I recently bought a Paragon C&O 2-10-4 and really like it a lot so far. My question is, when I give it power to start from a stop, sometimes I need to give it more power than other times. Sometimes it will start to roll at setting 4 or 5 and another time I might need to turn it up to over 10. (I have an NCE Pro-R controller.) Is this normal? My Atlas diesels all start to move on setting 1 so I am just wondering if I should be concerned? As always thanks for your answers.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Diesels tend to run better out of the box than steamers. Its just a matter of mechanics that makes it that way. Take the steamer apart and lube and oil in the critical spots first. BLI is known to either drenched or dry as a desert in their drive lines.Then there are a number of settings in CVs that need to be adjusted to get smooth consistent running.
Pete
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Steamers, especially, do better as they get 'run-in'. For some, that takes something like 20 minutes slow to fast running in both directions and then a light lube. For others, it takes quite a few hours before they settle down. My BLI metal K4s was noisy in the outer drive-train for many hours, even after I lubed it, but now it is much quieter.
Also, as the drivetrains get warm during use, the engines seem to run better. I have found that a value programmed into CV2 (which is also called V-Start) is sometimes needing a nudge upward in value when an engine is cold. 10 minutes later, if I repeat the test for CV2 (I'll get to that...) I find I can back the value down to what it was at the end of the last session.
To set your CV2 value for optimum, the engine should be level and have some room to move. You set the throttle to speed step "1", and ideally, if things are really good quality-wise, the engine should perceptibly being to creep along the rails. If it lurches into motion, enter Ops Mode and set CV2 to a value of "00". Then try the test again. No motion at speed step one? If you knew the previous value (you have readback?), take half of that value and programme it into CV2. Try speed step "1" once more. Still no go? Half the remaining distance to the previous value and enter that new higher number into the CV. You should be darned close and can now tweak it.
-Crandell
My BLI steam engine I set CV 2 = 25 or 30 and if you have kick strength set value = 10
That should get it moving on 1 consistently
Brent,
As others have suggested, a good break-in period (at least 2 hours at various speeds/directions) and a light lube (before and after) are usually the norm for BLI steamers. After it has had a chance to settle in a bit, try adjusting startup voltage (CV2), as the poster above suggested. For my BLI 4-8-2 Mohawk, I nearly doubled the value (i.e. from 32 to 55) in order to get it to run smoother.
I find BLI steamers take a bit of tweaking before they start running according to my liking.
Tom
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