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Crest Train Engineer

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Crest Train Engineer
Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, May 13, 2007 4:45 AM

  Greetings ,

            Has anybody had trouble with their Train Engineer.  Mine was going fine but after about 10 hrs running everything started to go haywire with it and now the Reciever doesnt respond to the Transmitter. I have fresh batteries in the Transmitter and have swapped over Recievers but still nothing. I tried E,mailing St Aubin Station where I brought it from but so far no reply. I live in New Zealand and have no idea if there is anybody here who knows anything about them.

         Would really appreciate ifanybody can help me with this major problem as I am unable to run any trains until I either get a new one or get the existing one repaired as it is still under warrantee

             Many Thanks     Dave in NZ

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  • From: Shire Counties UK
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Posted by two tone on Sunday, May 13, 2007 11:25 AM

 

Hi,  You will need to re programe the hand set to the reciever I think I still have the instructions will have a look for them if that helps. If its still under warranty take it back to the store you got it from. The law is if its under warranty its the stores job to replace it straught away. thats the law in England would think you are the same having been to Nz

                Age is only a state of mind, keep the mind active and enjoy life

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Posted by tangerine-jack on Sunday, May 13, 2007 6:15 PM

Before you condemn the TE, have you looked for an outside cause of the interference?  Try switching from "linear" to "pwc" and see if that makes a difference.   What power supply are you using with the TE- maybe the power supply has gone wonky on you and there is nothing wrong with the TE at all (a possibility since you stated that you swapped receivers and made no difference).   Look for things like metal over the tracks, derailed rolling stock, loose antenna on the transmitter, and LOOSE WIRES to the track.  I did the last in bold because a poor connection will create problems every time.  Ensure the receiver antenna is fully extended and not cut or otherwise damaged.   Restart the entire system and see what happens.

I've been using my TE for about 3 years now and it's worked superbly, but that doesn't mean you don't have a bad one.  St Aubin is a reputable dealer; remember it is the weekend and the holiday of Mother's Day here in the states so your inquiry may not get looked at for another 24 hours.

The Dixie D Short Line "Lux Lucet In Tenebris Nihil Igitur Mors Est Ad Nos 2001"

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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, May 14, 2007 3:36 AM

Thank you for your replies gentlemen, I will check out your various suggestions and see if that rectifies the problem. As regards the power supply, I am using a 5 amp Battery Charger on Boost and that has been ok so far. Also, track connections are ok as I put a home built controller on the system and Trains were up and running but it only puts out 1.5 amps.

      I will keep trying.

       Cheers        Dave Cole

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  • From: Whitmore Lake, Michigan
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Posted by markperr on Monday, May 14, 2007 11:18 AM

Is the battery charger delivering 12 VDC?  If so, that MAY be an avenue to explore.  The T/E is designed to work with a Crest ultima P/S which delivers 24VDC.  Can't say for sure that's your problem, but it may be something you might need to consider.

Also check Aristo's website.  they have a forum there and a lot of very knowledgeable participants when it comes to Aristo stuff.  There are also a number of how-to pages on the site as well.

Mark

 

 

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Posted by tangerine-jack on Monday, May 14, 2007 6:33 PM

YES!  Thanks Mark!  I was mulling it over and over in my head today that something was not quite right about the power supply; the battery charger puts out around 6 amps at 14.5V.  Not enough voltage, but plenty of amps.  That may well be the issue.  Get a proper power supply, even an old G scale rated toy pack at max output is better than what you are using.  Try that and see what happens.

The Dixie D Short Line "Lux Lucet In Tenebris Nihil Igitur Mors Est Ad Nos 2001"

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Posted by two tone on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 1:17 PM

Hi, Dave  Just wondering how the T/E is going mine has not had any probs in 4 yrs of use I use a 5 amp power supply made by Gauge Master. both have served me well. I hope to see soon your prob has been sortedBig Smile [:D]

                Age is only a state of mind, keep the mind active and enjoy life

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Posted by piercedan on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 3:55 PM

The input voltage rating stamped on the receiver is 16 to 24 volts.

The original Elite output is set to 22.5 volts, but can be set to 24 volts with the adjustment pot inside. This is for the 20/13 amp unit.  The newer Elite has 3 outputs.

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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 4:27 AM

Thankyou everyone for your replies. I have done all the tests that you have suggested and guess what, I finally narrowed down the problem to what I think was the cause of it all. I had my RX sitting on top of the Battery Charger that was supplying the power and I think that the Magnetic Field created by the Battery Charger was interfering with the Recievers settings. I have seperated the two and reprogrammed the RX and it is now going *** Dory. Once again, Thankyou all for your most generous help.

           Dave Cole in New Zealand

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Posted by piercedan on Thursday, May 17, 2007 11:58 AM
NOw that you mention it, Ron Wenger an Aristo rep has stated that all receivers should be at least 3 feet from power supplies for best operation.  This can also increase the range of your transmitters, and it is suggested to keep the power supplies low to the ground, and the receivers high with antennae going up, not hanging down.
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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, May 17, 2007 8:46 PM

Thanks for the extra info on the TX location and the such. I will remount it in a different location. Also, do you know what I need to operate my Electric Switches [points here] from the TX

         Cheers  dave

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Posted by piercedan on Thursday, May 24, 2007 11:51 AM

The Aristo 55475 will operate 5 aristo or LGB EPL drives.  Operating voltage is stated to be 6 to 18 volts and there is a bridge rectifier on the input so polarity is not a problem.  I run mine from the Ultima supply which outputs 22 volts.  Remember that 18 volts AC is about 24 volts peak voltage.

 

When programming the 55475, the frequency must be set to either 0 or 1, I forget which one Imust be used.  Frequency 2-9 definately will not work on the 55474 and 55475.  The trackside 27mhz TE's don not care about the frequency setting.

 

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Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 26, 2007 5:02 AM

 

 I'm running trackside TE @ 27mhz so sounds like it won't be much of a problem.

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Posted by kimbrit on Sunday, May 27, 2007 6:25 AM

Thanks Dan, for that tip about the seperation of the power supply and reciever, my TE goes funny every now and then, I shall certainly be putting them at opposite ends of my shed. 

Cheers,

Kim

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Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 10:40 PM

Hope u got it fixed. Try to reprogram ...it works for me. If not contact Crest directly at 973-351-9800 in the USA, or wrie them at 698 S 21st St., Irvington, NJ 07111..warranty is 5 years.

GVTrainman, Green Valley, Arizona USA

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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, June 17, 2007 5:34 AM

Yes, Its all up and running again. I seperated the power supply [ my battery charger] and reprogrammed the RX and it is all ok. Thanks to all.

                       Dave Cole

                       New Zealand

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