Class 37, by Accurascale

[ERIC ALLTORQUE]

3 minutes ago, James Makin said:

 

Thanks, I hoped that some might find this useful! I first read about the toothbrush method in Model Rail magazine back in the heady early days when I was cutting my teeth in the hobby (pun intended) - the likes of masters Darren Sherwood, Dave Lowery and Chris Leigh upgrading Lima diesels in the late 90s - the toothbrush bristle technique served me well as I've never had a broken aerial since!

Whats your dentist think,your toothbrush must be getting bald as you have a few jobs under your belt now James.........your the Vincent of model rail young fella.

[Damo666]

16 hours ago, aeroplane said:

James' Flickr account has larger images

https://www.flickr.com/photos/196023486@N08

 

 

Whilst James's Flickr site has bigger pictures, not all the steps in the Acurascale blog are shown.

 

However, I've just seen that James has kindly replicated many of the images in his own blog here on RMWeb and they are full screen size. So thanks to all.

 

Edited November 30, 2023 by Damo666

[SulzerPeak]

Wow! The best weathering i have ever seen. Pure genius

[dasatcopthorne]

Finally, last evening I had a chance to test me 37001 after having it for a week.

 

Oh dear. Not happy.

 

First thing is the sound cuts out on start up. I use a power cab.

I remembered something in this thread so tracked it down and found the bit about reducing the sound. How ridiculous!

Anyway, it worked but it is too quiet to hear at an exhibition.

 

Lovely model and the flange squeal is great. BUT. I have to fiddle with more keys than should be necessary to turn it on.

Key 2 states 'Brake' but it is only the sound and has no effect. Key 2 on NCE equipment is usually the horn, so the Horn button also gives you a brake release sound.

 

Several other functions are beyond the easily to hand keys of an NCE throttle.

 

I don't mind making one or two changes to  a chip but this is too much to pay for a lot of fiddling. I pre-ordered mine and I don't remember seeing anything about it requiring a certain level of power before it will fully function.

 

Sorry Accurascale, you can have it back or I will eBay it and make some money.

 

Dave.

 

 

 

Edited December 6, 2023 by dasatcopthorne

[The Meerkat]

i had to turn my 97301 and my ROG 37 down as it was doing the same thing. i do agree with you that it is now to quiet, tho im keeping mine,  yes most mine even the AS class 92 on f2 is horns etc same with most other models i have i use Hornby elite so not much of an issue for me, just need to remember on 37s that f2 isnt the horn,

 

i think Bachmann 66s horns are on f3 and f4 (factory fitted sound)

[SulzerPeak]

If you read back a few pages there are some cv modifications to get around this problem. It worked for me but unfortunately I’ve had the clogged up commutator problems. I’ve now returned 3 for repair over a month ago and still waiting.

[Alcanman]

I've followed this thread since the beginning and now glad that I didn't pre-order. Sadly, too many issues with the sound fitted models for me to buy one.

 

I'm sure there are plenty of happy buyers, but it seems like 'pot luck' whether or not you receive a 'good 'un'.

 

 

[McC]

23 hours ago, Alcanman said:

I've followed this thread since the beginning and now glad that I didn't pre-order. Sadly, too many issues with the sound fitted models for me to buy one.

 

I'm sure there are plenty of happy buyers, but it seems like 'pot luck' whether or not you receive a 'good 'un'.

 

Issues with any extremely large batch like the 37's are completely the norm and to be expected. Unfortunate when a customer is impacted, but our return rate is well below industry norms, and in real terms, a tiny % of the overall volumes shipped. You can read (literally) over 8,000 verified customer reviews on our website (and class 37’s alone we’ve delivered several times that number in volume), confirming just that, and our support team take great pride in looking after any exceptions swiftly. 

Edited December 6, 2023 by McC

[Roy Langridge]

1 hour ago, Alcanman said:

I've followed this thread since the beginning and now glad that I didn't pre-order. Sadly, too many issues with the sound fitted models for me to buy one.

 

I'm sure there are plenty of happy buyers, but it seems like 'pot luck' whether or not you receive a 'good 'un'.

 

 

I have six sound fitted and have had no such issues with my ZTC601 set up.
 

You have to ask yourself why some people have a near 100% failure rate and work out that there is probably a common cause. Not criticising those people, but I suspect there is an issue with their set up that leads to these failures. 
 

