ESU Loksound V4 with power pack

Dog Star

Dog Star

Western Thunderer
I have an ESU Loksound V4 decoder in the MT21 format and about to connect an ESU Power Pack to the decoder. The instructions with the Power Pack are (a) in German and (b) illustrate the connectivity for the Loksound HO and Loksound Micro - nothing which appears to be applicable to my decoder.

Here are photos of both sides of the decoder.
loksoundv4-a.jpg

loksoundv4-b.jpg

There are three wires for the Power Pack - where do those wires go on this decoder?

thank you, Graham
 
chrisb

chrisb

Western Thunderer
Dog Star said:
There are three wires for the Power Pack - where do those wires go on this decoder?
Click to expand...

I hope the attached annotated page from the decoder user manual helps. (The 3 solder tabs shown highlighted on the diagram correspond to the top left tabs in your second photo.)

Chris
 

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Dog Star

Dog Star

Western Thunderer
chrisb said:
I hope the attached annotated page from the decoder user manual helps. (The 3 solder tabs shown highlighted on the diagram correspond to the top left tabs in your second photo.)
Click to expand...
Yes, probably, that is my take on the illustration. I am exercising caution here because the text/illustrations do not refer to the MT21 format (even though the lower photograph, above, appears to have the same arrangement of parts on the board).

If in doubt, never start work on ESU DCC stuff on a weekend or a Monday... there is no help available from the distributor :( . Roll on 10.00am Tuesday and hope that SWD can provide a definitive answer :) .
 
Steph Dale

Steph Dale

Western Thunderer
Graham,
They're all on the same card. The wired versions are effectively M21 cards without the M21 connector and wires added to the solder pads .
You can use the instructions without concern.
Steph
 
Dog Star

Dog Star

Western Thunderer
Just checking...

Apart from lifting the engine off of the track and noting that the sound continues for a few seconds, what is a reasonable method of showing that the Power Pack is working?

thank you, Graham
 
Mike Sheardown

Mike Sheardown

Western Thunderer
Could you wire a switch into one of the track feeds, and simply switch it on and off?

Otherwise, possibly sticking some thin tape to one of the rail tops?

Just a couple of thoughts, as I have no experience of power packs

Best of luck with it

Mike
 
Steph Dale

Steph Dale

Western Thunderer
Dog Star said:
Just checking...

Apart from lifting the engine off of the track and noting that the sound continues for a few seconds, what is a reasonable method of showing that the Power Pack is working?

thank you, Graham
Click to expand...
Pull the control circuit with the loco running and the loco will continue running.
That's it!
Steph
 
Yorkshire Dave

Yorkshire Dave

Western Thunderer
I'd also set CV29 to DCC only as power packs do not always work if the decoder remains set for DCC and Analogue control.

To test, just put a sheet of paper over the track to see of the power pack is working.
 
Dog Star

Dog Star

Western Thunderer
Taking power from the track stops movement and sound - not what I expected. If I restore the power within (say) five seconds then the sound / movement continues as if the interruption did not occur - past experience has been that any power interruption makes the sound project go back to the start-up sequence.

So - is the power pack retaining charge?
 
Mike Sheardown

Mike Sheardown

Western Thunderer
Dog Star said:
Taking power from the track stops movement and sound - not what I expected. If I restore the power within (say) five seconds then the sound / movement continues as if the interruption did not occur - past experience has been that any power interruption makes the sound project go back to the start-up sequence.

So - is the power pack retaining charge?
Click to expand...

I don't think that's working properly Graham, as if it doesn't maintain both movement and sound, it seems a pretty pointless bit of kit.

Have you tried changing CV 29 as Dave suggests for DCC only operation?? Might be some mileage there??

Sorry I can't be more helpful, since as I said earlier, I don't use them myself

Cheers

Mike
 
Dog Star

Dog Star

Western Thunderer
Yorkshire Dave said:
I'd also set CV29 to DCC only as power packs do not always work if the decoder remains set for DCC and Analogue control.
Click to expand...
The Loksound decoder and Power Pack deal with non-DCC supply by suspending power management - on the basis that the engine responds to the Lenz handset (LH100) then I believe that the engine is receiving DCC supply.

Time to take a break from this - I have no experience of doing anything other than making the engine go and making the engine stop, I need Peter to deal with CVs.
 
Yorkshire Dave

Yorkshire Dave

Western Thunderer
Mike Sheardown said:
Have you tried changing CV 29 as Dave suggests for DCC only operation?? Might be some mileage there??
Click to expand...

In my experience this usually works. I always set my decoders to DCC only operation as a matter of routine and have done so with both Lenz decoders and their Power 1 and ESU decoders with my home built power packs.

I'd also check there are not any dry solder joints and the pad gaps have not been accidentally bridged whilst soldering the power pack to the decoder.

Dog Star said:
Time to take a break from this - I have no experience of doing anything other than making the engine go and making the engine stop, I need Peter to deal with CVs.
Click to expand...

I would be interested to know the results.
 
Steph Dale

Steph Dale

Western Thunderer
Dog Star said:
Is that the same thing as pressing the Big Red Button? You know, the one marked STOP (or somthing similar).
Click to expand...
I'm not sure, some systems send a command to stop decoders at the same time, so the decoder will stop even if it has back up power. This is to prevent everything moving at once again when power is restored.
And yes, you'll need to tweak CV29.
Steph
 
Dog Star

Dog Star

Western Thunderer
Steph Dale said:
And yes, you'll need to tweak CV29.
Click to expand...
I have looked at the decoder manual and understand what you guys mean about DCC or DCC/DC operation within CV29. What puzzles me here is that the Power Pack instructions say that the energy management is disabled automatically when running on DC. So why the need to play with CV29 when the loco is only ever going to run on DCC track?

The ESU decoder manual makes reference to CV113, this parameter controls the delay time between loss of power and decoder shut down. Anyone wish to comment on the use of this CV?

thanks Graham
 
SimonT

SimonT

Western Thunderer
If one were to tweak CV 29 as above, what would be the effect of placing the loco on DC track in a moment of inattention? I have kept all my chips at both analogue and digital just in case.... Is there a performance improvement by being digital only?
Simon
 
Steph Dale

Steph Dale

Western Thunderer
SimonT said:
If one were to tweak CV 29 as above, what would be the effect of placing the loco on DC track in a moment of inattention? I have kept all my chips at both analogue and digital just in case.... Is there a performance improvement by being digital only?
Simon
Click to expand...

Nothing. The decoder will completely ignore any DC that reaches it.
There is a performance advantage in going digital only; in the event of a power interruption the decoder will cycle faster as it's not having to work out whether it's under digital or analogue control. In many cases it's the difference between a noticeable stall and a loco continuing to run fine.
Steph
 
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