Ressaldar

Hi Phil, back in October 2018 I installed an ESU V4XL into a Heljan 47 for a fellow Club member and discussed the fan speed problem with SWDigital who had supplied the decoder. Their response was that on some Heljan diesels there is a 'pot' which can adjust the speed or if the 'pot' is not present, set CV31 = 16 CV32 = 0 CV294 = 0 - 31 (output speed) I adjusted the CVs and yes it does control the speed, but as stated elsewhere here, a certain amount of sound is still heard. I hope this is of interest. Stay safe all. regards Mike

Hi Paul, many thanks for your responses, they fully answer my questions. regards Mike

What size IceCube speakers especially depth, can be accommodated in the speaker trays and how are they then wired to the corresponding tabs on the decoder? regards Mike

Hi Callum, yes, mine work, operated via F6 on the controller. kind regards Mike

Hi Callum, John Gymer at YouChoos pointed out that these speakers must be connected in SERIES when I ordered the decoder and speakers for the Class 50, so he same would apply here with the Class 33. kind regards Mike

Hi Callum, not as such, but if you look closely at the second picture, you can just see both speakers laying side by side in the space under the decoder. As I mentioned in the text, I applied a strip of insulating tape along the inside face of the upstand to ensure that the metal parts of the speaker could not touch it and therefore short out. The speakers are YouChoos Ice Cube 40x18x7 and at present, on;y one is actually wired in. regards Mike

Hi Keith, look no further, I have not wired up the roof fan. Aux5/FA3 is the terminal that you need, and that appears to be controlled via Function 11 and CV45 with a value of 16 - this needs adjusting to suit your own requirements. Hope this helps. regards Mike

Glad that you got things sorted and can now move on with the decoder. regards Mke

Hi Craig, Enlarging the print on the tablet, shows that it is definitely an ex LMS Diag 2046 Inspection Saloon, the give away is the centre drop light, never a feature of the ex GWR Q13 Inspection Saloons. As to a running number, who knows, but certainly starts DM 450xx sorry that I cannot be more accurate. kind regards Mike

The Zimo MX699KV duly arrived from YouChoos, with two of their 40x18x7 IceCube double speakers and t was then a case of disentangling the Heljan wiring - a backward step compared with the Class 50 but fairly straightforward the KV version of the MX699 is a bit of an overkill in as much as you can programme 14 functions and I only needed two! thankfully the windscreen wipers and drivers door windows don't come with any motors fitted. On the plus side, it comes with three hefty capacitors fitted as a 'stay alive'. there is sufficient space beneath the decoder to fit both speakers side by side, having first lined both sides of the cavity with a strip of insulating tape as protection against the soldered terminals on the speakers. Heljan have persisted with their sized PCB as opposed to the industry standards decoders, hence the plasticard carrier plate screwed to the pylons and the decoder then screwed to the carrier plate - another backward step from that supplied with the Class 50. It will be interesting to see if the 'reworked' Hymek retains the old Heljan details inside the chassis! It has been commented on on other Forum that these new 33s are not fitted with the twin red lights as the first run were. There is a red LED fitted at each end, fed by the yellow/green wires as seen in photos i & 2 in post #7 above - the problem lies with the 'prismatic strip' that Heljan have used to transfer the light to the lens - it just about gets to the end. I am considering replacing the fitted system with LEDs to each lamp position, which would be a bit of a nuisance because I am thinking that they would have to be fitted to the body rather than the chassis which makes it awkward when taking the body off of the chassis and probably the reason that Heljan took the route that they did. Having said all of the above, I am really pleased with the loco, still awaiting the nameplate and finalising the weathering and bearing all of that in mind, here is a short video of the loco on the rolling road, with only one of the two speakers connected - hope you enjoy it regards Mike

Hi Al, I think that what you are seeing is a slight distortion caused by using a 14mm focal length lens close to the object. I have run the loco for nearly two hours since taking that photo and it is running very quietly and without any signs of any sideways movement. I hope that it continues in this manner. kind regards Mike

