norman

Hi DT Assuming your connections are good. The KA2 wires are blue and striped black/white. Connect blue to blue and grey to B/W Then check the value in CV153. This CV is used to control the stay alive feature it sets the time in 1/10 second the loco will continue without signal. The default is 0 which is the same as 255 maximum. regards Norman

Hello Paul Do you have reason to believe that when Howes say they are temporarily out of stock they will not be in stock soon? I recently bought new gears but no doubt there are others who will need them in the future Norman

I notice that Tower are still showing June/July 2017 for delivery but with Heljan closed for annual holiday until August I wonder when? Anybody recently heard or seen anything on expected delivery? Norman

Sounds like F0 is not latching. Try holding down the the F0 not just pressing it once but holding it down.. Norman

Hi Rich I have witnessed first hand how white van drivers treat parcels. They are hard pressed to deliver their assigned parcels and do not have time to treat them with TLC. IMHO There is no way that the packaging used by Heljan for the class 45 would survive if subject to a standard 1 metre drop test. The lack of foam at the ends enables the loco to bounce on its two 5mm mounting screws tearing them through the flimsy MDF base. Norman.

Hi I'm still waiting for my replacement and hope it arrives undamaged. The new method of packaging that Heljan have used is unbelievably poor so I am hoping they take extra care this time. But I'm not sure yet what I will do if the replacement arrives broken. My 60 and two 37s arrived undamaged so the packaging used then worked well for me. Norman

Hi Richard Apologies my Orange/EE email account stopped on 31 May and I had not changed my email on RMweb. It's right now. I will do as you suggest to trace Paul - thanks Norman

Hi Richard Pike I've sent you a PM Regards Norman

Can anyone tell me how to contact Paul Chetter direct please? I have just received my Peak which is a beautiful model and it is a real pity it's been damaged in transit. The loco had been bolted to a piece of 9mm MDF but there was no foam packaging to prevent the loco moving in the box from end to end. I guess the box has been dropped at some time and the bolts broken through the MDF damaging both of the bogies and also parts of the debris have damaged the paint finish on the yellow ends. I have tried contacting Howes but the Heljan man only works two days a week so I will have to be patient until Monday. I suspect the loco will have to be returned. I am surprised and disappointed at the poor packaging I would have thought that any practically minded person could predict the result of not fitting foam supports at the ends let alone a packaging engineer. They obviously did not carry out a standard drop test! Norman

Richard I like the decoder installation very much - it looks similar to the ESU L package i.e. decoder and breakout board. You mentioned that Paul Chetter supplied wa sthat direct or through Digitrains. I hope it's a good price. Norman

Yes same problem. It'd due to the way the boards are mounted one on top of another, as I recall rather poorly. Can't remember the detail now but make sure that the boards are not touching. Norman

Hi Peter Surely the L is so named because it is lower rated than an XL and is particularly targeted at twin motor O gauge locos. I have installed one in a class 37 and a Hymek and can confirm the installation went very well. The drawback for the L is the height because it piggy backs on a breakout board but as long as it will fit it is my first choice due to the considerable economy achieved. For me as long as the sound project quality is good I do not require high volume from big speakers. Norman

Hi Penguin Thanks for the photos - looking at my Heljan class 25 and comparing it with your photos I think the amount of curve is spot on. Norman

Hi I notice that you have used a ESU Loksound XL decoder. Did you consider using the new Loksound L and do you think it will fit in the space available? Norman

Derby built 25s had a flat front so Heljan model is right fora Derby built 25. Norman

Hi Steve No I have not seen a PM from you but yes I would be delighted to test fit some samples. Please make some time to release as I don't want to display in public until my loco is complete. Lovely job spoilt without the transfers. Norman Norman

Hi Steve Any further update on the transfers please. Norman

Hattons have them on offer at less than £200 - quite a big bargain which should encourage more into O gauge as it's now more affordable. Norman

Duncan, I think Heljan would see that as a bit revolutionary It's only 2017 you know LOL Norman

Hello John Heljan use plugs on the wires and sockets on their board. So you need to cut the plugs off and remove the Heljan board in order to solder the wires to the ESU breakout board. Norman

For me the XL is an overkill the L has been introduced specifically for O gauge and it's much easier on the pocket. I think I prefer the soldered connection on to the breakout board the installation is very neat and well engineered. Size is not an issue both the L and XL will fit in the Heljan 37. The Heljan light boards incorporate the necessary resistors so there is no need for additional resistors. With the ESU dimming you can select either incandescent or LED and I do not detect any flicker from the LEDs even with the CV turned down really low (5) Norman

Hi John No need to fear the DCC installation. I fitted an ESU Loksound 4.0 L with its breakout board, This took a couple of hours I guess but simple enough really and now I have a plug and play decoder, which I really like. Heljan could have helped of course with the colour coding for the wires, red and black only I'm afraid so you need to sort out what wire does what first and the length of wires too, it's annoying when they are just a few mm short to connect up. Finding a good speaker too took a little while, in the end I opted for a round one in one of the fuel tanks but there's room for two if you wish. Norman

Hi John I have not fitted an XL to a class 37 so can't really comment on its fitment. As I said in my previous post the Heljan light boards include the necessary resistors for the LEDs. You really don't need to worry about blowing them. Just to confirm with the new ESU L decoder no soldering to the decoder is required. The decoder fits to the break out board very neatly. You do need to solder to the breakout board but it is really quite simple with all pads clearly marked - a well engineered job. Norman

Hi John The Loksound L is a good option. The LED boards have the necessary resistors already fitted so you will not blow the LEDS. Heljan could have made it a lot easier but it's not too difficult. Unplug all the wires from the Heljan board and mount the Loksound L breakout board. I found it was just a bit too big to fit in the well that Heljan have created underneath their board. So I glued a piece of 1mm plasticard in on which to mount the Loksound board using a sticky pad. First identify the pickup wires on each bogie - easy to do with the bogie sides removed and cut off the plastic plugs. Then connect together one red wire from the left hand bogie and one black wire from the right hand bogie Now connect this pair to the TrkL on the break out board. Repeat for the black left and red right and connect this pair to the TrkR on the break out board Then onto the motor Virtually the same as above but connect each pair (red/black one from each motor) to a motor pad on the board. repeat for the other pair and connect to the other motor padl. LEDS Cut a plug off a pair of wires and check which lights it controls - red or white Easy to do just hook up a 12volt supply +pos to red wire and -neg to black wire There are two pads marked U+, the red wires connect to these pads The black wires go to the pads marked FL & RL for the white lights and Aux1 and Aux2 for the reds. So 4 black wires one to each FL RL Aux1 and Aux2 4 Red wires connect two together and on to the U+ pads I have not wired the fan up but you could use another function for that pair one to U+ and one to Aux3 - if you get the wrong way round the fan will blow rather than suck but no one will notice. Good luck Norman

Hi Paul I have just today fitted a Loksound V4L to a Heljan class 37 - very successful for me. It is annoying that Heljan can only use red and black. There must be a world wide shortage of other colours.LOL It is counter intuitive - logically you would think connect the blacks together and the reds together - WRONG For the pickups and the motors you need to connect together the red and blacks - one from each end You can see on the loco that the bogies with the motor attached are the same each end, so take one red pick up wire from the left hand end and connect it to the black wire at the right hand end then connect these two to the break out adaptor plate marked TrkL. etc, etc Hope this explains all Norman