BLI UPGRADE CHIP

[claycts]

I have a BLI genertaion 1 Hudson and want to upgrade the chip. Who has and with what reults? This is the last of the trouble makers on the railroad.

[tstage]

George,

I upgraded my BLI Mike a few months back.  I had a modicum amount of improvement in performance.  I think I was having a couple of issues between my NCE Power Cab and the replacement chip, which I still haven't gotten around to resolving yet.  Someone (maybe Crandell?) did replace the old chip in their Hudson with the new replacement chip and had very good results.

Tom

[MRTerry]

I upgraded the very first BLI Hudson we had tested. The upgrade was simple, and I was pleased with the results. The review got delayed but should run in our January 2008 issue.

Thanks for reading MR,

Terry

[claycts]

I upgraded the very first BLI Hudson we had tested. The upgrade was simple, and I was pleased with the results. The review got delayed but should run in our January 2008 issue.

Thanks for reading MR,

Terry

Thank you for the testing. I am on the BLI forum and got a better response on this forum.

[UPFEF]

Where can we get the chip?

[tpatrick]

My Hudson, before the upgrade, was reluctant to start and ran poorly at low speed. With the new chip, it starts smoothly  at speed step one and crawls along very nicely. It is smooth and responsive throughout the speed range, bottom to top. I opted for the alternate whistle and did not like it. Tony's was happy to swap for the original whistle and I am fully satisfied with the chip. Kudos to Tony's for being helpful and supportive throughout. Having upgraded the Hudson, I also re-chipped my M1 with the same results. It is a good deal for the price. I do recommend you also order the chip puller ($7.95, I think). It makes the switchover a lot easier.

[selector]

Where can we get the chip?

As Tom guessed, I have contracted to get my four BLI locos upgraded, but now five months later, Litchfield is just getting the chips to my friend one at a time.  He lives an hour and a half away, so neither of us wants to do one loco at a time.  He has had my K4 and J1 chips for a couple of months, but still none for the Niagara and for the Hudson.

It's just as well, I can't run 'em for the next couple of weeks anyway.

[Pruitt]

I upgraded the very first BLI Hudson we had tested. The upgrade was simple, and I was pleased with the results. The review got delayed but should run in our January 2008 issue.

Thanks for reading MR,

Terry

January 2008?!?

Seems that review could be a little quicker... did you mean 2007?

[tstage]

I noticed that, too, Mark.  I'm assuming that Terry meant January 2007.  (Unless ALL the upgrade chips releases aren't scheduled to completed till December 2007.)

Tom

[claycts]

I noticed that, too, Mark.  I'm assuming that Terry meant January 2007.  (Unless ALL the upgrade chips releases aren't scheduled to completed till December 2007.)

Tom

Tom in MRN Model Rairoad News, came in today, has the reveiew on the chips. Not indepth but enough to get the flavor of the chip and what it does or deos not do.Said that the Hudson chip is available and recommends the chip puller from Tony's. I got my supplier working on it for me.

[Anonymous]

You should be able to get this chip from any DCC supplier. I got mine from Tony's in July (http://tonystrains.com). Perhaps they're sold out, so check with Tony's, or Litchfield, etc.

The installation was quick and easy. My Hudson was one of the early ones, before BLI removed the back-EMF, but it runs much better with the upgrade, especially at low speeds.

I would strongly recommend getting the extractor tool, however, rather than trying to use two tiny screwdrivers or some other workaround. It appears very easy to do damage that way.

[tstage]

I would strongly recommend getting the extractor tool, however, rather than trying to use two tiny screwdrivers or some other workaround. It appears very easy to do damage that way.

Having put one in already, the new chips are a little more hearty than people think.  You just need to use common sense when extracting/installing them.

You can purchase an extraction tool to remove the chip or you can use a tiny flathead (hobby) screwdriver to accomplish the same task.  Use the flathead of the screwdriver to slightly pry up on one corner of the chip then do the same on the opposite corner.  Do this back-and-forth until the chip works free of the socket.

Tom

[rrinker]

 It's not the chip that you'll break if you get a little overanxious with the screwdriver method - it's the socket itself. The puller for PLCC chips like that has a pair of small prongs that go under the chip and lift on the chip without prying on the socket. The bent end of a paper clip can be made to work, and the screwdriver method is fine as well so long as you work carefully and evenly and don't try to just ram the chip out of the socket. The LAST thing you want to do is crack the sidewalls of the socket, that renders the decoder useless.
 I used to have a puller, might still have one in the junk drawer somewhere. But I've pried out plenty of chips like that with the screwdriver method, too.

                                        --Randy

[Anonymous]

I might go for one of these upgrade chips.  I was never that happy with the performance of my N&W J class.  Do they make much difference?

[selector]

For me, the capability of a dead-stop to crawl is worth the price of the upgrade.  As things go, none of my BLI engines will move under load unless I crank up to about 7-12 on the throttle, depending on grade and load.  This is regardless of how finely I tune the V-Start in CV 3.  Even then, I might get the drivers to do half a rotation, and then it will stall once more unless I jump the throttle to 14 or more.

