john dew

Hi Phil I am so sorry to hear of your troubles. Have you fitted circuit breakers (PBX) like we discussed many moons ago? If you have your locos should always be safe regardless. Best wishes Concerned in Vancouver

Thanks Keith I have that modification of yours filed away on the to do list unless I can find a work around.......So far I have only done a very limited amount of testing on how Turn Control and TC work together.......although what I have done was awesome! Regards John

I am safe.....I cook the curries in our house and I have a new teflon wok sub! Cheers John

Quite so! Regards John

Not up to Nick and Larry's standard. but I think I qualify According to my wife I devote a serious amount of my time (dont mention money) to Granby and its definitely fully ballasted....... .see post #955 http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/2773-granby-junction-00-gwrlms-1947-1948/page-39?hl=granby . Regards from Vancouver John

"I can now continue ballasting........this time with the turntable securely covered!" New jar of ballast with screw cap and sprinkle option Tin helmet firmly in place

Thanks Bob I must admit to being very relieved and you are dead right, this forum is indeed an invaluable resource. Other than the circuit board I doubt if Fleischmann have changed the design in 40 years. I bought an oldish second hand one in 1994, its still working in the storage yard, and the mechanics appear identical. Its a very robust piece of kit....I have seen it described as bullet proof......although its clearly not ballast proof! However I can hardly blame Fleischmann for the actions of a clumsy,careless geriatric! Best wishes John

Everyone likes a happy ending I replaced the circuit board......not sure now that I needed to.......and after a lot of fiddling with the motor unit assembly and the circuit board it now responds perfectly to the controller. Many thanks for all the help and support and particularly to "Daltonparva" for the time and patience you devoted to advising me.......couldnt have done it without you. Regards from Vancouver John

Everyone likes a happy ending...........and I dont just mean the Rugby! Normal service is about to be resumed at Granby. On my please help post a guy with the nom de plume "Daltonparva" was very helpful and patiently took me through a series of tests designed to identify the problem (s) with the turntable I found that the underside of the bridge is a mixture of ingenious technology combined with a dash of Heath Robinson A solenoid activated either manually (by the little plastic lever) or electrically through the multi contact slip ring on the circuit board operates the motor. The motor through a worm and a series of gear wheels culminating in the large toothed wheel on the left propels the bridge. At each exit track or step, the spring on the right of the motor unit propels the whole unit forward deactivating the solenoid and stopping the motor. If current continues to be applied to the solenoid, either because the lever remains depressed or through the control switch, then the stop is momentary. The solenoid is re activated, the motor starts and the bridge advances to the next step. Very ingenious but the lever mechanism is more than a little Heath Robinson To cut a long story short the motor unit was stripped down.....once the ballast clogging the worm and gear wheels had been removed the motor worked fine as did the solenoid and its associated lever/switch mechanism. However the bridge still would not respond to the controller although I could hear the solenoid clicking This lead me to believe that the circuit board unit had been damaged....the slip ring had been scarred by the ballast. I was able to get a spare from Gaugemaster which arrived yesterday. Once wired up to my horror the unit still would not respond to the controller. After a couple of hours stripping and assembling the motor unit (I am now quite expert) I finally got it to respond. I am not entirely sure what it was that I rectified.......I am beginning to think that one of the spring contacts to the slip ring may have been mis aligned. Whatever.....it works and I am a very relieved modeller! I can now continue ballasting........this time with the turntable securely covered! Regards from Vancouver John

Same with me. Hattons sent mine to Oxford to be repaired.....faulty gear wheel/worm drive. Oxford sent it back to Hattons reporting that all was well...they changed the wheel set. When it arrived Canada....no movement at all.....took the body off and applied power to the motor terminals.......nothing......its now on its way back across the Atlantic. Hopefully it will be third time lucky for me!

I have tried with the basic switch but the same result just a click The contact from either switch is to the slip ring which has been scratched by the ballast Not a great photo but you can see some of the marks Regards John

Well I had faith and I have now stripped and assembled a Fleischmann 6152C turntable motor sub assembly.....wow! There were bits of ballast clogging the worm gear preventing the motor from turning. Once they were all cleaned out and the sub unit re- assembled....with the help and advice of two dogs and Mrs D.......the relay works and the motor turns the cog wheel. When returned to the turntable the lever manualy activates the motor and the bridge turns......all good news.....the bad news is that it still will not respond to the controller. I will do a few more tests tomorrow but I suspect the scratches on the slip ring. Thank you again for your advice and encouragement....I doubt if I would have got this far without your help John

Bad news With 12v DC the relay works exactly as you described....with the contact maintained and the relay closed I connected the yellow to the blue.....no movement or sound from the motor.....nothing I will try and check the blue wire continuity but it looks as though I have to dismantle the motor housing

Thanks again.......I did say I was lacking in electro mechanical knowledge. I will check as instructed with 12 v DC........... I have just looked at the motor assembly video.....I sure hope I dont have to do that! Cheers

Fleischmann specified 14-18v AC so I used power from the transformer that I used to supply the TT when it was working......trust that is ok? When I apply power to the Black and Yellow tags : The relay moves as does the lever and the contact closes but the solenoid ( I think) buzzes and continus to buzz. The motor does not turn. If I apply power direct to the blue and black tags near the motor there is quieter buzzing sound (this time from the motor ) but no movement I think the application of the lever may be different on my model. Pushed one way it disengages the big cog wheel. Pushed the other it closes the contacts. If the lever is depressed and immediately released the motor moves the bridge to the next track. If depressed and held the motor rotates the bridge until the lever is released when it stops at the next track. I am still able to do that.......hence my comment the motor is working......... ......now I am confused