I have the nameplate 'Seafire' on order and rather than wait for that, I have now attached the 'Arrows of In distinction' and the depot plate and before anybody shouts out, Rule 1 applies - Hither Green was my nearest mpd in my youth and all 33s were initially allocated there and whilst I like the Eastleigh 'Spitfire' and all that that means, I had to have the Oast Houses. DCC installation will follow after fitting the supplied dampers to the No1 bogie and then the weathering. regards Mike

just to complete the picture as it were, the gear train - nothing changed here, but hopefully, non splitting gear wheels! regards Mike

as requested, herewith pictures with the lid off - the usual 4 screws outboard of the bogie swivel bracket and thankfully, no prizzing out of the bodywork, it just lifts off first glance reveals neat and tidy work, but then you notice that NMRA wiring standards are out of the window - so much for the signs of progress on this with the Class 50 and what appears to be a reversion of the right hand bogie being wired into the left hand side of the PCB as in the Class 50 which resulted no need to extend any wires to suit the Zimo decoder. close up of the PCB with no visible concerns as to which wire goes where looks like a standard Heljan mtor and gearbox. the PCB lifted to reveal a space for a speaker or two - 50mm x 40mm and a hole on the left hand side for wires to go to the fual tank speaker void which is 55mm x 45mm. The big downside is that Heljan have reverted to the old fixing spacing arrangement and not provided the reversible strips with alternative spacings for the decoder board to fix onto again as in the Class 50. I will fit a carrier plate for the decoder and hope that not too much 'milling' will be required to allow clearance for the new fixing bolts etc. Now that I know what space I have for speakers, an order to YouChoos seems on the cards. More postings next week. regards Mike

and a short video regards Mike

Hi admiles, I ordered mine from Antics yesterday @ 09.05 and it was delivered today @ 10.30, seen here running on the Wirral OGG layout Wirral Parkway this afternoon, pulling 29 wagons, starting on the curve and pulled away on less than 5 volts. will be getting the body off tomorrow to see inside and then decide on speakers to go with a Zimo MX699KS regards Mike

My Dutch liveried 33 arrived this morning - all well out of the box, nothing missing or fallen off. Will give it a good blow at the Club this afternoon and then look inside the body later to check space availability for speakers - the so called instruction sheet says "To convert your class 33 model into DCC, simply remove the PCB and replace it with your chosen O Gauge decoder. No need to cut or do anything else to convert your model into DCC" we shall see! regards Mike

1985 in the South West........................... actually on the Wirral Parkway layout at the Wirral O Gauge Group in Birkenhead - next Open Day Sunday 9th February 2020 regards Mike

Hi Ollie, thanks for the heads up. Sounds like a probable late birthday present then. regards Mike

Hi Ollie, was there any news of the Class 33? regards Mike

I have now installed the Zimo MX699KS decoder and two Ice Cube speakers and am very pleased with the results. It was a welcome 'find' in the manner that Heljan had wired up their pcb - taking the wires from the right hand side to the screw terminals on the left hand side and vice versa, meant that the wires as fitted were long enough to be fitted on to the MX699KS without having to lengthen some as was the usual case in the past. In the photos above, I had not installed any resistors into the lighting circuits and all was well when I applied power to the decoder, in hindsight, I have now inserted resistors to be on the safe side. Is this an 'overkill' because Heljan have resistors in the circuit off of their pcb? regards Mike

Hi BR(S) many thanks for your post. I am aware of the left hand light, it is the right hand light that concerned me in as much as there is a red lens fitted on the model, which now appears to do nothing but act as a ‘reflector’ at least on the Hymek and others, the right hand lens was over a ‘white’ running light. Just seems a waste of a fitting. kind regards Mike

Hi PM, many thanks for your response. I have ordered my Zimo MX699KS + two Icecube speakers, so hopefully fun and games in the near future. I have noticed that on my model, which I have yet to remove the body from the chassis, when looking at it 'end on' the right hand red light does not illuminate while the left hand one does - did the right hand one illuminate in real life? One other question, is the handbrake lever and chain part of the chassis or is it fixed to the body and therefore needs to be disconnected as part of the body/chassis operation? kind regards and a merry Christmas Mike

Hi uk.pm, many thanks for the info, could I ask a question or two please - did you retain the Heljan pcb, did you have to fit resistors to the lighting circuits and did the speakers go in the fuel tanks? Also, why is the (-) wire on the headlight purple and not blue? Thanks Mike

Here is 50047, next stop the DCC installation then the weathering. Very pleased with things so far. regards Mike