Hornby Terrier to DCC instructions

Hi All.  According to the instructions from Hornby , when one converts the A1x to DCC, the orange capacitor has to remain in the circuit. As I understand it, the capacitor is surplus to requirements, as the Decoder takes over that job. Best wishes.  Kevin

Absolutely almost correct, Kevin.

The capacitors are dinosaurs from the days when DC model trains created interference on your valve radios and TV's.  They serve no useful purpose today.  In fact they are reputed to cause problems for decoders.

I always snip off the capacitors, strip the loco down to motor and pick up wires and begin hard wiring from there.

Cheers

Hi Max.  Thank you for your reply. It is surprising that an established company like Hornby are so far behind the times.The pick up wires that you mentioned have an odd arrangement in Hornby Locos to say the least.
Best wishes. Kevin

I agree with Max … wot 'e sed!!  :cool:

The Hornby instruction is probably on legal grounds - they have to maintain any radio suppression for the locomotive to comply electrically and electronically with the regulations. However, the decoder, which has to be hard-wired into a Terrier, does all of this anyway.

Hornby tend to have the capacitor wired directly to the brushes, and the track wires feeding into the legs of the capacitor much closer to the 'head'. Since you have to wire the orange and grey wires to the brushes in any case, it doesn't matter if you snip or unsolder the capacitor legs from the brushes; it has to be done anyway.

Hi Jeff  Thank you for your reply.. when you say “ Directly to the brushes” I have noticed that the motor sits on two contacts from the running rails ( I believe these have to be insulated with Kapton Tape)Best wishes. Kevin

I have read on many forums, if the loco runs as expected after fitting a decoder. leave the capacitors in, otherwise remove them.

Hi Ron.  Thank you for your reply. It is something I have read, but, also I cannot remember the exact details my previous modifications or wether it had removed them without Faffing about when I have more important work on my Inglenook Junction which is overdue.   Best wishes Kevin 

Hi Jeff and Max.  I will get rid of them, but, I ain’t got a Telly, Ha Ha Ha.  Best wishes Kevin 

The illustrated installation guide on the Bromsgrove Models site (http://www.bromsgrovemodels.co.uk/hornbyclassa1xdccinstr.htm) suggests that the capacitor should be removed by desoldering.

Hi John good to see you posting  :thumbs my first stop for DCC installation instructions ! 
Can you just check that link ? I'm getting a 404 error ( might be me though ! :hmm) 

Cheers

Matt

Yes, me too.  :hmm

Any particular reason for desoldering the cap John ?  I usually just snip mine off with wire snippers……… :roll:

[user=24]BromsMods[/user] wrote:

The illustrated installation guide on the Bromsgrove Models site (http://www.bromsgrovemodels.co.uk/hornbyclassa1xdccinstr.htm) suggests that the capacitor should be removed by desoldering.

Hi John. Thank you for your reply. But, I couldn’t find this. Best wishes Kevin 

Took a quick look myself, didn't have time to find the actual page John posted but here is the Homepage for DCC fitting guides


http://www.bromsgrovemodels.co.uk/decoderinstallation4mm.htm


Very useful  :thumbs

Cheers

Matt

Apologies but the Bromsgrove Models site has been taken down, as from December 2021.  The TCS UK site is still active but stock is gradually being run down as sales gradually revert to retail outlets (Digitrains, Coastal DCC and DCC Train Automation at the moment). TCS UK product sales can be accessed from uk.tcsdcc.com.

That is pity John, as your site has so much DCC info.

Yes, I agree Sol - that's a pity John.  So much very useful information on there.

As the saying goes, all good things come to an end ……….

I think it’s interesting they still include that a model may cause interference on a TV set in the instructions. It also is required to receive interference as well… never understood that part of the warning…