Hi Jukka

I understand how you feel.

But you can't blame yourself.

In my opinion, if Marklin did his job of communicating information correctly about the use of very expensive devices, it would never have happened.

Let me explain: why didn't Marklin attach information about the speakers that can be connected to the cs3?

Of course, Marklin will answer: ''the information exists''. To which I reply: ''No doubt, but where is it in the labyrinth of your library? We have to look for it''.

Just look at the number of links that Wolfgang is able to communicate to us and especially the diversity of his links. I would like to take this opportunity to thank him.

But I wonder; how does Wolfgang get these links? Because with google I can't do it and there's no reason that if he finds them I can't find them

Happy New Year

Thewolf

Hi Jukka,

Sorry to hear about the failure of your CS3+.

Regarding your question about the speaker connection - the Märklin book "Running Trains Digitally with the Central Station 3" (product # 03092, English version) states on page 15: 'A built-in speaker now allows additional sound effects to sound directly such as on mfx+ locomotives. A stereo active speaker can still be connected to the CS3.' The book also notes, on page 69, that there is an 'audio playback source' selection on the System Settings screen where you can select internal or external speakers.

Hope you have some luck in getting the Central Station repaired.

Harold.

Thank You!

I have sent an e-mail to Märklin service and I'm waiting for their answer. Anyway I will send device for repairing to Märklin after I get right address for it.

I hope they can repair it if not then I will open the device and look what went wrong and try to repair it somehow by myself.

I'm afraid that this will take time, a lot of time so I'm considering to buy new CS3Plus from Lippe, well let's see

In the mean time Happy New Year to YOU ALL

Regards

Jukka

Hi,
Yes, I have also sent once a broken loco to Lippe and they said that I could send broken loco direct to Märklin.

Now I have written toMärklin askin their correct address to Servicer and I am going to sen device for repairing as I earlier wrote.

Lets see can they repair it for free or for fee

Jukka

Hello and greetings from middle of the Finland

Many of you have red my interesting adventures with CS3Plus. Now I have more to tell you:

First my broken CS3Plus. Something went totally wrong when I started to try play sounds with my two years old CS3Pls( serial 1133).
I didn't manage to play sounds from phone socket not to phones(stereo) and not to active speakers(stereo).

The I tried to put MONO-plug to that socket and something happen, I don't know what went wrong, but touch-screen didn't works after incident. Screen went black for a while and the whole screen area was quite warm, not hot though. ANd from inside I could hear something crispy sound. I terrified and take power cord off,, because I thought that something was burning.

Then I wrote to Märklin Service and ask for address to which I could send the broken device for repair. Märklin people might be busy because no one has answered to my e-mail yet.

After few days I did order a new CS3Plus from Lippe and at the same time I wrote to them also to get information what to do with that broken device. This process is ongoing still.

Today I got new CS3Plus ( version 8115) and surprise it was with latest update. . Device out of box and a while for warmin in the inside room and then power on.

Fortunately I had latest backup from the broken device and I downloaded it to new device ( of course I did take backup from the new empty device lucky me )

Because it came clear to me that my old CS3's backup cannot be used with new device. . . YES IT REALLY IS SO. The restore went OK, but information was not functional, I really don't understand why it is so but it is. One example: I could see my previous layout picture with all turnouts and contacts and so on, but restore did not bring them to the window where you can edit them. When I started to add items as they should add when they are new the hole device went crazy, Layout picture messed up and item which should be in the picture were only numbers and characters.

Then I restored the very first backup and start all from the beginning. I recorded all items, in this case turnouts first and then I draw layout picture installed one loco and tested the whole layout and turnouts. It was and is good now. Loco database was empty also, so all locos must be configured manually.

I am a bit disappointed but then i have to think that perhaps Märklin has made better hardware this time, repaired some mistakes and this version of hardware is now good. . . . Who knows we will see. .

