APT Fan

Wow, these 1206 LEDs are bright! I thought I'd use the current Hornby model as a reference guide for the resistor sizing. The first three pictures are show the brightness with a 4.7K, the second three with 10K, there isn't a discernible difference. I'll probably go 5.6K, as I have some 1206 smd's. I can always dim this with the light effect code, it works really well with my converted Lima Class 09.

So after fitted LEDs to one end, I been checking the look and sizing up the resistors. There seems to be some light bleed from the front lights into the red lenses even with 10K resistors, I think they are probably OK for brightness, as are the red LEDs with 10Ks. I might need to paint around the bleed area, its a good job I left the masking tape on! I haven't tested the cab light yet, but I'm assuming at least a 10K for that one. I've also bought some 1206 smd resistors, so soldering them should be a good laugh! I have to say that the Class 56 looks really good in this large logo livery, probably my favouite.

Just started another Class 56 project, this time I'm using 1206 smd LEDs which seem easier to fit due to the space constraints. I'm also fitting cab lights and stay alive, as the latest controllers I've been buying have at least six functions and stay alive capabilty. I've decided to standardise my installations with the use of the Plux22 connectors for a number of reasons. Firstly it allows me to keep the wiring neat which is becoming an issue as I increase the number of functions and stay alive. Secondly it will allow me to easily exchange decoders between loco's, I'm trialling different manufacturer's and it maybe that I find certain decoder/loco combinations work better together. I'm also finding that I can pickup Plux22 decoders and connectors at a reasonable price, perhaps due to popularity?

Nice video!

That's unbelieveable! It might be considered possibly obsessive? On that subject, as I seem to have developed an obsession for the Class 56, I've treated myself to a brand new Hornby Class 56 to add to my old Mainline / Dapol models. Its very impressive, incredibly heavy, quiet, smooth runner with great pulling power. Its a very refined model and well detailed but I'll be honest and say that it isn't a massive step up from the Mainline model which was excellent in its day and a real game changer. I would say though that the Hornby would probably eat 36 wagons alive, I wouldn't be surprised if it could pull double that! I don't know would the original prototype haul was but I remember as a kid cycling to Arpley Junction in Warrington to watch 56's hauling huge loads of MGRs from and from the Yorkshire coalfields to Fiddlers Ferry Power station.

So I've completed the DCC installation and slow speed running is great, it crawls along nicely at a speed setting of 6 (127max). Its a bit 'clunky' in reverse but this seems to be more of a mechanical issue with the gearbox/couplings as I don't think this is a particularly refined model but its nice and functional though. In terms of the lighting, I appreciate the advice about resistor sizes but I ended up going with 10K (cab), 1K (red), 660ohm (white) mainly because I like to see reasonably bright lights. I still have the option of dimming them by adding value 12 (constant dim) to the relevant CV - hopefully you can see the effect in the pictures? The circuit board for the resistors and diodes (for shunting mode) has an element of 1980s miniaturisation about it but I've just used the parts I have available. I've started the detailing by painting the coupling bar, although the paint has reacted a little bit to the lacquer, so I might have to have another go, we'll see. I have some 'Overhead wires' decals to add and I think the handrails and steps would look better painted. I might paint the inside of the cab and motor white to create a 'reflection' effect with the cab light. I'm not sure how to tackle the replacement rear steps yet?

36?? Wow, I don't think I've got that many wagons in total! It might take me a while to get to that level given the price of rolling stock nowadays.

I tried that on this Mainline version, which I think is the same as early Hornby's (as per manual above). Actually it was two small led's a white and a red squeezed into the bulb holder, connected back-to-back with a series resister. I found that there was too much light bleed between the white and red lenses as the light is coming from a single source - I think even the original filament bulb light exhibited this issue, if I remember rightly before promptly removing them! I'd imagine the newer Hornby's have been redesigned judging by some of the pictures I've seen.

So in conclusion the decoder was not faulty?

DCC with lighting fitted for less than a tenner! It runs great at low speeds, even better than DC. There does seem to be an issue when the speed gets above say 54 in that it intermittently loses comms and pauses for a second. It occurs after a straight when entering a right hand bend, almost as if the movement in the body causes a disconnection. Its a first radius curve which isn't banked and it isn't great track - the curves are steel rather than nickel steel, so perhaps I'm asking too much. This loco feels a bit lightweight to me and could perhaps benefit from more weight. In the third picture, I've been experimenting with the dimming the lights via CV49/50.

Yes, it works a treat with 4 X 1N4148 signal diodes. Directional lights, cab lights and 'shunting' mode lights operated from the Function 2 button.

Possible solution!

