Hello everyone. I have a BLI Up 4-12-2 that has dropped out. I am considering replacing it with a Loksound 5 but do not know if it is possible to keep the smoke function. Has anyone done such a rebuild. Or does anyone know how the smoke function is connected and if it works with a Loksoun 5.
My personal choice is to remove the smoke units from any BLI engine that I have open to work on. Sometimes this is a simple repair such as replacing the reed switch/chuff sensor to completely replacing the decoder. In two cases, such as yours, the smoke unit went up in smoke!
This is the wiring on a smoke unit I removed from an NYC Niagara:
BLI_smoke-crop by Edmund, on Flickr
This other one, from a PRR T1, is one that got fried even though the master switch under the cab was switched off.
Broadway Ltd Smoke unit by Edmund, on Flickr
In several instances I have installed a mini cube speaker in place of the smoke unit. Having more sound from the "front end" was more of a priority for me than smoke.
I have never attempted to sort out the wiring associated with the smoke unit other than to acknowledge that it is very intricate (complicated).
I would not trust the current capacity of an ESU V5 decoder for anything but lights, motor and speaker. I believe the element of the smoke unit would be far greater than the decoder could provide.
The blower/fan on the BLI smoke unit relies on the chuff sensor to get it's pulses (puffing?) so that's something to consider, too. When the smoke unit fried it also took out the BLI Paragon decoder, too.
I recently gutted a streamlined PRR K4 and this is some of the "stuff" I removed.
BLI_K4_SL_Parts by Edmund, on Flickr
Sorry I couldn't be of more assistance.
Regards, Ed
It would be nice if BLI would offer locomotives without low quality electronic junk (like on picture), i.e. plain DC version that would be some 100 USD cheaper than sound version, so that a buyer can install a high-quality, reliable sound/non-sound decoder in their in general nice and well built locomotives. Maybe sale numbers would even go up.
Hrvoje
A BLI smoke unit from Paragon 2 and up will only work with a BLI decoder. This is because the smoke unit in the engine is ran off of a smoke controller board that it plugs into and that has a serial communication line back to the decoder that can turn it on or off (via CV/function), in addition to the switch on the engine itself. It also controls lighting, which is why if their smoke unit burns out, often it will take out other lights in the engine such as the headlight, cab light, etc.
Chuffing is a function of a reed switch in the engine, however all Paragon 3 and 4 have an option to enable chuffing via CV and timing can be set as well, in the event the reed switch breaks. When an engine comes into my shop with a reed switch issue, I actually replace it with a different type, a plastic type instead of the more fragile glass types (which the plastic type is actually a lot more expensive too over the plastic).
With that said, if smoke and synchronized smoke is a must, then short of replacing the smoke unit as well, with an aftermarket as well, then you may not have much choice.
What is the actual issue with that engine? I often find people mistake a motor issue for a decoder issue when it came to Paragon 3. I do sell Paragon 4 decoders to people to swap out their Paragon 2 or 3 out to Paragon 4 (anything made in paragon 3 I can program into paragon 4), but if it has a motor issue too, then that would still be an issue. WIth the latest Paragon 3 decoders (that had GoPack support) and Paragon 4, they have a new motor controller chip that can handle more current, and have built in overcurrent protection in the IC itself. So if there is a bad motor, it won't burn the chip out, but may not run at all movement wise, or may just not run nearly as fast as it should.
Spalato68It would be nice if BLI would offer locomotives without low quality electronic junk (like on picture), i.e. plain DC version that would be some 100 USD cheaper than sound version, so that a buyer can install a high-quality, reliable sound/non-sound decoder in their in general nice and well built locomotives. Maybe sale numbers would even go up. Hrvoje
I totally agree, Hrvoje. I've read/heard, however, that BLI has made a business commitment to producing sound-only units and "gimmicks".
It would be one thing if the P2 thru P4 decoders were rock-solid. Unfortunately, they are and have been problematic. At least BLI has been good about repairing the said problematic units.
Like you, I'd rather have an 8-pin or 21-pin socket wired in by the factory and install my own motor-only or sound decoder.
Tom
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