Toastie

My apologies for never getting back to you on this issue. Too many distractions, but it should not happen, as you asked ... sorry. Well this sounds OK. Also making space by reshuffling the other things make entirely sense. Why it still crops the image without redrawing - I don't know. What I do in these cases, I change the scale of the whole model. I believe TLG does not do that in their instructions - or do they? The changes are only "gradual" and one hardly notices that when getting smaller and smaller. I know, this only works to a certain degree but you can keep the look-at angle the same. But I guess your solution is much more elegant. Glad that you could finish your project! Best, Thorsten P.S.: Are the questions you had still of interest to you, or have they all evaporated?

Indeed, a very nice build. You captured these monsters very accurately and nicely. One can actually feel their "strength". Really nice. This model would fit very well into any industrial area type of diorama. Congratulations! Best Thorsten

Good afternoon Alex, could all very well be: The overload protection is working fine and indeed the load was so high, that the motor got really hot and then you waited not enough time. Cooling down time may be well over 10s of minutes and even then the motor may still be warm and heat up to the trip point when using it again even with no or small load. The thermistor may behave erratically when going bad. It can slow down the motor by limiting the current going through - but not entirely - it could also just trip. This depends quite a bit on age and may be not well predictable, see document below for normal operation behavior. In principle, the thermistor should "trip" = cutting the power off. The moment its temperature is below the tripping point it should reapply power. With a certain hysteresis and not "so well" defined on/off temperatures that is. This explains why the motor, once its temperature is reaching the tripping point of the thermistor will turn off, a short period of time later turn on again but when then under any load right away trips again, as the temperature was just going down a bit during that time. And even turning on under low load again, it would readily trip again as well because the motor generates heat even with no load (but much less - but enough though to trip again). The idea of this overload protection type is to immediately turn off the power and then wait, see above . Vishay has a nice little document explaining how they work: https://www.vishay.com/docs/29008/ptcappli.pdf So when the motor has really cooled down and you turn it on with no load: Does it run smoothly? Then you could gradually increase load (just the motor, run it for 10 min, let it cool down, then only the loco, same procedure, then apply one coach etc ...) and see what happens. That way you will find out whether the thermistor is faulty. Once the thermistor trips, wait for half an hour or so to do more experiments - or put it in the fridge wrapped in some kitchen paper (no joke - did that for my "experiments" before just getting them out and in the trash ...). You can also refer to Philo's motor page and measure the current that the motor draws when under load - this way you know exactly what is going on. Provided you have a multimeter. Just measure the current going into the rail system. Best Thorsten

I believe this is called "good market research", "good assessment of the customer base", etc. etc. and that this is the basis and inner works of the "free"-market-economy, particularly when this market is saturated with the product. Best Thorsten

Now I believe this has nothing to do with the 12V light at all. Am I correct that your 9 - 12 V conversion cable you made pops (on the motor side) onto the 9V contacts that are also used for e.g. operating 9V lights? When that is the case, and I am almost certain it is, then any lamp or other current drawing elements attached here can't damage to the motor. The power is picked up from the rails via the wheel flanges is funneled directly to the 9V motor outlet via "spring loaded" pieces of metal. There are many pictures on the net; here is one from the HispaBrick magazine: Two things: 1) The motor is running in parallel to your lights (any 9V, 12V, LEDs) so nothing can damage it. When the lights are steadily emitting light but the motor is stuttering or simply slowing down under some load (or now no load at all - please check with the light again - you can't damage the motor that way!) then something is wrong is either in the path from the spring-loaded pick-ups to the motor (losing mechanical contact etc. - there is no welding/soldering, the piece are just in contact with each other) 2) OR - and I suspect this is the case here: The thermal over-protection thingy kicks in way too early (= is faulty). This is the piece sitting "on" the motor contacts, in the picture above seen close to the left brass gear of the motor. On Philo's motor comparison page: https://www.philohome.com/motors/motorcomp.htm, which is an excellent(!!!) resource you'll find this: "(*) The train motors also contain thermistor limitations." That is the thing I am referring to (thermistor = thermally sensitive resistor). Philo's text goes on with: "For the PF train motor, this protection trips too fast and prevents direct measure of the stalled current." OK, you don't have a PF motor, but this tells you what the thermistors do: When the current (caused by increasing load) is too high, the thermistor becomes too hot and then trips, i.e. "disconnects" power from the motor. This is in analogy to what you are observing. The 9V motor outlet is not part of this branch though. When the motor stutters and the light remains on (steadily) then as said, the thermistor may kick in. Next: Thermistors do naturally age. As all 9V train motors are of historical value, so are the thermistors inside. The longer the motor was operated in his history, the less reliable the thermistor works. Aging means that the chemical substance responding to heat by increasing its electrical resistance has degraded over time. This degradation process is driven mostly by "time x current" going through it. Solution: Out with it. None of my 9V train motors have them anymore. You can just pop them off as they are pressed-in as well. OK, you are losing the thermal protection, but then: With, it doesn't work. Your choice of course Without the motors do work like a charm. You can also try and replace the thermistor, but I would not know which one to choose. And finally: The aging process is not linear with time; in the end it goes rapidly bad. Particularly when the current going through this device is rather high = high load. So I suspect that this behavior was caused by high load and not the 12V lights. Opening up the motor is pretty much straight forward. And as always: Not 100% sure; all is from literature and own experience. But when you want to go that route: Just ask, everyone here will be glad to help. Best Thorsten P.S.: Of course also the motor may have gone bad but first things first. And also this would nothing have to do with the lights but the load. There are (cheap!) replacement motors available as well.

