I am old school and run DC. I bought this loco off Ebay and it seems to run a bit roughly, although once it’s running for a few minutes at a decent speed it seems to smooth out.
So question #1 is: Is this a DCC Loco?
I am using an older transformer (power supply):
It has always worked well for me, and I’m not really interested at this point in moving to DCC.
This transformer has settings for Low and High Resistance and Half and Full Wave. The idea is that for DC locos, the Half Wave setting allows more controlled slow speeds - which it does well. I’m not 100% sure what the low and high resistance do.
So question #2 is, if the loco is DCC, can it run ok on DC? I was led to believe it could, so maybe this loco just needs a little cleaning, lubrication?
Is anyone aware of how a DCC loco might react to the low/high resistance and half/full wave settings?
Based on your first photo I do not see a DCC decoder there. The green PC (printed circuit) board has diodes for directional lighting and an 8 pin “dummy” or jumper plug (J6) in the “NMRA socket” where a DCC decoder would normally be plugged in.
I would do a cleaning/lubrication anyway and continue running the locomotive in order to get her to run smoothly.
If it were a DCC equipped model it should run just fine with DC power. Were it DCC with sound capability then it would run oddly on DC power because the sound decoders require minimum voltage of about half throttle which also then compressed the speed range into the top half of your throttle range. Sound locomotives would have two speaker wires either ending nowhere or connected to a tiny speaker.
If it were a DCC only model it wouldn’t run at all on DC power but that would likely be an old decoder. Yours still has the 8 pin NMRA standard plug in place where you’d find a decoder were it DCC equipped. It’s DCC ready. In fact, the existing wiring looks really DCC ready and that odd circular thingy clipped to the chassis weight at one end looks like where a speaker might go.
Finally, the concern you might have had would be blowing the decoder should it not be able to handle the type of DC output from your powerpack. That would also prevent the locomotive from running. That’s unlikely anyway. Your powerpack looks pretty good although I’ve never seen that type before. It’s an old (now classic) and well respected UK product:
It delivers pulse modulated power which can fool some decoders but shouldn’t damage them. Were you to run decoder equipped locomotives using this powerpack you might run into control issues but probably not. Anyway, you’d be taking the decoder out in that event and problem solved. Your model has no decoder and the bypass or dummy plug is already properly installed to make yours DC only.
Were a DC only hobbyist to accidentally smoke a decoder the only problem that presents is removing the bad decoder and either rewiring the power and lights directly or finding an NMRA dummy plug like the one plugged into your lightboard. Smoking a decoder isn’t a problem for DC only hobbyists!
The resistance switches you mention might be "half speed&qu
We must have some very experienced and savvy DC users here besides Sheldon, goes by the name ‘Atlantic Central’. However, with a little luck, Sheldon will see this and reply to you as to whether your DC setup needs some adjustment to get the best out of the locomotive as it is configured. This last is in italics because some engine boards in DC have devices that cause problems with some operating systems, I think Bachmann Spectrum steamers come to mind in some instances.