I am unaware if BLI went to the trouble of improving the prototypical sounds for each engine..

[Texas Chief]

I wasn't aware that BLI had a forum. How do I get on it? I don't see it on thier website. Thank you.

Dick

Texas Chief

[Anonymous]

I wasn't aware that BLI had a forum. How do I get on it? I don't see it on thier website. Thank you.

Dick

Texas Chief

The BLI forum is:  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BroadwayLimited-PrecisionCraft/


but you might want QSI in addition, as they make the upgrade chips:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/QSIndustries/

[MRTerry]

Yes, I meant January 2007 for the upgrade chip review. I was doing some planning for 2008 the day I posted that information, so I inadvertantly slipped into "magazine time." (It's kind of like dog years - everything happens sooner than you expect.)

Have a good weekend, and thanks for reading MR.

Terry

[claycts]

I wasn't aware that BLI had a forum. How do I get on it? I don't see it on thier website. Thank you.

Dick

Texas Chief

The BLI forum is:  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BroadwayLimited-PrecisionCraft/


but you might want QSI in addition, as they make the upgrade chips:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/QSIndustries/

You can visit my site when you join Yahoo  group Leatherique under automotive. Thaht is where I post most of my pictures.

[MisterBeasley]

I'm just curious.  It sounds like BLI has some serious low-speed performance issues with the engine, and the solution is that you have to buy a new chip from them?  How much are they asking for this chip?  Seems to me that if it doesn't work, the least they could do is give you the corrected chip for nothing.  Even at that, it's going to mean a lot of technically-challenged modellers will have to pay someone to replace the chip for them.

[jon grant]

Are the improvements Performance-related, or are there improvements to the sounds too?

 

Jon

 

[tstage]

MB,

The cost of the upgrade is $30.  It actually takes more time to get the tender shell off than it does to extract/replace the chip.

From what I've seen, BLI (steamers) have okay but not great low speed response.  I have a Trix Mike and a BLI Mike.  The Trix Mike is terrific at low speed.  After I replaced the chip in the BLI Mike, the low speed response did improve some but still doesn't match the Trix.

Jon,

QSI did add some features/sounds to the new chip.  They are listed on the QSI Solutions web site.

Tom

[jon grant]

MB,

Jon,

QSI did add some features/sounds to the new chip.  They are listed on the QSI Solutions web site.

Tom

 

 

Thanks Tom,

Jon

[Anonymous]

I'm just curious.  It sounds like BLI has some serious low-speed performance issues with the engine, and the solution is that you have to buy a new chip from them?  How much are they asking for this chip?  Seems to me that if it doesn't work, the least they could do is give you the corrected chip for nothing.  Even at that, it's going to mean a lot of technically-challenged modellers will have to pay someone to replace the chip for them.

It seems to be partly the Mike's Train House lawsuit over who has what rights to back-EMF techniques,  partly improvements in the technology, and partly added options.

Early BLI engines had "Regulated Throttle Control", but they removed it under threat of the lawsuit.  According to some rumors, that has been settled, but I'm not sure anything "official" has been published.  But someone from BLI posted a few months ago that BLI would continue to make improvements, but would NOT put RTC back.  I hope that changes.

Without RTC, their engines, especially the steamers, don't crawl at extra-slow speeds very well, particularly through rough track, turnouts, etc.  But that's true of most steam engines, not just BLI.  I've got 4 Bachmann and a Proto steamer, and they all run erratically at a crawl through turnouts.  I've put Soundtraxx Tsunamis (with RTC) in two of them, and they now run great.

In the meantime, QSI, the maker of the decoder and sound system, came up with many improvements, such as far more control over lighting, and including RTC.  You can buy those chips for about $29.  The install is quick and easy, at least the ones I've done.  In most cases, you don't have to be a "techie".  The diesel switchers look like they require a bit more disassembly.

Yes, it seems stupid to buy an engine that needs an upgrade.   But remember, most of these companies are small and would be badly hurt, if not ruined, by a patent suit, because even if it's unfounded, it would take lots of money and management attention to defeat. 

Why is BLI apparently afraid, and Soundtraxx and QSI aren't?  Beats me.

So, if you've got a BLI engine you're happy with, great.  If you want RTC and/or the improved lighting control, spring for the $29. 

[G Paine]

I got the upgrade chip for my BLI E8 and the extractor tool from Tony's Train Exchange a couple of months ago. One thing to be careful about in ordering is to get the correct chip so you have the same sounds. I got the E8 chip from a different release of the E8, and now I have a different horn sound. Not a big deal, but I would have been upset if it was a steam whistle!

All kidding aside, it's a long list to get the correct chip

http://qsisolutions.com/products/techinfo/qchip/q-chip-upgrade-codes.html

There is additional info on Tony's site including a couple of reviews

http://www.tonystrains.com/technews/qsi-uchip-itemnumbers.htm