[Westdrayton]

Hello all, am new to this forum although have visited for some time. Main interest is live steam SM32, but have oo live steam as well in the garden.
Am in the process of obtaining some non steam oo locos to run.
Question: Can DCC fitted locos be controlled with my old non DCC controller with just 1 loco on track at a time?

 

[RFS]

Decoder-fitted locos are designed to run on conventional DC, provided that this has not been disabled by setting a bit in CV29 of the decoder itself, or the decoder is one that doesn't support DC operation - most do. You are not restricted to one loco though in this mode of operation. The decoder detects that the track current supplied is DC not AC which is why it works.

 

[poliss]

You should not, however, run DCC fitted locos if your old controller is of the feedback type.

 

[Westdrayton]

Many thanks, will see what happens.Link to live steam Mallard in the garden.

 

[Edwin]

The other bit of standard advice is that you mustn't have a high frequency track controller (Relco etc) in circuit as these generate high voltages that can damage the decoder.

When one loco is mentioned, it's just the same as DC control as you can have one on each controller, or two if you don't mind them doing the same thing! The only difference is you'll have to turn the controller a bit further before the loco moves, as it needs enough power to start the decoder going first.

 

[Westdrayton]

Thanks for that Edwin, was just going to ask about Relco units which I used with great success on my N gauge a few years ago.
I did think that they would damage DCC units.