I have been reading this thread on ECC EMF etc etc etc. Im a newbie and dont understand all this. I have a fairly large layout (4 4x8 sheets of plywood) with a very large scratch built trestle on it. I am having trouble with speeds also but not as you might think. I am using two types of track (Gargraves and Fastrack) which I understand is a no no. As the train begins its accent it speeds up on gargraves track. When it hits level ground (Fastrack and the terminal track) it slows way way down. I have cleaned my track and checked all the track joints and the problem still exist. I am going to convert to all Gargraves track for the train that runs the trestle and stick with Fastrack for the other train on level ground. I am intrested in these engines that sense inclines and declines. What do you look for when you are looking for one of these and Im sure it makes the price a little higher. Heck if I can afford gas nowadays I guess I can afford a little more for an engine. I am running two NYC Flyer kits that were bought this year. As usual thanks for your help.
How often do you run feeders down to your bus?
Try increasing the number to insure constant electrical power.
Yeah, it sounds like that’s almost got to be the issue if you’re slowing down after coming down from the incline to the level track. I plan on putting a feeder to every 3 foot section of flex track (don’t want to solder joints on straight sections), but if you think that’s overkill, a common recc. is to place a feeder every 10 feet if using Code 100 track, every 6 feet for code 83.
Jim
Okay easy guys now. Remember your talking to a novice here. Are you saying run wires from the transformer outputs to every ten feet of track? Geeze I will have quite a few wires coming off my transformer. I am using one of those worthless CW-80 transformers right now. Hope to convert over to a ZW very shortly.
What they mean by adding a more feeder wires is too, Run one main wire ( the bus wure) around the layout and underneath the track. The Bus wire should be about 10-14 AWG in size the larger the better. And every 10 feet you run a wire from the bus wire up to the track and connect it ( the feeder wire) witch should be a littel smaller then the bus 16 awg about. This gives you a constant power everywhere
What scale are you working in? Sounds like 3 rail.
Yes I am running three rail Gargraves and Fastrack. Hey thank you guys a million times over. You have given me many options to try and fix my problems and I really appreciate it. I will definately run that feeder wire under the track. Before I do that, I havent installed all my track yet in fact I dont even have all of it yet. As soon as all the track is in I will definately run a feeder wire.
actually you’ll probably need 2 buss wires and feeders from each to the track . figuring out which feeder wire goes to which rail sometimes gets to be a problem , work slowly , think about what you’re doing , and test the layout after each step
It’s a piece of cake to “figure out which wire goes where” with 3-rail. I would suggest using two wire colors, though, to avoid confusion. For 2-rail HO, the usual practice is to use a red one and a black one. One bus wire of each color, and then connect it to the track with the same colors for feeders.
The stuff about DCC (digital command control) and Back-EMF etc. probably isn’t going to apply to you as a three-railer.
Basically what they’re talking about is that as an electric motor spins, it not only is using electricity but is generating a slight amount of electricity as it spins. This is Back-EMF. It is possible to measure this and use it to increase or decrease the power going to the motor to allow the motor to spin at a constant rate. This is used in electric power plants for example.
In DCC model railroading, it is used like a ‘cruise control’ setting on your car…when the engine goes uphill and slows down, the DCC decoder in the engine can sense that the Back EMF is changing and increases the power going to the motor so it maintains the set speed. Going downhill it does the opposite, reducing power so the train doesn’t go to fast. It can do this because DCC provides a constant 14 volts of AC to the track, and the decoder determines how much power to pull from the track and convert to DC for the engine.
Or something like that. [:I]
Thanks guys for everything. You have really cleared a few things up for me. I know now where I can come for help and I only hope I can help you all out sometime. Many thanks.