P2K PAs-- Problems installing DCC in early runs

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I have been advised that early runs of P2K PAs had motors with high amp ratings that necessitate repowering if DCC/Sound is to be added.

I have two such PAs but do not know if they have the bad motors or not. They are DH #16 and #18. They seem to run fine on CV zero.

Can someone tell me if these units have the bad motors? Is there a way of telling either by observation or running them? Or, were these two units in the original Life Like runs? With their website gone so goes the info they used to post.

Also, are the current Walthers/Proto 2000 PAs compatible with the older shells?

Thanks

2

I have heard the same thing. I have one early run PA (Rio Grande 4-stripe) which may have a similar issue but is in storage right now.

I suggest you get an amp meter so you get read amperage draw when the loco is under load various speeds. This way you can get an idea what it will demand of a decoder.

3

I have a pair of them, purchased when they first came out. I hardwired an NCE decoder into them and they still run like champs. That is my experience with them, can’t say about others.

Bob

4

Oh, when I said I had to hard wire a decoder, that meant there was no DCC plug or slot in them. They were first run units. Not that hard though.

Bob

5

This topic was discussed at length on the TCS Yahoo group a while back ( messages 886 to 889 if you care to check it out ) …

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tcs-decoders/msearch?date=any&DM=------------&DD=----&DY=----&DM2=------------&DD2=----&DY2=----&AM=contains&AT=&SM=contains&ST=pa&MM=contains&MT=&charset=utf-8

The original motors had a very high stall current of almost 5 amps !!! At the time, LifeLike replaced the motors free of charge. I received two free replacements through Walthers, but it was a fight to prove to them the problem actually existed. I have yet to use them as the originals are still working ok … I wanted them as a back-up in case something DID go wrong. BTW, the two units I have are D&H 16 and 18 as well, from the first run and DO have the high amp motors.

Apparently, as long as you are using high frequency PWM decoders (as most are today) it shouldn’t be a problem. The replacement motors also run slower which may or may not be an issue as to how you run your engines.

Mark.