Hi Grahame Thank you for the video......its a slightly different model but it helped me understand the test Daltonparvae suggested.....I think we are getting there! When its working its a super piece of kit. Kind regards

Many thanks for all the hearts gentlemen....quite morale boosting Thanks for the good wishes Tinker ......I just got a useful reply to my help post.....fingers crossed Glad your Dean tested ok. Cant recollect whether you have standardised on Lenz Chips? If you have , bear in mind its a very very tight fit to squeeze a standard into the tender.....hence my carving out mod! You may be better with a Silver Mini. Best wishes

I am afraid I wouldnt get much after the deductible and I would lose my no claims bonus. Hopefully I can repair it once I identify the fault. Thank you the suggestion though Regards John

Thank you.....thats exactly what I was hoping for.....I just wasnt sure which wires did what. I am pretty confident the motor itself is ok because it works fine if the grey lever is manually depressed.......the click (but no movement) when the controller is used seemed to me to indicate the relay had failed......its morning here and I have to out.....I will check as you suggest later in the day and report back. What are your thoughts on the scratched surface of the slip ring on the PCB component? Thanks again John

I am afraid the answer to your questions is .....not withTC Silver but yes ( in a variety of ways) with the more expensive TC Gold. If you havent already done so I would suggest that you download the user manual, its free and covers both silver and gold. The exclusive gold options are clearly identified in the text. I have been using TC for over 10 years and am very happy with it. I suspect, having read and enjoyed your posts elsewhere, that you will not find TC Silver a significant improvement over Itrain. TC Gold is an entirely different matter....albeit at a much higher cost. Good luck with your decision making.......happy to try and answer any other questions you may have

This is not so much an update.....more a tale of woe! While pressing on with the ballasting, I clumsily knocked over a jar of ballast ....emptying the contents into the well of the turntable. Not surprisingly the turntable no longer works. Its immensely frustrating not least because I am not sufficiently competent electro mechanically to determine what part needs to be replaced...always assuming i can obtain and fit the component. Keith (Melmerby) is kindly helping me from afar and if you are at all interested you can read my cry for help here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/forum/25-modelling-questions-help-and-tips/ In February I bought an Oxford Dean Goods from Hattons. It turned out to be a poor runner and finally ceased running. Hattons would not replace it because I told them I had invalidated the warranty (trimmed the interior of the tender to accommodate the decoder, painted the hand rails). After some discussion they agreed that i could return the loco and they would then send it on to oxford for repair. On wednesday the loco was finally returned to me. Oxford had replaced the wheelset and tested the loco giving it a clean bill of health. i put the loco on the DC test track.....zero movement. Took the body off and connected the motor terminals direct to the DC....nothing. The motor isnt resting , its clearly nailed to its perch and dead. Its back in its box and ready to go back accross the Atlantic to Hattons for onward transmission to Oxford.......a much travelled Dean...I just wish it was collecting air miles for me! All in all, a less than perfect week. On the other hand we are both fit and healthy and the weather is gorgeous...we will have a bumper crop of apples and plums.......one must retain a sense of perspective. Ps i will say nothing about the rugby.

Earlier this year I installed a new Fleischmann 6152C turntable along with a Fleischmann 6915 DCC Control unit The installation was successful and the TT and controller worked very well until last week when, while ballasting the the exit tracks, I clumsily knocked an open jar of ballast into the turntable well! . Having carefully removed all the debris I now find, perhaps not surprisingly, that the turntable no longer works using either the 6915 Control Unit or the more basic switch that came with the TT. The manual lever however can still be used to activate the motor and move the bridge. If I attempt to use either switch there is an audible click from the bridge but no actual movement. Its beyond my level of competence to determine which component needs to be replaced and I would really appreciate any suggestions about how to go about diagnosing the source of the problem Here is a shot of the underside of the bridge On the right is a circuit board which is connected by the multi contact slip ring to the control unit. The surface of the slip ring is quite scratched. I assume by the ballast but I dont really know because I removed the bridge for the first time after the accident. The circuit board is readily obtainable as a replacement.........any suggestions how I can establish if the slip ring surface is the problem? On the left is the motor unit. As I understand it the bridge "steps" around the turntable as a result of the solenoid being activated (or de activated?) by the control unit. The motor, when activated manually, turns the bridge smoothly. When the controller is used there is no movement but there is an audible click from the bridge..... multiple clicks if I select multiple steps rather than just one. This leads me to question if the solenoid is functioning correctly...........is there anyway to test this? Lastly if the solenoid is faulty is it possible for an amateur like me to replace it..........the complete motor sub unit is expensive Any advice would be much appreciated......obviously right now I am not a happy camper!

I believe so Robin......it was a war time requirement but I dont think it was reversed.

Thanks for the heads up Robin.....I was looking at that range yesterday and wondered if it could be adapted to GWR stock I need to brand 8 Dapol 40 ton mineral wagons as GW Loco coal .....I guess Modelmasters will not be an option Regards John

I needed a qualified like button......you could hardly expect me to like the last para ......but I remain friendly and supportive!