Hello Everyone,
I’m running a NCE DCC PowerCab system on +600’ HO track. I have 28 steps set, the track has been cleaned with consistant voltage across the entire layout. But all of my engines appear to be running slow almost at half-speed.
Any direction or ideas are greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Dave
Welcome to the forums.
600’ of track? That must be one huge layout. That’s all I got.
There are many on here that use the NCE PowerCab. I’m sure they will chime.
600’ ? Are there boosters involved?
Mike.
What is the track voltage set to? and measured? Do you have an RRampMeter?
Where is a good place to buy RRamp meter, best price?
Only once in a blue moon can you beat the list price for a rampmeter.
All you need is the cheap Harbor Freight meter. It gives accurate results for DCC voltage because it doesn’t include any sort of RMS compensation, which is good, because the peak and RMS for a square wave are the same. Or some other equally cheap meter, though often the same one HF gives away or charges no more than $2 for with coupon is sold for $15-$20 elsewhere.
600’ of track - yeah, that’s a good size layout, nearly 10 scale miles. Is there a heavy bus, and how long is it? Seems unlikely that the bus run wouldn;t exceed 30 feet in each direction with that much track, so there will be voltage loss even with #12 wire. This is perhaps an example of a layout that needs boosters not because of how many trains are being run, but because of how big it is.
–Randy
Your voltage may be consistent with no load, but once you put a loco on it, at some distance from the source, it’s going to drop, especially if that distance is 300 feet.
Do the trains all run slow over the entire layout, or are they faster in places? If so, that might mean the track farther from the power source isn’t getting enough power due to the resistance in the wire. On a large layout, you might find you have to add one or two boosters to even out the power.
At first I thought your controller may have been set to Yard mode which normally is slower but that only works in Procab mode, not PowerCab mode. As others have said, constant voltage without a load is not a true indication. Add a loco at the further-est distance from the power input and check voltage where the loco is situated. A standard AC meter will give you a reasonable reading between no load and a load.
Welcome to the forums. Since you are new your posts will be monitored for a short while, so it may take some time for them to show up. Hang in there.
How many feeders do you have? How far apart?
Good luck,
Richard
We need to hear back from the OP with more information about this layout.
With 600+ feet of track, is this a new layout or has it been operating for awhile?
How long have locomotives been running at half speed?
The layout could need a second booster, or heavier gauge bus, or more feeders.
I have a Pro Cab, not a Power Cab, so I don’t know the answer, but can a Power Cab support a layout of this size? How many running locomotives can a Power Cab handle, and how many locomotives is the OP running at one time? If only one or two locomotives are running on the layout, do they still just run at half speed?
Rich
Since you are new, you don’t know the players, but believe Randy over me when it comes to 'lectricity. This is the biggest layout I remember running just a Powercab in the 4 years I’ve been in the forum.
However a 600’ layout didn’t just happen overnight. Did they used to run normally? Did something change with the layout?
My Power Cab always showed 13.6 vac at the terminals with a Harbor Freight meter with one loco on the rails… I have four of the meters.
with the below circuit on the 20ma DC scale, it makes a good amp meter but the Power Cab has it’s own amp meter. If you go for more power like our club did, it will help. It worked very well. Two three terminal devices do the conversion. This guy test all his circuits first.
http://www.circuitous.ca/DCCammeter10.html
Rich
Here is where my post disappeared last night (1/16/20). I’ll EDIT this post and retype it here sometine later.
Yep, you’ll have that in here, and don’t expect anyone to explain it.
Lots of mysteries seem to happen here that don’t happen in other forums, without an explaination.
Mike.