"Problematic" or "not problematic"? When the first, I am puzzled. Best Thorsten

But then you can swap this particular motor causing trouble with another one, you have at hand, right? Same behavior? Best Thorsten

Well. I tried to read through this thread ... but can you pleas recap, what the actual configuration is? (Guessing: 9V track. 9V motor. Conversion cables that let you hook up the 12V lights to the 9V motor. Is that right? Did you manipulate the 9V motor? Or just the "outside" wiring? You said other 9V motors don't show this behavior. When the motor showing this behavior is unaltered, it is this motor, right?) Yes there is a way to fix a 9V motor. It is invasive though. But chances are good. Just need a bit more input here. Best Thorsten

I believe(?) this is about folks out there, who are running into a LEGO store or browsing TLG's online store with >no clue<, what they really want. 2/4/6; "+" or "-" for kids, then the wild ones in between, and 18+ for the "adults" ... no plan, no nothing. But LEGO it should be, so what do we do??? We look at the age tag and all is good. Huh? They can print and brand whatever they want on their boxes. I am 58 years old. >Disqualified< for purchasing almost any of the sets they offer - but the XY"+" sets. 18+. Oh my. So: I simply do not care what is printed on the box. Colored in black, or colorful, or just recycled paper: I look at the model, try to >think<, try to >like< and then judge price vs joy. Has that really become so hard to do? In the olden days there was a " ... - 99 years" tag. And then above 99 - busted? How weird was that? Also, when you want to make gifts for kids - just do it. When your judgement is: Could work, or we do this together - just do it! Man. I bought sets with a tag: 6 to something less than 18 on it. And so what? It is entirely on us to decide. Or: Just let it fly. Best Thorsten

Yes. 100% Yes. And other than that they can print whatever age they want on the boxes. I could not care less. Best Thorsten

I just clicked on the video ... saw it all the way to the end ... and need to relax a bit before I comment here ... I have never ever seen a video like this one. It must have been such an enormous amount of work; work though that translates to patience, dedication, inspiration, fun (you can literally feel that vibrant fun), creativity, love for the theme ... This video should be showcased at Billund's Legoland on a very, very big screen - at the lines forming at the attractions, in the store, when you enter the theme park. And run endlessly. It would perfectly completely picture the idea of playing with these bricks. (And it would tell the story of what the 12V system was - still is - and what they have missed out on) Thank you very much for all your efforts - this is much more than a video showing all 12V trains. It shows LEGO at its very best. Good luck and fun with your future projects!!! All the best, Thorsten

As always Emanuele, as always: Slight nod, tipping hat. Very nice and impressive model. Truly remarkable. All the very best! Thorsten

Ha! You knew it anyway, Emanuele ! And: It is a very rough estimate from even rougher presumptions plus a shaky "P is proportional to lifetime" assumption ... Best wishes, Thorsten

100% right: U = R x I. R = resistance of the 12V "bulbs". When U goes down, I goes down. Linearely. Which increases the lifetime of the 12 bulbs as they are under less "stress". Stress? Let's make stress = wattage P. I know: Sort of. So: P = I^2 x R. Which means: Your 12V bulbs life is not linearly scaling with the voltage you apply, but quadratically. The less the better. I guess. Thorsten.