Good Evening, Hoping someone can help. So I've added lights to a shunter, the front has one white light and a red, the same with the rear. The plan was to connect the front white and the rear red to the white wire output CV49 and use the default direction value of 0 so that front white and rear red operate when the loco is moving forward. I was going to connect the opposing lights to the yellow wire output CV50 and use the default direction value of 16 so that these lights operate when the loco is moving in reverse. Its become a standard way of wiring for me as everything operates from the single light switch button. I've left the F1 button CV35 in its default state operating the green wire output CV51 with the default direction value of 32 (both directions) for the cab light. I've read that in 'Shunting' mode the loco would display all four lights? So I've reconfigured the two outputs white/yellow so that they operate from the F2 button as well as the light switch. It works but only in the set direction, is it possible to overwrite the direction value to 32 when the F2 button is operated? Thanks

Thanks, yes steps! I've been playing with 3D printing and had a go at some ladders, so that was kind of on my mind. Even with quite low resistor values alot less light has been getting through than I expected - the light beam is tiny, so I might end up somewhere between the two resistances. I must admit I've struggled to produce the dome effect for a lens using heat and I ended up using a nail buffer instead. I think my missuss is getting a bit worried about me with her nail buffers going missing, I've also used her red nail varish for the lens colours, not to mention the cotton buds as well! I found this website as a reference for the 09 lighting appearance (copyrighted):- http://www.totnestrains.com/class-09.html Do you foresee a problem running this with DCC? In my mind, the motor receives a 'cleaner' and more accurate power supply from the electronics of a DCC decoder compared to a DC supply and some of those old transformers were really ropey in terms of being stablised and volt drop etc. Has the motor technology improved that much in newer locos? I recently converted a Mainline Class 56 to DCC and slow speed running has really been improved, it even runs much better on DC! Oddly its worse at higher speeds and looses the signal when entering a right handed bend after a long straight. It's almost as if the body moves too much on the bend and my gut feeling is that more weight in the chassis might help and also a bit of housekeeping (tracks etc) before looking at the stay alive route.

I notice that there is no glazing in the loco, seems to be a common theme for most manufacturers of older shunters, I wonder why? Space? I've fitted flush glazing, made a big difference especially with the cab lighting. I notice the rear ladders seem to use metal wire, do you know what material these are made from. I studied electronics years ago but haven't done anything serious for ages, this little project has been very enjoyable and satisfying for me. I was inspired by this video:- My main concern was getting the scaling correct for the lighting lenses, I noticed in the video the presenter had used 1.0mm fibre optic - but that was for a Class 47. These shunters seem to have been fitted with surface mount conduit type lighting and the lenses looked pretty small to me. Initially I was going to go for 0.75mm but after running a vernier across the lenses, I thought 0.5mm was a better match for the scale. I noticed in the video that the presenter painted the lenses red too for appearance purposes, I've done the same but in reality its really difficult to see this as the lenses are that small. You can't actually tell there is lighting there unless its lit, in a way that was the effect I was trying to achieve to maintain the appearance. The zoomed in picture shows the detail, the paint really isn't as bad as it looks here and the lens is actually correctly centred. Do people think I've got the scaling correct?

Really? Is your layout a shunting yard? I'd get that if I were to ever build a shunting yard, but even then I started thinking about how the coupling / uncoupling would work when moving coaches short distances, I'd soon get bored with that side. I guess I just like to see locos running and pulling loads, at least with DCC, if this loco does spend a lot of time stopped I can still have the lights on for a bit of interest. I'm looking at painting the front ladders black and I'd like to have a go at 3D printing some replacements for the rear. Repaint the hand rails silver and the wheel couplings yellow, maybe add some overhead wires decals too.