Roy

Edited December 5, 2023 by Roy Langridge

[D.Platt]

I’m purely a DC modeller , to many engines to go DDC and no desire for sound , I have a friend who did go down the DDC road and he hasn’t a clue how to re-program anything and I would bet he’s not on his own.

 

As for my D6703 absolutely lovely model . Along with my Deltic the best RTR loco I have ever bought .

[Krieghoff]

As has been said many times before. Let the loco stand for a short while to let the stay alive charge up. I have reduced CV 63 on mine down to 180 from 192 and taken them back up again with no issues whatsoever. I cannot speak for others but my control set up allows me to increase the volt/amp set up to ensure that sufficient current is flowing to the track. I am aware that not all power controllers can do this. 
 

reach out to the tech team at Accurascale and have a chat with them. I am positive that they will help anyone out that is having problems with set up/running. 

[tinsley-toton]

5x37s and 1x55 and not a single problem with any of them 👍

[tlm]

I confess to having an obscene number of AS 37s (for some reason my wife thinks I've become an obsessive . . . !). I have made several posts in this thread, including the CV adjustments to obtain maximum engine volume. I have also dared to be critical (albeit more particularly of another manufacturer's product), which has resulted in my posts now having to be approved by a moderator before publication.

 

Yes, these 37s have their issues, but I love em.

 

Each time I operate any of them still running with the standard DCC Sound factory set up, my first step before engine start-up, even if they've been sitting with lights on for a while, is to reduce CV63 to at least 150, and with some of the locos even to a value of 100 as there is variation between individual locos, though whether this arises from individual decoders or from some of the individual locos' own circuitry I don't know, but then let's not forget that the real thing isn't just switch on and drive off.

 

During the few minutes after start-up I then gradually ramp up the sound, usually in two stages, and as a quick reminder to those who haven't yet tried it, the ultimate sound values for the engine (power unit) itself using the standard factory fitted twin speaker set up are CV63=192, then CV 32=1 and CV 259=255. For other sounds see page 94 of the Loksound v5 manual.

 

As others have mentioned, there are several potential reasons for the sound cut out on start up with the CV (particularly CV63) values too high. Speaking personally, and I'd be the first to acknowledge that I'm no expert, having experimented with different speakers and in particular disconnecting the sugar cube speaker, it's the sugar cube for me that is the issue. The decoder is meant to work with speaker(s) at a minimum of 4 ohms, but I measured the factory fitted setup with the Accurathrash and sugar cube together running at 2.1 ohms to 2.4 ohms - hardly surprising then that there's an issue which simply isn't there with the sugar cube disconnected. With the base and treble adjustments included with the latest V5 firmware it's easy to adjust the reproduction on the main speaker to suit and to give subtle variations between locos.

 

Looking forward to the next batch.

[McC]

Just to nip the Resistance conversation the entire circuit, integrated circuits and protocols on the board were designed by ESU specifically for this locomotive, Loksound v5 and this speaker configuration so removing the sugar cube -is not- recommended. 

[97406]

I have 3 sound fitted examples, use an NCE Power Cab and they perform just fine. They are the locos I use to haul the track cleaning wagon around the layout due to the thrash, so that’s quite a load. The only problem with the Power Cab in general is if I leave any other loco on the layout with a small amount of throttle and switch to a different loco, but the bulbs in the short circuit protection glow if that happens.

[NHY 581]

13 hours ago, Alcanman said:

I've followed this thread since the beginning and now glad that I didn't pre-order. Sadly, too many issues with the sound fitted models for me to buy one.

 

I'm sure there are plenty of happy buyers, but it seems like 'pot luck' whether or not you receive a 'good 'un'.

 

 

 

 

This is the problem with being led by what is being posted on a forum. You must remember that for every issue highlighted on here there are literally hundreads of satisfied customers. Not every Accurascale customer is on RMweb. If you are worried,buy from a retailer, collect the model and have it tested before leaving the shop. Any reputable retailer will do this without being prompted and should do this before posting out to avoid any drama for the customer. 

 

 

13 hours ago, McC said:

 

Issues with any extremely large batch like the 37's are completely the norm and to be expected. Unfortunate when a customer is impacted, but our return rate is well below industry norms, and in real terms, a tiny % of the overall volumes shipped. You can read (literally) over 8,000 verified customer reviews on our website, confirming just that, and our support team take great pride in looking after any exceptions swiftly. 

 

 

Agreed. I work at an Accurascale stockist. To the best of my knowledge,  we've not had cause to raise a return with yourselves regarding any of the 37s......On a personal level, I raised a minor, self generated 'issue' with the support team who could not have acted quicker to resolve 'my little problem' ( Top lad, Simon !) . 

