Smoke Unit - Setup for DCC operation ESU version 4
Your DCC decoder must have two spare function outputs, one to drive the heater unit and the other to drive the fan.
In addition to the smoke unit and DCC decoder you will also need a zero cross over AC relay. Available from us.
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These relays operate in a similar way to traditional relays, except that
they are specifically designed to switch AC power which they guarantee to do at the 0v cross over point, something that cannot be guaranteed with traditional DC mechanical relays. Other advantages are:- Physically very small, almost silent in operation, no moving parts. It is suggested that the relay is mounted on a small piece of Vero board or similar and connections made to the board rather than the pins of the device directly. |
Click on image to enlarge
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It is suggested that the relay is mounted on a small piece of Vero board or similar and connections made to the board rather than the pins of the device directly. The Aux output from the decoder that is to power the heaters should be configured to pulse mode with as long a duration as possible, preferably with a longer off time than on time.
The heaters will take a little longer to reach operating temperature but due to the cyclic action will remain warm if left on. The heaters can be switched off at any time simply by turning off the function output on the decoder as you would for lights or sounds
etc.
The Aux output from the decoder that is to power the smoke unit fan should be “dimmed” to the minimum amount possible. Failure to do so will result in the fan motor running very fast which may damage both the motor and decoder.
The fan motor should be unplugged from the smoke units PCB and connected directly to the decoder as in the diagram.
The ESU LSXL v4 DCC decoder requires some CV values to be set in order for the system to work correctly.
On my locomotives the smoke unit heaters are switched on using F7 and left running. F7 is set to trigger AUX 1 output in pulse mode so the heater is being switched on/off and maintains a reasonable temperature.
The fan motor is switched on using F8 AUX 2 when required which then ejects a plume of exhaust smoke until F8 is switched off.
Note: ESU V4 decoders use the same CV for multiple operations. This is made possible by using two indexing CV’s, 31 and 32. Therefore, It is very important that CV’s are changed in the following order:
The heaters will take a little longer to reach operating temperature but due to the cyclic action will remain warm if left on. The heaters can be switched off at any time simply by turning off the function output on the decoder as you would for lights or sounds
etc.
The Aux output from the decoder that is to power the smoke unit fan should be “dimmed” to the minimum amount possible. Failure to do so will result in the fan motor running very fast which may damage both the motor and decoder.
The fan motor should be unplugged from the smoke units PCB and connected directly to the decoder as in the diagram.
The ESU LSXL v4 DCC decoder requires some CV values to be set in order for the system to work correctly.
On my locomotives the smoke unit heaters are switched on using F7 and left running. F7 is set to trigger AUX 1 output in pulse mode so the heater is being switched on/off and maintains a reasonable temperature.
The fan motor is switched on using F8 AUX 2 when required which then ejects a plume of exhaust smoke until F8 is switched off.
Note: ESU V4 decoders use the same CV for multiple operations. This is made possible by using two indexing CV’s, 31 and 32. Therefore, It is very important that CV’s are changed in the following order:
If you wish to use a different F Key and or function outputs please see the LSXL v4 Manual downloadable from the
SWD Website
SWD Website
Thanks to Steve Weeks for this information
