I have some couple other locomotives ( Bachmann HHP-8 Athearn P40-42 or AMD 103 and two Bachmann Acela trainset locomotives) I have not ran these locomotives since 2004. I installed DCC in these locomotives before I did they all ran on DC and all ran properly after I installed the DCC decoders in them. I turned the throttle on my Digitrax DT402D and these locomotives did not bulge I kept repeating this process until the HHP-8started moving slowly along with the other locomotives that I mentioned. Eventually thy all started running but not as fast as they used to and I’m sure that there pulling power is not as strong. I assume that I will need to grease ad oil the gears axles and wheel bearings. Is this natural or is there something else that needs to be done.
That’s a common happening. Most DC power packs put out more power (volts) than any DCC system I know of. Fewer volts = lower speed.
Grease that has been sitting for 7 years probably has begun to harden, although probably not enough to stop the locomotives from moving at all. A good cleaning and relubricating is probably in order, no matter what else needs doing to solve your problem.
Did you test run them on DC immediately before installing the DCC decoders, or the last time they were run in 2004?
Do you have other DCC-equipped locomotives on your railroad, and if so do they run satisfactorily? If some other locomotives run acceptably on DCC, then the problem is not likely to do with the DCC power system (throttle/command station/power supply.) If you don’t have any other DCC-equipped locomotives, talk a friend into bringing one of his over for a testing session so you can test with a known good locomotive. If his locomotive runs well on your railroad, then you have to look to your locomotives for the problem. If his locomotive shows the same symptoms, then you have to find the problem with your DCC power system.
What is the track voltage? Measure with a quality multimeter set for AC volts to get a “pretty close” value here. The track voltage is really a form of square wave and the multimeter is calibrated for a sine wave, but you should get something close to the voltage the command station is set to deliver. If the voltage is lower than the command station is set for, then check the power supply that is hooked into the system. Is it putting out sufficient volts under load? Is it a power supply that is recommended by Digitrax for your command station?
If everything is OK up to here, then you have to start looking at the locomotives. Are the wheels clean, so they can pick up the power from the rails? If the wheels are dirty enough, the decoder and therefore the locomotive will not get any power. Did you install sound decoders in the locomotives, and if so do you get the engine startup sounds when you put the locomotive on the rails and select it with the throttle? If they are not sound-equipped, can yo
I am really not following that. Did they run fine after the DCC conversion, or is this the first time you are trying to run them since the conversion?
Not as fast as they used to when they were DC, or not as fast as they used to after the conversion running on DCC?
Yes grease gets hard with age. But I would start with cleaning off the old grease and oil before adding any new.
Oh, yes they did run fine after the DCC conversion.
I’m suspecting that grease is the problem. They ran perfectly on DC and ofter I installed DCC. Every locomotive except one stam locomotive all have sond ready or DCC with sound in them. The new locomotives I recently purchased all run perfectly. I have a DCC Specialties Magnaforce15V AC power supply hooked on to the Digitrax DB150. The lights and sound on my HO Bachmann HHP-8 work perfectly with the Digitrax DH165A0 decoder. I have removed the lighting in all my other locomotives as they are all pending for an upgrade to LED’s which I hope to install soon. I will check the wheels as they may be dirty. Thanks for your time and concern looking into this. Thank You
If they ran fine after the DCC conversion, then power is not the problem.
But, time away from the layout certainly could be.
Sounds like a cleaning project. Clean the wheels, remove old gear lube, and re-lube and oil all moving parts. To the extent that you can, completely clean up and remove the old gear lube (grease, as some are calling it). Old gear lube can act like gum, especially after being off the layout for nearly 8 years.
Rich
Agree w/ the dried lube, however, it seems that all the locos are experiencing the same. I have found that the grease in Bachman especially to get quite dried out.
Wheel and track cleaning first then check the track power as mentioned, then see if you get startup if sound or headlight. Even if the grease is hard as a rock the engine will act as if stalled and you will notice the motor stall/ strain just by motor sound alone. Labelle #106 grease or if inclined ATF for the gears. Many swear by ATF, however the grease tends to run quieter especially in a lesser quality drive.
I agree with cleaning the old oil/grease off. Use a non-petroleum alcohol.
Be sure to use plastic compatible oils-greases.
Most DCC has back-EMF…that tests the motor speed which in turn gives better motor control especially at slow speeds. And your engines may be able to run slower better, run at a crawl. If you are used to letting the trains zip around the train set track, sorry to dissapoint ja…
Like me I’m a crawler with big N&W engines tugging strings of coal up the mountain at 10 miles per hour…
Why should DCC operate at lower voltages resulting in slower running trains when I have bullet trains in my layout. Whats the point of DCC then.
Yes I thought so but wasn’t quite sure. Thanks
Read the manual on your DB150 and you will see that there is a gauge switch that adjusts the track voltage output. Digitrax recommends running at the lowest setting that provides good running characteristics. The point of DCC is not to run trains at faster than scale speeds, but to achieve more prototypical operations. My son runs high speed trains on our DCC system (also Digitrax) and they go plenty fast for our layout space. A twin motored Eurostar absolutely flies when given the chance. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opvfuj_pHFk
Of course all this speed comparison depends on what you are making the comparison between. Not all DC packs put out the same voltages, neither do all DCC. What you will most certainly see is that a DC loco running on 00 on a DCC system has a much lower top speed than on a DC pack.
To me the purpose of DCC is to allow me to run several locos at once without having to flip a bunch of toggle switches and using multiple power packs. I can run them all with one throttle at different speeds and in opposite directions in the same block. Try that with DC. Can’t be done. If you want your trains to zip around at unrealistically high speeds and fall over on the curves then by all means stay with DC. If you want realistic control, great low speed operation and the ability to operate several locos in the same block completely independent of each other then DCC is what you need. You won’t break any land speed records but in the real world how many trains go over 150 miles per hour? In the US the answer is NONE. Across the country the number of trains that go over 100 mph is very few. Most are under 70 mph.
I learned from the mini series Extreme Trains that aired on the History channel that Acela trains could run as fast as 200mph if the tracks in the Northeast Corridor were upgraded. The Acelas can run 150 north of NYC. Too bad that we are 50 years behind modern rail technology what a shame is embarrassing. Many NJ Transit and SEPTA trains are freaking turtles on the Northeast Corridor.
Yes, the Acela can run at 150 mph but rarely does so.
If your trains run too slowly but are otherwise satisfactory when the command station is set for HO (I presume you are running HO, you didn’t mention your scale…) then try setting the command station to O/G scale. That will raise the track voltage from 15V to 20V and get your high speed trains speederating right along!
Or maybe the scale switch is set for N scale? That will only put 12V on the track, but losses in the decoder will keep all 12V from getting to your locomotives’ motors. The motor may see only 9 or 10VDC in that case, and, yep, the locomotives will run slower than when powered by a DC power pack. Changing the scale switch to HO may solve the problem in that case. Going all the way to the O/G setting might be a bit of overkill.
Regards
Chuck Lee
On the digitraxsound Group at Yahoo, I found mention of CV05. This CV can range from 0 to 255 and controls the maximum voltage that will be applied to the motor of the locomotive. If the CV is set to 0 on your locomotives (decoder default value?) try setting CV05 to 255. That will pass the maximum percentage of track voltage to the motor, and may solve your slow-poke train problems without changing the scale setting on the booster.
Regards
Chuck Lee