I believe you have proven this already: This box wants to see some 2.4 GHz signals to re-trigger the power-down timer. Now there are other thoughts. But first this: You are basically looking for a rechargeable LiPo device, that allows you to run your PF etc. etc. >controllers< permanently, is that right? Is there anything else, you find appealing or even a prerequisite? Maybe PF sockets or the like? I just try to find out, what the core of the matter is. Sorry for being so harassing. Best Thorsten

This is what I like so much about LiPos. It is incredible. And yes they appear to be 500 mAh (each, in series): 500mA x 2h / 2 = 500 mAh each. Yes I know, I am a Math Genius and everybody else has figured out that as well. I believe to assume that the PF Train motor draws around 500 mA at full speed, dragging a mass of about 0.5 kg will all that friction is reasonable, right? Best Thorsten

Does this mean, that the BlueBrixx box just needs a 2.4GHz carrier signal (or whatever it is) to reset its power off timer? Or does it see "sort of valid" codes? Best Thorsten

@dtomsen Nice photographs! Now with regard to the battery pack: Is this like 2 AA sizes batteries (looks like) or are these of the pouch type TLG uses in the 8878? Best and thanks for all the efforts! Thorsten

Ahh - that really explains it! Thank you very much. Now with regard to the show-stopping: The manual says: "Die Akku-Box verfügt ebenfalls über eine Selbstabschaltung bei Überlast und Nichtbenutzung nach 15 Minuten." Which translates to "The box has an automatic power down after 15 min of not using it and overload protection". Maybe the two permanent power lines of the PF wiring scheme don't though - you will find out! Does the CaDa box' permanent PF power lines time out when no RF signals come in? Best Thorsten

The manual for that system says: "Eine Kompatibilität zu Infrarot (IR) und Radio-Control(RC) Empfängern besteht nicht." (There is no compatibility with the IR and RC receivers for this remote - which means it is also the other way around, I guess). What do you mean by "IR Receiver, SBrick or PFx Brick"? Do you mean the "IR remote", "SBrick App", or "PFx Brick App"? The BlueBrixx box itself is the server - and the client is the remote. They also say it is a "closed system" whatever that means. Yes, when you open the box, you will most probably find two LiPo pouch batteries - and they should say something (in Chinese ...) Best Thorsten Just saw @zephyr1934 's post; I agree on all you said. What I simply don't get is, why are they not in a hell of law-suit? Every single bit - everything is a 1:1 copy. Sure the electronics is different, but the cases, the plugs, the boxes, the motors ... everything. I don't get it. TLG is making such a noise with all that copyright stuff - and then this. How do they get away with this? Best Thorsten

@Daedalus304 @dtomsen This is what they wrote back: "Die Angabe zur Kapazität des Akkublocks war falsch und wurde aus der Bedienungsanleitung wieder gelöscht. Wir haben hierzu keine Angaben. Das System besteht aus 2x2 Kanälen, da die Kanäle 1 und 3 beide die Akkuboxslots 3 und 4 steuern. Die Kanäle 2 und 4 steuern die Akkuboxslots 1 und 2." Which essentially translates to "The capacity data in the manual were wrong and were removed. We have no further information regarding that data." I am not certain what the second paragraph translates to. In the manual, the remote which looks exactly like the LEGO remote (8879), features a channel switch with four positions. I cannot get that in line with the above statement: "The system has 2x2 channels, since channel 1 and 3 control the slots 3 and 4 of the box. Channels 2 and 4 control slots 1 and 2". I could mean that with channel switch position 1 you can control slot 3, with channel switch position 3 it is slot 4 and so on. However, that makes no sense as here are the two dials as well. But that was not the question. I believe it will be in the range 500 - 1000 mAh range, as other have suggested. Maybe someone here has such a set already and can give more insights? Best Thorsten

And even that would not be an issue, none whatsoever, when you do the pickup -> control unit with rechargeable fed by pickup -> unit powering the engine. You just need to make sure that there is one section of track, where the unit can charge securely. All voltage drops and stuff will just increase the charging time. Best Thorsten

Well you know when this happens, right? When you "have" it. Simple as that. I like to call that mastering LEGO. Will be very nice to see more of what you accomplish(ed). Regards, Thorsten

Well, I guess this is rather nicely phrased; 6 sensors and no actor undermines the whole idea, doesn't it? And yes, it is a waste of resources - just lighting up things. For that purpose, a $2,50 RGB LED controller (including remote and built in color changing sequencing), along with a 12V wall wart for $5 for endless operation is more appropriate. No, this must be ... oh well. Whatever. I also believe that the firmware in the Spike will flash: "I want to do something else" in Morse code when you attach 6 color sensors. Wait: (just to make sure) Best Thorsten

The internal system ... I guess this explains the serious drops outs we had on the world wide web recently ... Amazon's elastic cloud - the whole thing and all - was also down for some time ... Wow - this is unbelievable. Both from the building side as well as from the rendering side. (But be honest: This is a photograph of a real build, right? Right? RIGHT? R H I G H T??? No it isn't huh? Is it? ...) Man. Congratulations on your achievement. Totally beyond grasp for me. All the very best Thorsten (But: It is a photograph of ... isn't it? ... No? Well ...) Edit: I looked again and closer - this is simply not from this world. I am totally flashed. Man. Fantastic.