DC blanking plate for N Class 68

[Bomag]

After Christmas I got to try my sound fitted Class 68 (2D-022-004S).  Unfortunately after less than two foot it stopped on Kato point and died (everything other locos works fine over it). Hattons are not interested so I was thinking of getting a DC blanking plate to see if  its the the DCC chip which has gone (I am OK to run it on DC i without sound f it is a cheap fix).

 

It says in the manual its a NEXT 18 chip, does this mean it has 18 pins? On the Dapol/dccsupplies spares website there are two different blanking plates, does anybody know if one or both are OK - also are these things universal, I have a packet of DV blanking plates for the fairish Cl37/4, will these do?  Any help, including pointing me any instructions/guides, would be appreciated.

 

While everybody has there own expectations on customer support, I do wish shops would attempt to help instead of saying go to somewhere else. Another one off the list.

 

 

[Dungrange]

The NEXT 18 interface does indeed have 18 pins and therefore you will need to fit a NEXT 18 blanking plate if you want to remove the sound decoder and run on DC.  However, any NEXT 18 blanking plate will do - it's not model or manufacturer specific.  Are you sure one didn't come with the model?  Unfortunately, I think the Farish Class 37 has the older six pin interface, so blanking plates from these will not be suitable, but interfaces do change over time.

 

However, if the locomotive was bought new from Hattons with sound fitted by them or the manufacturer then I would return it to them as faulty.  It may be that it has shorted out on the point which has destroyed the decoder, but if other stock works fine through that point, then it would imply that the issue was maybe the back-to-back on one of the wheel-sets of the Class 68, which would arguably make it faulty model.  Of course if that was the problem, the question is why your Command Station did not shut down quickly enough and the answer to that is usually inadequate wiring.

[jpendle]

Hi,

 

You might be able to run the loco on DC even with the decoder fitted. Most modern decoders will run on DC unless this feature has been explicitly turned off.

 

A Next18 decoder does have 18 pins but they are in a very small connector on the PCB. They don't stick out like on the 6 pin chips.

 

The only 2 blanking plates I can see on the DCCSupplies website are 6 pin so they won't fit.

 

The Farish Cl37 uses a 6 pin decoder so they won't work either, although I don't know what you mean by DV blanking plates.

 

If the 68 is still under warranty then I would expect that it can be fixed by Dapol, and assuming you bought it from Hattons they should be prepared to help as well.

 

BTW I have two types of Dapol loco with Next18 sockets and the blanking plates for them are NOT the same. The CL66 blanking plate has a switch on it the CL68 does not.

 

You need to be looking for a CL68 Next18 blanking plate just to be sure.

 

Regards,

 

John P

[jpendle]

1 minute ago, Dungrange said:

However, any NEXT 18 blanking plate will do - it's not model or manufacturer specific.  

This is NOT the case.

 

As I just posted, the Dapol CL66 Next18 blanking plate has a switch on it to control the lights when running on DC. The CL68 blanking plate does not. While it may be possible to use either on each model it's not necessarily a case of just plugging it on and trying it.

 

Regards,

 

John P

[Bomag]

Thanks for the replies, I will look for a suitable plate.  Unfortunately it was a present for Christmas 2019; due to structural repairs the whole railway was packed away until Christmas 2020 so it never got tested. I may have a case on Sale of Goods act but quite frankly I would just rather not buy from them again, particularly as they won't even honour the basic 12 month warranty.

[Dungrange]

43 minutes ago, Bomag said:

Thanks for the replies, I will look for a suitable plate.  Unfortunately it was a present for Christmas 2019; due to structural repairs the whole railway was packed away until Christmas 2020 so it never got tested. I may have a case on Sale of Goods act but quite frankly I would just rather not buy from them again, particularly as they won't even honour the basic 12 month warranty.

 

But surely if it was bought as a present before Christmas 2019 and was not reported as faulty until after Christmas 2020, then the 12 month warranty has expired.  Obviously the contract of sale is with the retailer, but since more than 12 months have now passed, would it be worthwhile contacting Dapol directly since it looks like the spare (blanking plate) that you need isn't available via their website?

[Bomag]

1 hour ago, Dungrange said:

 

But surely if it was bought as a present before Christmas 2019 and was not reported as faulty until after Christmas 2020, then the 12 month warranty has expired.  Obviously the contract of sale is with the retailer, but since more than 12 months have now passed, would it be worthwhile contacting Dapol directly since it looks like the spare (blanking plate) that you need isn't available via their website?

 

The response was we only deal with it for 6 months; if they had said bring it in and we will give you a quote to fix it it would not have been so bad.

 

As you said the 18 pin blanking plate is not on the website; hopefully Dapol will be able to help - they have been a bit hit and miss in previous cases.

[Guest Half-full]

16 hours ago, Bomag said:

Thanks for the replies, I will look for a suitable plate.  Unfortunately it was a present for Christmas 2019; due to structural repairs the whole railway was packed away until Christmas 2020 so it never got tested. I may have a case on Sale of Goods act but quite frankly I would just rather not buy from them again, particularly as they won't even honour the basic 12 month warranty.

Do you mean a present for 2018?  Christmas 2020 hasn't happened yet.

 

This may help you... http://www.Dapol.co.uk/PDF/warrantyformv1.docx

 

If the loco has a 'W' code then its covered with a 24 month warranty, therefore Hattons' should have helped you, if not then they are within their rights not to help out.

 

DCC Supplies are the main service agent for Dapol loco's