I wasn't sure where to post this as this project will probably seem a bit noddy to most of you, so I decided to classify it as a 'modification' project. A bit of background, I received my first trainset when I was a kid in the seventies, it was a Triang and consisted of a Battle of Britain Class steam loco, a Class 29 Diesel, a Dockyard Shunter with some freight wagons and some red mark 2 coaches. The layout was fitted to a board and it was housed in the garage, a pretty decent setup for the time. I don't know why but my favourite loco was always the shunter - still have it, although its in a bit of a sorry state. As I entered my early teens the set became a bit tired and I started to lose interest, until I received my second set which was the Lima freight set with a green Deltic. My interest grew again and as I had started to earn pocket money, I began to build the set with mostly second hand stock from Hatton's in Smithdown Road - you couldn't get me away from that shop at the time! A second hand 37 with blue mark 2 coaches, new HST cars with second hand mark 3 coaches and other nik naks, whatever I could afford. Anyway I always wanted the Hornby Class 08 shunter in BR blue but couldn't afford it or justify it really. However I did manage to pick up a second hand Lima Class 09 from Hattons for I think it was £4.50. The model wasn't as refined as the Hornby and it was a bit knocked about, as it had no buffers and the rear ladders were missing - but it was a shunter! So this loco had been in storage for a least 25 years, maybe more and I stripped it down and serviced it mechanically and electrically and it runs as good as gold. So what to do with it? Sell it, I'm quite fond of it and would then be thinking about replacing it but again, I can't really justify that and would rather spend money on a decent 47 or 56. It got me thinking, why do any of us bother buying shunters for a layout? They aren't very practical are they and they feel more like a prop than something you are going to give any real amount of running on the layout. So I've decided to keep the loco as orginal as possible and just make modest improvements on a tight budget (theme here). I've already embarked on the DCC route so the most expensive part will probaly be the decoder for about a tenner, although my gut feeling is that I'll also need a stay alive, but I can build that. I finally managed to get the buffers for £4 but they need finishing properly. The glazing units cost £1.50 and look great, transforming the model, my loco never had a glazing unit and I'm not sure whether Lima actually fitted them, does anyone know? I've fitted five LEDs including a cab light for a total cost of £1.75 and the 0.5mm fibre optic cost 99p for a metre. I'm currently (pun) sizing the resistors, only 250ohm for the whites but I'll probably up that. 1K for the reds and 10K for the cab light which both look OK. There is some light bleed, so I'll probably need more internal paint but this is the first time I've done this so I'm still learning. I hope there is enough space for all the electronics!

Yeah, downloaded the full app and it is much more comprehensive in terms of being able to read/write cv's. A factory reset did not clear the fault so there is definetly a hardware issue for me, I did however manage to reassign the green output to forward lights (CV51 = 0) and soft wired that to the light switch (CV35 = 1). So I've restored the function. Whilst this provides me with a workaround, I'm losing a function here and I'm not very happy as I have two of these and they are brand new, the other unit works perfectly. They haven't been incorrectly installed so I have questions to ask of the manufacturer. I contacted them today about the issue of the output staying high and bizarrely they suggested using a 2k resistor instead to see if that clears the fault. It didn't.

Thanks, that's good information. Not sure how I do that from the Android app, I guess I need to do it via the Audrino somehow? It definetly a decoder issue, I've tried different LEDs and resistors on a breadboard and its the same symptoms.

I have a LiasDcc Decoder Chip, 9 wire 860014, which seems to have an issue with the front lighting output. It remains constantly high, when it is switched to ON, the LED (with 1K resistor) actually dims slightly. The output for the rear lights is working fine as is the motor control. Feels very much like a hardware issue but could this be caused by the control software? I'm using LocoMotive DCC Audurino / Android phone app. Thanks in advance.

I've been converting the lighting on one of these to LED, well its the Mainline version. The project started as just a cheap lighting coversion, I didn't even have any LEDs and resorted to recycling some from an old industrial panel. The idea was to merely glue them to the light tubes behind the positions of the lenses. The lighting effect was really good with the exception of the LEDs at the red lenses which didn't appear red enough. As I had no red LEDs, I painted the rear LEDs with red nail varnish and the light now looks correct. By the time I'd finished building / rebuilding / soldering / resoldering / regluing the lighting units, a couple DCC units arrived, so I thought I may as well go for it given that the unit was already in bits. I ended up completely removing the motor and resoldered new wires directly to the brushes, I've also used a flexible silicon insulated wire for the new pickup connection. I'm nearly there now, just need some veroboard to make up the bank of LED resistors, the loose wires are in blu tack for now to prevent shorts. The motor is working fine in both directions with both analogue and DCC.

The pictures suggest the lens is oval but its probably round and the angle of the nose profile makes it look oval. A possible solution would be to get some acrylic tubing or fibre optic, using a vernier would give you the required diameter, you'd need to cut to match the nose profile.

I've two of the Lima blue Deltics which both have black painted Head Code boxes and I've experimented with placing an LED behind them. No light gets through but because the body is yellow plastic, the light bleeds throughout the nose area. So the plan is to paint the inside of the nose black with the exception of the headcode area, remove the headcode paint and replace with a translucent domino headcode transfer and merely glue a couple of LEDs behind it in the nose. The other thing I was looking into was fitting the spot light (see picture below). They appear to be surface mounted and realistically, I'm not going to be able to match up the yellow for a surface mounted unit. I was thinking of fitting a flush 1mm fibre option in this area with an LED behind. Last week I fitted out an 09 Lima Shunter with 0.5mm fibre optics with LEDs behind and they are pretty much undetectable unless the light is on, so I think might get away with flush fitting it on the Deltic and avoid getting too extravagant.

The Hornby buffers fit the Lima perfectly, a nice interference fit with long shafts extending and securing the body to the chassis. Looks pretty good to me and I think this loco could have the potential to detail up towards the rascal in the picture next to it.