DCCconcepts

21 hours ago, Chamby said:

 

Any idea when they are due in?  I'm struggling to find anyone who has your iP digital motors in stock at the moment.

We currently cannot give a date when the next batch will be with us.

But we will publicise it when they arrive.

Best Regards,

The DCC Team

Hi Russell,

Yes - a DCCconcepts AD8FX can accept 2x Tortoises on one output for a crossover pair.

It is also 8 discrete channels - all individually addressable.

It does not have Railcom capability, but if you change the point from your ECoS, the ECoS display will mirror that command.

If you are not using Railcom, then no issues anyway.

Best Regards,

The DCC Team.

Hi Mickey,

We had some issues with a part batch that were produced in late 2018.

In some cases, there is a memory loss caused by an out of spec component. Usually when a short occurs, causing a momentary spike in the DCC.

Once the issue was identified, we immediately took steps to prevent it re-occurring on future production runs.

Contact us directly via our website and we'll do our best to help.

Best Regards

The DCC Team.

p.s. Please note, before anyone asks, we are awaiting another batch of Cobalt Motors of various types from China. 

Hi all,

An update from ourselves:

https://www.dccconcepts.com/coronavirus-newsletter-2/

Keep safe and carry on modelling!

30 minutes ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

I’ve search for and resurrected this thread to pass on a couple of bits of info from DCC Concepts at Warley.

 

The Alpha AEU is being reworked to incorporate the Mimic function.

This means multiple Alpha control panels around the layout, will all display the same route information.

Change points on one panel and all panels will mimic the lights on that panel.

 

A routing module is due out soon.

I’m not sure if this will just memorise macro type sequences of point settings, or if it will also provide NX entry and exit settings, where selecting the first and last points on a panel will automatically set any or all other points in between.

 

 

Ron

We are always looking at ways to improve and expand our product range. The above is on the radar and is being worked upon. "Soon" is relative. It will be ready when it's ready.

21 minutes ago, Damo666 said:

 

Might this explain why DCCConcepts had an offer recently on some Alpha bundles (Alpha Power, Alpha Box & Alpha Central), to clear out some of the stock?

No - the bundles are not related to ongoing product development.

The DCC Team

1 hour ago, Junctionmad said:

To my knowledge there are two known faults across the cobalt range 

(a) a clicking from the gearbox which I understand is a manufacturing fault in a gear 

 

(b) the digital Ip versions have been reported to loose their dcc address from time to time as a result of a short in the  dcc supply typical of track shorts. 

 

Both of these need to addressed by DCC concepts as they are blighting a very good product 

 

having used all three variants and tortoise , I would contend the cobalt analog ip variant is the best of all four options 

Hi JM.

Thank you for your post, but we have long felt a need clarify some myths and misunderstanding regarding Cobalt motors.

In reply to an earlier couple of posts within this thread - Cobalt motors are true stall motors.

To address your points:

It is not a manufacturing fault with the gears.

There was one early batch (2012?) that had a case moulding issue due to incorrect temperature regulation, causing minute uneven shrinkage of the case when it was removed from the injection moulder. This could cause a gear mesh issue. Replacement cases were manufactured and supplied.

The current gear issue is caused primarily by using an unregulated supply - typically those on the side of H&M controllers with a "nominal" 12vDC output that is far from a smooth 12v.

It is relatively uncommon in the later batches of Omega/Analog Ip and Cobalt IP for gear issues to appear as the gear train was improved as a result of experiences with the first generation of Cobalt motors.

To make the Cobalt about 20% smaller than the Tortoise, the gear train carries a bit more stress through having smaller gears than the Tortoise. When used with regulated supplies, there are no issues, but unregulated/unsmoothed supplies can eventually cause the motor to "over-drive" and jump gears - once the damage is done, it can become worse. 

There is a lifetime warranty on Cobalt motors and we will exchange gears and advise customers with regard to suitable power supplies.

Initial gear issues with original Digital Cobalts were similarly caused by higher DCC track voltages - typically used by European systems.

A well documented "fix" was to wire a resistor in series with the power feed to reduce the voltage to the Cobalt.

The Digital IP and Analog IP have better voltage regulation within the internal electronics to overcome these issues. The Omega has a 6-12/12-18v selector switch.

There does seem to be a recent issue with some Cobalts losing addresses and we are currently trying to compile a database of users and systems that are having more than their fare share of problems.

It does appear to be those with higher current rated systems, inadequate short circuit protection and/or those with less than ideal wiring.

It seems that there was minor fault within the microprocessors that were fitted to a small batch made in late 2018 only. and combined with tolerance variations with other components on the circuit board, this has caused this issue of memory loss.

This has now been identified and these particular microprocessors will never be used again and the circuit board made more robust to prevent this happening on future batches.

As above with the original Cobalts, there is a simple fix for this small batch - if required. Albeit an old-fashioned one - that applies to this one and only batch of Digital IPs.

The addition of an inductive load in either the feed to the motor or the frog switch will cure the memory loss problem.

The simplest form of inductive load is a 12v/21W (or similar) car light bulb that will reduce the immediate impact of a short to the Digital IP.

We have already supplied them to a few customers that were having memory issues and this has immediately resolved them.

In fact, we will supply these bulbs free of charge if anyone requires them - please contact us via our website.

We are constantly striving to improve our full product range and welcome all customer feedback through the appropriate channels.

Please use the contact details on our website.

The Dccconcepts Team