ESU 5XL and Dual Smoke Generator

[pbapilotfit]

Hello everyone, I am new here and looking for some help.

I installed a ESU 5XL decoder and dual smoke unit in a PIKO BR95 locomotive. Prior to the install the loco was analog with no sound. This is my first time installing a decoder and first time really using the ESU software on my computer. I have got everything working mostly the way I want it to except for the smoke generator. I have followed the directions that ESU provideds in the manual but nothing happens when I run the locomitive on the test stand. As I said, everything else works. One interesting thing I did notice is that I assigned AUX2 which is the cyclinder steam to F14. When I click that on when using the cab controller, everything shuts off. Maybe I have something wired wrong I am not sure. It is hard to figure out what if anything I did wrong mainly becuase I dont know what to look for because I am new. I have tried asking for help from several different places including the ESU forum on facebook, but it seems no one wants to give me the time of day. I would send the locomotive out for someone to program it and look over my work but then I would not learn anything. I would like to be able to figure out what the issue is as I have many locomotives that need installations. If anyone could take the time to help me, I would greatly appreciate it. At this point I am willing to pay for someones time to show me what to do or how to fix the problem. Thanks in advance. Hopefully someone responds.

 

[PhilP]

I suggest you disconnect the smoke generator, and then test the loco..

This will prove whether the problem is with the smoke generator / its wiring.

Try F14, and any other function keys associated with the smoke unit, even though it is not connected.
Do be careful with any bare wires that are floating around.


Can you run the smoke unit out of the loco?
Could one of the pipes be fouling a fan? - A stalled fan might be enough to shut the unit down?


Break the problem down, and I am sure you will work it through.

PhilP

 

[Cobalt6700]

To confirm:

• Does the Loco decoder work as expected other than the smoke unit?
• Are the other DCC functions you have assigned all working?
• What size power supply are you using?

Using the Lokprogrammer - the software is powerful but confusing and not that well documented! I really expected better from a German company - but you don't know until you know then it's too late.
What ESU project file have you used for the BR95?
Some of the profiles have smoke units pre-programmed and some don't.
As far as I remember - you will need to:

• Set a function in function mapping to enable the smoke unit
• Set an output as a chuff trigger in function outputs
• Software (digital wheel sensor) chuff trigger in function settings, or Aux10 as a sensor input