Piko Decoders ! has Anyone used them

[Gareth]

I have 2 Piko locos and am not sure what decoders to use I am thinking of using Piko.s own although they are expensive I feel maybe I should use them as they are designed for these specific locos . Do they recognise Mts and generally views and comments most wellcome !

 

[stockers]

Personally, I would use Massoth. Easy to fit to Piko, MTS compatible (I expect Piko are too), cheaper, loads of advice on this forum. Choice of amperage and sound or not.

 

[stockers]

And now Massoth make digital kit for Piko but thier decoders were by [STRIKE]Uberlok[/STRIKE] or something like that. (I'll go and look that spelling up)

Update: the make is Uhlenbrock

 

[muns]

I believe the Piko decoders are only loco decoders and you have to add an additional sound unit (more expense) if you want sound.

I would go down the Massoth route.

 

[stockers]

That is correct as far as I am aware Mark - cant find the spellinh for Eber-whatever yet but I'll keep looking. Uhlenbrock

 

[whatlep]

I have 2 Piko locos and am not sure what decoders to use I am thinking of using Piko.s own although they are expensive I feel maybe I should use them as they are designed for these specific locos . Do they recognise Mts and generally views and comments most wellcome !

Piko's decoders are not "designed for these specific locos" - they are perfectly standard Uhlenbrock 77500 decoders, with the price raised several notches.

Massoth decoders work fine and are a squidgit of the price.

Before installing, remember to check how many amps your Piko loco can draw. It's usually more than you expect (e.g. up to 2 amps for a single motor)

 

[stockers]

Interesting point Peter. My Kamel (2 motors) has the Massoth XLS that is rated at 3 amp. It pulls less than 2 amp even with a heavy train at speed. Maybe Piko are improving thier motors. (Crude assesment for motors, more amps = cheaper construction)

 

[whatlep]

Interesting point Peter. My Kamel (2 motors) has the Massoth XLS that is rated at 3 amp. It pulls less than 2 amp even with a heavy train at speed. Maybe Piko are improving thier motors. (Crude assesment for motors, more amps = cheaper construction)

Piko's ratings are curious. All the single-motor kit I've seen (railbus, BR80, shunter) are clearly labelled as drawing up to 2 amps, which of course merits a Massoth XL (or XLS for sound). Testing the railbus, I've found it can easily exceed 1.5 amps, so Piko's rating seems accurate.

I don't have any Piko 2-motor items, but given they still recommend the same 3amp load chip as for a single-motor, perhaps the stated current draw in the instructions is lower per motor?

Anyone got a 218/ Taurus who can tell us (or turn the loco over to see what's written on each motor block!)?

Incidentally, one of the German forums stated that Piko's motors were/ are 5-pole, rather than the 7-pole that LGB use. Possibly this affects matters?

 

[KentKeith]

Don't touch Piko decoder or sound units - Decided to try them out so bought decoder and sound decoder for the Piko Railbus. Installed them as per the instructions (after having tested the railbus on Stocker's then analogue layout) but nothing happened - no noise, no movement, no smoke.

Double-checked all the connections, contacted the supplier, returned decoder to the supplier for replacement and not heard a dickiebird since.

Must get round to contacting the supplier to remind him that I'm still awaiting the replacements......

Railbus is in a box in the corner of the room gathering dust....

 

[dunnyrail]

I put a Massoth big sound decoder in my messed about with 218. Sound I chose was the USA Alco which is a great clattery noise if you are into that thing (Alcoholic?). Had to clean the wheels with a Glass Fiber Brush to clean of the Black Crud that it came with to get it to run properly. But now all is well and I am bust putting a Big Massoth decoder in my Piko Kamel. When I say Big Massoth decoder I mean the ones that are rated for 2 motors.
JonD

 

[Gareth]

Thanks everyone which massoth I have used a couple presumbly Xls rated 3 amps is this okay for the 218 .Also has anyone had difficulty obtaining certain decoders emotion M for starters

 

[muns]

Thanks everyone which massoth I have used a couple presumbly Xls rated 3 amps is this okay for the 218 .Also has anyone had difficulty obtaining certain decoders emotion M for starters

I have used XLS' in both my 218's os an XL will be fine.

 

[whatlep]

You would have thought that Piko would have pitched their prices a little below Massoth to gain market share.....

The longevity of their 5 pole motors is yet to be seen, but as most of you already know - they fail after 20 minutes
if they are run on DCC power without a decoder fitted.

I suspect that Uhlenbrock (as suppliers to Piko) dictate the pricing to ensure no "leakage" of their own sales. Similar logic is clearly being applied to the DCC kit being supplied by Massoth to Piko, looking at the pricing on Piko's German site.

Have to say that my BR80 ran for a couple of weeks quite happily without a decoder (you can hear it on the YouTube videos I made!). Possibly it depends on the kit used and the intensity of operation?

 

[mike]

i think it was 20 minutes into its 12 hour test...

 

[whatlep]

i think it was 20 minutes into its 12 hour test...

Interesting that it was the railbus both times. I recall that various visitors have run analogue 218s and Tauruses (Tauri?) here without mishap in addition to my BR80. Wonder if the railbus has a weakness somewhere?

Anyhow, good advice to be cautious. I'd agree that the Piko motors certainly aren't as sophisticated as the Buhler ones used by LGB, judging by measured current draw.

 

[ntpntpntp]

I don't run MTS/DCC, but there have been warnings in the German press that you absolutely should NOT run the Harz Kamel unchipped on DCC, with photos of melted/exploded condensors in support.

Yeah, I seem to remember reading in the past that it was the suppression capacitor (or some other related component) in Piko locos like the railbus that was liable to blow under DCC, not the motor itself. Like I always say on these sort of discussions - personally I'd never risk running an unchipped loco on DCC zero-stretching "pseudo-analogue" mode.