Fitting a QSI chip to a Bachmann K27

[KeithT]

The blurb say "Plug 'n Play"
Oh no it's not.
Firstly the baffle for the speaker fouls a v large capacitor on the back of the board.
Secondly the the speaker plug is too small for the socket so soldering is called for. :-
The capacitor problem was solved by using longer screws and a a foam rubber pad.
I took great care not too stress the board.
On the test track I began to find problems the lights were doing strange things Forward produced a light at the rear and Reverse produced a bright light at the front and a dim light at the rear.
As far as sound goes - NOWT. Absolutely NOWT.
The instructions which incidentally refer to a Magnum card (I thought that it would have been an Aristo card. Are they one and the same?) are irrelevent, the diagram bears no resemblance to the card and in any event they appear to refer solely to battery connections which are not on the sound card.
I think it is on its way back to Jeremy! :crying:
Before it goes, should I have connected anything onto the card itself? I replaced all the plugs onto the main board.
The speaker provided is 32ohm, I thought the QSI site referred to 8ohm but obv' I can check this.
further query, what is the cable for? i can't see where it could fit either on the sound card or the main board.

 

[stevelewis]

Keith

Something is wrong here, When I fitted a QSI sound decoder to a K27, it was a very simple job took me about 20 mins it was exactly what it said Plug & Play it worked first time with absolutely nothing doing what it shouldnt do.

You should simply plug it in and away you go, just one thing are all pins making contact AND if I remeber correctly there are 2 sets of pins are these the correct way round.

Final thought is the QSI compatable with MTS2 I think it should be but not 100% sure, I was using Massoth when I had mine

 

[Zman]

Having fun with electrickery again!

These may have some info;

http://www.mylargescale.com/Community/Forums/tabid/56/aff/36/aft/114901/afv/topic/Default

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/k-27/installdocuments/QSI_Solutions.pdf

 

[stevelewis]

Forgot to add that the cable you refer to is the reed switch, this is positioned insode the plastic wall of the tender it will plug in somewhere, i allows you to control the volume and reset the decoder with a magnet, it is actually quite a brilliant idea.

I tried to bell you but you were ngaged

 

[KeithT]

Keith

Something is wrong here, When I fitted a QSI sound decoder to a K27, it was a very simple job took me about 20 mins it was exactly what it said Plug & Play it worked first time with absolutely nothing doing what it shouldnt do.

You should simply plug it in and away you go, just one thing are all pins making contact AND if I remeber correctly there are 2 sets of pins are these the correct way round.

Final thought is the QSI compatable with MTS2 I think it should be but not 100% sure, I was using Massoth when I had mine

Hi Steve
Yes all pins are connecting. The speaker is the wrong impedance it should be 8-16 ohms according to QSI. It is 32ohms.
I am sure that the card is compatible with MTS2.

 

[KeithT]

Steve
I can see the reed switch socket on the card but I haven't the faintest idea where the other end goes.
Why are there no instructions? I shall be asking Jeremy.

 

[stevelewis]

The other end is the reed which goes where you can conveniently place it in the tender body so that it can be activated with a magnet thro the plsatic bodywork

 

[KeithT]

Having fun with electrickery again!

These may have some info;

http://www.mylargescale.com/Community/Forums/tabid/56/aff/36/aft/114901/afv/topic/Default

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/k-27/installdocuments/QSI_Solutions.pdf

Having my moments do you mean?
Thanks for the links. They seem to confirm that all is not well with the card. In fact I am beginning to wonder if it has accepted the programming.

 

[Richie]

Hi Keith
The lights are ok they work like they would on the real loco , lights stay dim when locos not moving but when you start up the lights in the direction your going get brighter you will her the dynmo start up at the same time when you get your sound . With the speaker socket if its a massoth it should fit ok put mine in the wrong socket when i got mine try another socket you may get sound .

 

[KeithT]

Hi Keith
The lights are ok they work like they would on the real loco , lights stay dim when locos not moving but when you start up the lights in the direction your going get brighter you will her the dynmo start up at the same time when you get your sound . With the speaker socket if its a massoth it should fit ok put mine in the wrong socket when i got mine try another socket you may get sound .

Yes Richie, I had the speaker plug in the wrong socket! An instruction leaflet would have helped.
I now have sound bur not as you would expect it. I get 'steamie' sounds and a semblance of a chuff but it is a poor resemblance and after a few seconds it stops. Pressing any button on the remote gets me the bell and nothing else it is also almost impossible to stop.
The response to the controller is odd and erratic in both analogue and digital. In digital it is very slow to start but stops with a jolt. In analogue it doesn't alway start at all!
Needless to say the card is going back !

 

[stevelewis]

Keith could you perhaps try it on a different digital system? Is there a local Massoth or MTS 3 user

The slow start and sudden stop seems to indicate that some cvs need adjusting ( Acceleration and deceleratio and possibly start voltage , The decoder should work OK QSI have a good reputation in the market they have been around for many years and their decoders are used by many US loco manfrs
Photo shows the instruction book 23 pages long you should have received!!

Or is anyone reading this who has a QSI decoder and using MTS2?

 

[KeithT]

Keith could you perhaps try it on a different digital system? Is there a local Massoth or MTS 3 user

Or is anyone reading this who has a QSI decoder and using MTS2?

Well. I hope to go to Philbahns tomorrow and he has Massoth but he can't run something the size of the K27 and he will have other things to do as it's his open day.

 

[KeithT]

Sorry duplicated post as I tried to edit it.

 

[KeithT]

Keith could you perhaps try it on a different digital system? Is there a local Massoth or MTS 3 user

The slow start and sudden stop seems to indicate that some cvs need adjusting ( Acceleration and deceleratio and possibly start voltage , The decoder should work OK QSI have a good reputation in the market they have been around for many years and their decoders are used by many US loco manfrs
Photo shows the instruction book 23 pages long you should have received!!

Or is anyone reading this who has a QSI decoder and using MTS2?

I didn't get any of that Steve. Just a single A4 side referring to battery connections which are not on this card!:wits:

 

[GrahamMills]

You can also download the manuals from the QSI web site.

 

[KeithT]

You can also download the manuals from the QSI web site.

Thanks Graham I spotted those - missed them the first time around.
No doubt they will be useful when I get a working card!