ok' and motor control is quite good providing you play around with the CVs. For some strange reason the default maximum speed cv5 is set to 200 which needs changing to 255 before you can start doing much with it. The mid speed default for cv6 is also quite low at 60. These will need playing with to get them working how you want them. Having said that, I think these are getting harder to find now too.

"Spikes" across your dcc system are far more likely to be caused by poor or inadequate dcc wiring. Frog juicers can also be a cause and should be avoided if possible. Frequent running through points against how they are set and causing a short will also cause spikes. There are lots of threads on here discussing all these issues which are worth reading through if you are new to dcc. If you are using the power supply that was supplied by the manufacturer of your dcc system then that's the best thing to use and shouldn't cause any problems (using anything else may invalidate the warranty). Despite some of the horror stories you may read, dcc decoders are pretty robust, at least the decent quality ones are, and they will cope quite well with short circuits and transient voltage spikes. Blowing up a decoder is very much an exceptional event not a common one. If you are planning on investing in dcc sound locos and decoders then invest a bit of time first in making sure your dcc wiring is up to scratch.

Just in case it's helpful to some people reading this post, let's have a little science lesson. The impedance of loudspeakers used, or the cumulative impedance where a series of loudspeakers is used is very important. The MX644 can output into 4-8 Ohms so that's the range the overal impedance needs to be. Impedances where speakers are wired in parallel are calculated as: If all speakers are the same impedance simply divide the impedance of one speaker by the total number of speakers in the circuit. For speakers wired in series: r+r+r etc. So, for example, two 8 ohm speakers wired in parallel would have an overall impedance of 4 ohms (8÷2) but if you wire the same two speakers in series then it will be 16 ohms (8+8). Most model railway speakers, designed to be used with dcc sound chips, are 8 ohms. So, if you are using just one speaker or two speakers wired in parallel then that's fine for a decoder with a 4-8 ohm output. Be careful though as some decoders are 8 ohms only so make sure you check the specification. In this case the OP has three speakers which, for the sake of this explanation we'll assume are all 8 ohm impedance. Now, if they were all to be wired in parallel that would be 2.67 Ohms overal impedance (8÷3) which won't work. If all wired in series it would be 24 Ohms which won't work either. In order to make this work you'd need a combination of series and parallel wiring. If you wire two speakers in series that gives you 16 ohms. Then wire the third speaker in parallel with the first pair and you'll get an overall impedance of 5.33 Ohms which is within the output parameters of the decoder. (The maths to get to that calculation is a little more complicated but there are online calculators available online if you need them). [(1/16 + 1/8) = (1/16 + 2/16) = 3/16 = (1/16÷3) = 1/5.33 therefore impedance = 5.33] Ok, so that's what one should do to ensure it all works fine and it may be that this is exactly what the OP has done. However, if you were to simply put three parallel wired 8 Ohm speakers into your loco, which as explained above is 2.67 Ohms overall, what would happen. The amplifier circuit on the decoder board would be over driving the speaker and initially you'd probably hear a distorted noise. After a while (which could be anything from a fraction of a second to a bit longer) the likelihood is that the amplifier circuit on the decoder board will overheat and burn out. It's also possible that the speakers could be damaged depending upon how long it runs for before the amplifier cuts out. Professional PA amplifiers have protection circuitry built in to stop this happening and will hopefully cut out before any damage occurs but it seems unlikely that there is room for this on a tiny dcc decoder chip so it's very important to get it right first time. So, to the OP, if you are concerned that what I have described above could be your problem, disconnect two of the speakers and just connect one single speaker to the decoder outputs. If that works then you are ok. If it doesn't then you may have blown the amplifier circuit on your decoder which is probably terminal.

Sorry, the first paragraph of the OP seemed to read that this model was a new one being compared with an existing model. My assumption was that the default level for cv5 was set low, which can happen - I have experienced one type of decoder that has a default of 200 for cv5. Having re-read the post I can now see that this may not be the case so I apologise for any confusion caused by my post by suggesting that cv5 is the problem. However, I stand by what I said about replacing the controller. If you want to get the full benefit of DCC then a decent controller which allows reading and writing of CVs is surely a no brainer.

Why not just change the wifi password on the router? That would be a lot easier.

Oh dear. So the slightly harsh (sorry) answer has to be that the OP should save up to buy a decent dcc controller in order to be able to experience the benefits of using dcc. There's not much point in spending lots of money on dcc fitted locos if you don't have the right equipment to drive them. In the short term I suggest taking the loco down to your local model railway club where I'm sure someone will be happy to program cv5 with a value of 255.

Check the value of cv5. That sets the maximum speed and will have a value between 1-255 where 255 is maximum. You may find that the default value has been set lower than 255. If that's the case try increasing it until you get a speed you are happy with - or just change it to 255.