[Webber]

Hello Everyone

I have a loco shed layout in an "L" shape and recently switched from DC to DCC in order to better park my fleet of locos, and control slower speeds

I have a Dynamis, most of my fleet is newer models, and all are run on 128 speed steps

Track has been sprayed with Railmatch paint although top is clean and points were covered

Does anyone else out these have electrical problems with DCC or odd locos that are not as responsive ?

One of the reasons for my jump to DCC was better control, and in the main this is fine, but is it normal to have a odd loco ?

In this case Hornby "Warwick Castle" which is a particular pain as I traded in a really good "Earl Colne" on DC !!!!

Thanks

 

[Richard Johnson]

QUOTE (Andy.W. @ 10 May 2008, 22:09) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Hello Everyone

I have a loco shed layout in an "L" shape and recently switched from DC to DCC in order to better park my fleet of locos, and control slower speeds

I have a Dynamis, most of my fleet is newer models, and all are run on 128 speed steps

Track has been sprayed with Railmatch paint although top is clean and points were covered

Does anyone else out these have electrical problems with DCC or odd locos that are not as responsive ?

One of the reasons for my jump to DCC was better control, and in the main this is fine, but is it normal to have a odd loco ?

In this case Hornby "Warwick Castle" which is a particular pain as I traded in a really good "Earl Colne" on DC !!!!

Thanks

***

Yes, there will be the odd loco thats not as good out of the box as you expect... This won't be a DC vs DCC question, rather one of DCC Installation, loco pickup quality, mechanism quality or cleanlimess.

Some options to consider:

***Did you remove any suppression capacitors? these will often cause loss of control or running quality and as a standard policy you should remove them all without exception. They add nothing to either running or suppression once a chip is in place anyway!

***Was it fitted ex hornby with a Hornby decoder? I think this model R2453X was.... sorry but if so they can be real dogs and have no tuneability so rip it out, chuck it out and use another brand - Bachmann or TCS will be a good choice.

Personally I think its best to avoid all Hornbys "DCC fitted" loco's if running quality is important to you.

***Did you clean the inside face of the railhead after painting - much of the pickup actually comes from there so its worth spending time... and then be sure to vacuum the layout after cleaning.

***The odd loco has pickup problems, so its quite possible that disassembling the running gear, cleaning the wheel faces where the wipers sit and making sure they make firm contact with the wheel when the loco is running will help. Also look carefully at the parts when you pull it apart - clean off everything even in a new loco and lubricate sparingly with a quality lubricant such as "Superlube" or a similar teflon bearing oil/grease.

*** Try running it in for a while in each direction - sometimes things will settle down providing all the above are OK.

Richard
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