[chriswright03]

I am a big fan of DCC and I am quite happy fitting my own decoders but should I remove the capacitors or not. No wonder people get confused about DCC there is so much conflicting advice. My locos appear to run OK with them fitted but would they run better without them?

 

[chriswright03]

QUOTE (dwb @ 1 Apr 2007, 21:00) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>>My locos appear to run OK with them fitted but would they run better without them?
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

If you find that your locos are slow to respond to some commands or do other strange things, then sure ditch the capacitors but if you're happy, why do anything?

David
I agree with that but they like any other loco I suppose are reluctant to start sometimes and that could be track or loco. I know the world is not black and white but wouldn't it be nice to have one of the manufacturers clear it up for once and all then we would all lnow where we stand.

 

[chriswright03]

QUOTE (Doug @ 1 Apr 2007, 21:04) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>The advice you'll find most often is to remove suppression capacitors.

DCC decoders have suppression circuitry so the other capacitors (for DC running) are not needed.

Sure a loco may run with the old capacitors in place, but we have found that when a loco struggles sometimes, removing the capacitors does make a difference. So to save the effort of re-opening the body up, it is simpler just to remove them when doing the installation.
As our club is just in the process of going DCC this is an important issue at the moment. Only problem being warranty issues with new locos I suppose. I think I am going to take all of mine out anyway but you never know how it will run without them until you do the dastardly deed and then it is a bit late. Hey Ho here we go snip snip!

 

[chriswright03]

QUOTE (mik @ 20 Apr 2007, 16:50) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>It depends on the loco, I have Bachmann engines that run fine with the caps left in but also have had ones that dont respond to the chip well untill the caps have been removed so its often down to the loco itself. It does not help that some engines the caps are well hidden and you will find that the whole motor unit has to come out as one has been soldered uner the motor. As the decoders dont need the caps I remove them as standard now when chiping engines
Mike
Thanks for that Mike can you say which locos you have found hidden caps on? The ones on the 20's seem to be either side of the engine and I have removed them and the loco does seem to run better but I have 9 others with the chips in that ought to come out by the sound of it.

Chris

 

[chriswright03]

QUOTE (mik @ 21 Apr 2007, 19:44) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Hi Chris
the ones I have removed caps from so far are the 57,66,20,37. The 20 I was fitting lights to so the whole thing was in bits the others just fitting chips, the 37,57 and 66 all have caps low down on the sides of the motor or underneath. The 57 is the hardest to do as the underframe has to come of to get to the last one, hope this helps.
Mike
Thanks Mike so have you found more than two on any loco yet? Sneaky little blighters aren't they?

Chris

 

[chriswright03]

QUOTE (Jennings @ 22 Apr 2007, 14:18) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>To be honest when you fit the DCC decoder try the loco straight away and see if the perfromance is as desired (Leaving the caps in). If it is then put the body on and move onto the next loco.

If it moves of suddenly at 100mph then the caps will probably need removing (As is the case with the Bachmann 37 as far as i know) and then that should cure that problem and bring it back to normal DC operation speed.
Thanks to everyone for their assistance with this. As our club is just going DCC and that means fitting decoders to all of the locos this will be of much assistance before we start in earnest.

Chris