[duncans]

has anyone any experiences yet please? Just bought ZTC 511 loads of locos & this could save money on a few of the lessers used locos

 

[Doug]

Hi, welcome to the forum.

The decoder hasn't been released yet so we haven't had been able to check it out. As soon as it is, we'll be looking at it in detail. I agree that if it does ok, it could be a great way to equip the fleet.

 

[bangerblueed]

But isn't it only 0.5amp making it unsuitable for some locos in 00 scale ?

 

[Doug]

0.5amp should be fine for most modern locos. A stalled motor is another issue though.

If you take a look at some of my first reviews, I measured the current drawn on the decoder under different circumstances.

Reviewing the Hornby A4 and testing the Arnold 81201 decoder - designed for N scale:

The 81201 can handle 1.5 amp. The A4 model draws 0.15 amp when rolling by itself; 0.25 amp when held stationary at the buffers, but with wheels freely turning on the track; and 1.3 amp with the motor stalled (wheels not moving at all - with current applied to the motor).

Now it is not probable that the wheels will completely stall whilst still on the track under DCC power, but if they did, it would probably fry the R8215 decoder as it only has a 1 amp surge allowance.

 

[BromsMods]

Hornby blurb says that the decoder will cut out at 1 amp, so protecting the decoder rather than frying it.

We can only hope!!

John R