RETIRED GUY PROJECTS

[Kusojiji]

My KOTODEN commuter started stalling on the rail, which was puzzling, so I cleaned the wheels and it still stalled. I turned the cabin lights on and they went out as soon as I lifted the loco off the rail. I checked the power going to the SPP-Nano stay alive and found that it was only getting 11.7 vdc from the decoder. I checked the manual and the range for the SPP-Nano is 12-24 vdc. I inserted a ToM decoder in and saw that it was sending 12.8 vdc to the SPP. Lights remained on after lifting, so that's it. I have to make a new stay alive like I have in my MO510.

KOTODEN

MO510

I just need to solder the caps to the board and add the wires. I hope it fits...

 

[Kusojiji]

Woke up this morning, had a cup o' joe, english muffin sandwich, and went to work. Got the caps installed on the tomarun board.

And installed.

Now it runs without stalling. The strange thing is that I measured the power coming out of the sound decoder and this time, it was pumping out 12.8 vdc where it was only giving me 11.8 with the SPP-Nano. Vewwwy stwwwange. Either way, when I remove the loco from the track, the lights don't die instantly. It has a fade out effect.

 

[Kusojiji]

I decided to change the load in my 3 colliery wagons to "coal". I found some aquarium foam and cut it up.

Stuffed it into the wagon and with my poor eyesight, it looks good.

I was going to use aquarium charcoal on top of the foam, but the foam looked good enough.

 

[Kusojiji]

Ok, gave the coal load a go. Couple of things to remember:

1. I don't know what I'm doing.
2. Mix the glue, water, and soap AFTER you get all the other stuff ready. Glue has a natural propensity to release its water to the air.
3. Mix more than enough glue, water, and soap. Don't be a noob like me and not make enough the first time.
4. Shape the foam to be a bit below the edge of the wagon as the charcoal shouldn't be above the edge.
5. I don't know what I'm doing.

So, first attempt - coated the foam with the glue and then dabbed it into the charcoal to try to get them to stick to the foam.

Well, that didn't work.

2nd attempt, smother the charcoal in the glue, water, soap mix and try to get it onto the foam. Then pile more charcoal on top and hope the saying about throwing enough stuff at the wall is true.

Well, that didn't work either.

I think the foam is too soft and porous. The charcoal would rather stick to my finger than the foam. Perhaps use a closed cell foam instead of this stuff may work better.

 

[Kusojiji]

Added some weight to my Tomix Tango no Umi unpowered cars to get them to pick up power more effectively and to quiet them down. It did reduce some of the thin, plasticky sound. Added 26 grams of blue tack to the tungsten putty that I had installed earlier.

 

[Frenchie]

Ok, gave the coal load a go. Couple of things to remember:

1. I don't know what I'm doing.
2. Mix the glue, water, and soap AFTER you get all the other stuff ready. Glue has a natural propensity to release its water to the air.
3. Mix more than enough glue, water, and soap. Don't be a noob like me and not make enough the first time.
4. Shape the foam to be a bit below the edge of the wagon as the charcoal shouldn't be above the edge.
5. I don't know what I'm doing.

So, first attempt - coated the foam with the glue and then dabbed it into the charcoal to try to get them to stick to the foam.
View attachment 273546
View attachment 273547
View attachment 273548

Well, that didn't work.

2nd attempt, smother the charcoal in the glue, water, soap mix and try to get it onto the foam. Then pile more charcoal on top and hope the saying about throwing enough stuff at the wall is true.
View attachment 273549

Well, that didn't work either.
View attachment 273550

I think the foam is too soft and porous. The charcoal would rather stick to my finger than the foam. Perhaps use a closed cell foam instead of this stuff may work better.

I say AGAIN this hobby is a great adventure.
Discovering, trying, testing, crying, smiling, loosing nerves control, wow I tell you, I love this hobby !

 

[Kusojiji]

Well, I've been trying to figure out the motor settings for my KOTODEN with the sound decoder as it is timed correctly with the engine starting to pull sounds and the brake squeal as it slows to a stop. It runs way too fast, so I adjusted the acceleration, deceleration, top and mid voltages. Now it is all out of whack. When it slows to a stop, it slows then stops suddenly. Got with the designer who recommended the changes, but couldn't get the sudden stop issue fixed. I ended up setting everything back to stock software load and that fixed the issue, but I'm back to running too fast. I reach my preferred speed at less than 1/4 throttle. With my last change, the KOTODEN wouldn't run more than a few millimeters before cutting out. I found that the stay alive had overheated. Measured the caps and they read OL vice the 450uf that it should. I believe I over heated the caps when soldering in. I forgot how to do it with minimal heat by using solder paste vice regular solder. Will have to redo it. Hopefully, none of the other parts got damaged.