Few words about these two devices:

There are differences,
old device at idle state without connection to layout is not very warm 38.5 degrees, power: 0.041A(Main Track) 0.036A ( Programming Track)19,1 Volts
New device at idle state without connection to layout quite warm 58 degrees all the time and power: 0.058A(Maint Track), 0.036(Programming Track) 19,3 Volts

Red buttons in new device ( two for speed) are much more sensitive that in old device.

And they are NOT COMPATIBLE WITH EACH OTHER when you think backups.

In the New Device there are still bugs inside the program, MFX-locos are not recognized as they should, I had to boot several times after it worked ok. Touch scree is not very exact even when I used mouse pointing device.

If I find interesting features or behavior during my journey to my latest Layout I will tell you later.

Regards

Jukka

Ps.
It will be very interesting to see what Märklin will tell me about broken device repairing and what they might tell me how to manage with sounds

Thank you Jukka for your CS 3 feedback. Sounds very strange to me. Well, you are in touch with Märklin and I am looking forward about Märklin's answer to your experiences for the incompatibility of technical identical devices, because Märklin did not announce technical changes to the CS 3. They only noted were design changes.

I was wondering why so many people asks in this forum about Märklin's addresses, especially the service one. Here it is the full webpage from Märklin about these addresses

https://www.maerklin.de/...ervice/reparaturservice/

Very detailed but typical Märklin only at the German homepage from Märklin available. I do not understand these Swabia guys not offering this page in English to its wordlwide customers too.

It really looks like, as this old joke about the Swabias is telling.
Do you know where the Swabias originate from? - No? - Well, from Scotland! Banished by the Scots because of their avarice.

Some people from Märklin are really stingy with their translations into Englsih and/or other languages, although they want to do more and more business outside of Germany.

Regards

TEEWolf

Marklin at least do have an English site which is quote good. It depends if companies want to sell to English speaking nations. HAG are the worst and even dealers that I know of outside Switzerland wont stock anything from them.

Problem with Marklin is the delay and in particular repairing under warranty.

Not sure if they will repair Jukkas CS3 if it is out of warranty.

Hello.
That backup was made three weeks before incident, so I still think that something has been changed. My old CS3Plus was almost sure from the first series, because I was among the first ordinary clients who got new CS3Plus. Maybe.

Anyway I have made a parcel of broken device and tomorrow I will send it to Germany, if costs are too high then I ask them to send it back without repairing. I will pay the sending costs and try to solve out what I could do. Sound is not so important feature in that device and always I can "replace" touching feature to mouse. That much I examined device without opening it that it seem to work mainly.

I still wonder behavior of the backup. Not any kind of explanation if there would be some troubles during restoring backup but when I start to edit layout and try to change properties of turnout the whole screen was full off numbers and characters and I could not get the real picture back. I had to reboot the device and still layout picture was gone, only numbers and...
then I restore the firs backup which was the factory settings, it went ok. And I had to make the whole layout again from the start.
Now it is working fine, no problem.
MFX-locos cannot install themselves automatically that is perhaps known problem, at the moment I have only one logo installed to device and I will test with that all possible features until I install more locos.

Regards

Jukka

Thanks to Minok

Your explanation seems to be logical when we remember that the in older CS2 device(early 60214) there was galvanically unprotected connectors and this is my CS3Plus is first series of device, so it may be that the shields were still not quite right. We will see after Service has examined the device.

Thanks to all the participants of the discussion, good opinions and answers, a great forum

Regards
Jukka

David you are right not from CS2 to CS3, but I found that trying to transfer from my old backup (in older CS3Plus serial 1133) main transfer is possible but when I started to edit restored layout in new CS3Plus serial 8115 ( hardware serials both) the new CS3Plus started to behave strangely. ( as I wrote earlier).

Over two years ago, when I got first CS3Plus I could see that there is not any way to get proper restore from CS2 backup. At the moment Softwares in both stations are quite different and perhaps other data, except layout, is possible to transfer. I don't have CS2 any more so I cannot test what will happend when ttry to transfer all backup-data between those device-versions.

As I wrote earlier today at another thread of this forum, I found very interesting new contact item properties end some new feature in events. They make possible to create very interesting functions to events. I am testing those features now and write later what I found.

Jukka