 

Rob

[55020]

If the issue some are facing with the volume was associated with the hardware (speaker setup), then I would assume just about every model out there would be having the sound cut out.  I have no issues with any of my three 37s, or the three 55s for that matter, being started and run on full volume.

 

Could it be that users aren't waiting a short while between layout power being applied and then hitting F1??  The idea that reducing the volume and then increasing it again after start seems odd to me from a hardware perpective, but if it works ...... !

 

Permanently reducing the volume ever so slightly appears to provide an easy solution based on what people have been posting, with one post indicating that reducing CV 63 from the max value of 192 to as high as 185 worked for them.  For those that say "it's now too quiet", I cannot perceive any difference in volume between these two figures.  Using a sound level meter, recorded about 1cm above the model, the difference between a value of 192 and 160 was about 2dB.  Not huge!

 

 

Steve

Edited December 6, 2023 by 55020

[97406]

13 hours ago, Roy Langridge said:

I have six sound fitted and have had no such issues with my ZTC601 set up.
 

You have to ask yourself why some people have a near 100% failure rate and work out that there is probably a common cause. Not criticising those people, but I suspect there is an issue with their set up that leads to these failures. 
 

Roy

 

Yes, I often think that the ‘failures’ under those circumstances are merely the symptom of a larger issue with the setup the loco is running on. There’s certainly a lot of power in the little beasties!

[E100]

Probably more of one for the DCC forum but is there any possible issue with initially overloading systems if we (in 5 -10 years) have a full fleet of 15 stay alive fitted locos and coaches also equipped especially if we have circuit breakers set for normal use?

[The Stationmaster]

15 hours ago, Alcanman said:

I've followed this thread since the beginning and now glad that I didn't pre-order. Sadly, too many issues with the sound fitted models for me to buy one.

 

I'm sure there are plenty of happy buyers, but it seems like 'pot luck' whether or not you receive a 'good 'un'.

 

 

There is an old - and very true - saying that 'One Swallow does not make a summer'. The exact opposite is also true - a handful of people who have problems with their loco does not mean that it is a bad product.  And A/S do have someone who can deal with issues - that's probably far more effective than blabbing on here.

[97406]

I must say that if I have anything negative to say about the product, I’ll contact support first rather that bad-mouth about it all on here. If I ever got a bad response from a manufacturer then maybe, but there hasn’t been in this case or in any case so far. Far from it!

[LaGrange]

6 minutes ago, 97406 said:

I must say that if I have anything negative to say about the product, I’ll contact support first rather that bad-mouth about it all on here. If I ever got a bad response from a manufacturer then maybe, but there hasn’t been in this case or in any case so far. Far from it!

 

Naturally - but people just have to get their opinion out there, whether it is good, bad or just un-necessary. 

[Dougjuk]

4 hours ago, McC said:

Just to nip the Resistance conversation the entire circuit, integrated circuits and protocols on the board were designed by ESU specifically for this locomotive, Loksound v5 and this speaker configuration so removing the sugar cube -is not- recommended. 

 

 

So just to check, you have worked with ESU to run this chip below the 4 ohm recommendations ?

 

I have 37001 and it has been fine from the start, I run it with cv63 at 70 and its loud enough in my small room.
 

I have tested over 100 of these locos over this year and I would say it was about 1 in 10 that cut out on first start up, when they were turned down they worked fine.
 

The only issue I am having is one of the sanding pipes seems to be getting dragged on the ballast.

[McC]

6 minutes ago, Dougjuk said:

 

 

So just to check, you have worked with ESU to run this chip below the 4 ohm recommendations ?

 

The only issue I am having is one of the sanding pipes seems to be getting dragged on the ballast.

 

- ESU designed the entire circuit, their bespoke IC's are on board, and the entire thing is designed for the speaker pair on board.

 

- The sanding pipes are a scale length, and can easily be trimmed shorter should your layout curves / points require. 

 

Hope that helps!

[Roy Langridge]

3 hours ago, E100 said:

Probably more of one for the DCC forum but is there any possible issue with initially overloading systems if we (in 5 -10 years) have a full fleet of 15 stay alive fitted locos and coaches also equipped especially if we have circuit breakers set for normal use?

Simply put, yes. That is why DCC should have districts with each fed with enough current to feed locos on that district. 
 

DCC is fantastic, but it can’t defy the law of physics whereby supply has to meet demand. 
 

Roy