DJH Skinhead

Discussion in 'DCC Sound' started by Kimbo, Jun 9, 2020.

  1. Kimbo

    Kimbo Staff Member Moderator

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    A class 31 skin head arrived on the bench this week from Paul, aka Stratford TMD, for a sound installation.


    This is a beast of a loco, very heavy.


    Paul purchased the kit and commissioned Richard Pogson to build, paint and detail the loco.
    I believe this is a DJH kit using possibly Heljan motors which drive a Chain to the second axle, so each bogie is driven from the outer axles, centre axle free wheeling.


    Fuel tank, a good position for the speaker normally is a solid lump of cast metal, removed first to have a peak inside.



    to remove the bogies the cover plate has to be removed to expose the screw and washer that hold the bogie assembly in place.



    Lighting at no 1 end

    Second bogie needs to be removed


    looks like Richard has used a Heljan board to help with the wiring up of the loco



    Whoops loose wire off the motor, that will need re soldering.


    so now to see where speaker and the ESU XL V 5 will fit


    possible location in the rear, but all the wires from one end would need extending.

    Speaker location at no1 end looks a goer once the securing tabs have been cut off



    a better location for the decoder looks to be on the inner surface of the fuel tank.


    so out with some thick double sided tape and secure the decoder



    XL has screw terminals so nice and straight forward to wire up.


    Re assemble and test.

    Normally the large Heljan locos run fine from the word go, but this model ran like the proverbial pig, stuttering, then “pulsing” along and only running smoothly at faster speeds. Now I’ve experienced this only once before, with my Ace 9F which again is a very heavy model, it ran exactly the same as this one.

    so how to fix it. Well cv 2 start voltage cv 3, cv4, cv5, cv6 and cv61 all need checking and adjusting but from experience the best way to set up the motor control on an ESU decoder, is to pop the loco on a straight piece of track, set the throttle to zero, check the direction of travel is clear for a good meter of track, then set cv 54 to 0. Come out of the program mode on your controller and only press F1, the loco will shoot off at high speed then stop dead. You will then find that the loco will perform perfectly, which I’m glad to say this one does. She’s a little noisey at slow crawl but it’s not surprising considering the weight and the use of a chain drive.
    Hopefully get a video up of it performing on Pauls layout.

    Kim
     
    Last edited: Jun 9, 2020
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  2. Toto

    Toto I'm best ignored Staff Member Founder Administrator

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    A lovely model. I look forward to the video and sounds. Nice one. :thumbs:
     
  3. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    F1 ? That’s normally sound on/off?
    I’m interested on this test you did. Is it only on the ESU decoders?
     
  4. Kimbo

    Kimbo Staff Member Moderator

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    As far as I know Andy, this will work with all the ESU decoders.
    Yes correct but for some reason F1 pressed afternoon setting cv 54 to 0 will allow the chip to calibrate the motor settings. So after it’s shot forward the locomotive will automatically stop and the identified load compensation parameters will be saved in CVs 51, 52, 53, 54 and 55.
    :thumbs:
    kim
     
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  5. Kimbo

    Kimbo Staff Member Moderator

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    Should be one out tomorrow :thumbs:
     
  6. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    Wonder if that works with the OO ones too? Or just the PCB o gauge ones?
     
  7. Kimbo

    Kimbo Staff Member Moderator

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    Andy, I’ve checked the Zimo web site and there’s no mention of using cv54 on its own, so this might be only an option on just the ESU decoders, sound version and lokpilot.
    With oo gauge installs, cv 51 and 52 only really work for slow speed control if you make sure all motor capacitors between motor and chassis are removed.
    Kim
     
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  8. Kimbo

    Kimbo Staff Member Moderator

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    As promised, a little clip of the skinhead and a very silent class 31 on the revised track plan at Pauls today. We’ve also turned the whole layout around to suit the future plans of a mainline run around the garage...So Class 31 skinhead with Leggomanbiffo sound file on a ESU XLv5......hope you enjoy the video.
     
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