Hello,
I have a Bli SW7 that I have been playing around with on DC and DCC and have noticed a problem. I will eventually go full DCC when my layout is built but I have been testing everything on a small oval of bachmann EZ Track for now. I know that sound equipped DCC locos take more power to run on DC but how much more? I am running this on a MRC Sound & Power 7000, it has 20 VDC, 18 VAC and 35 VA on DC. Mode 1 for G has 15 VDC 18 VAC and 27 VS on DC. When I first tested it it would move at 3/4 throttle but slowly. It runs very well with my NCE Powercab but again slowly. Now though, it will not move at all with the 7000. The sounds and lights come at at half throttle but it does not move even at full throttle. My other DCC locos do run better on DC but again at half throttle.
Could I have changed something when it was run on DCC? Is the 7000 not powerful enough to move it reliably? Would a MRC 9000 or 20 have any more power?
The reason I am wondering is I am still not sure I want the complexity of DCC. I will have to eventually convert about 20 locomotives over. Trains for me has always been just a distraction. I just like to run them around and watch, another words with my other hobbies if I find time to turn it on I will just sit and watch them go around the layout.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, SB
Hi,
I also have one of those BLIs, and enjoy it quite a bit. I only run it on DCC however, but do know from other experiences that there is definitely different performance levels when running on DC vs. DCC.
What I really want to pass along to you is this...... DCC is only as complicated as you want it to be. After being a DC operator since 1960(!), I finally got the nerve to go to DCC in 2009. I too was afraid of the complexity, but then realized I didn't need to get involved in the more complex areas up front.
Actually, the wiring is not much different, and considering the absence of all those block switches I had, as well as the controls for the two reversing loops, what I have now is much simpler. Now someday I may get into signaling and DCC turnout controls and the like, but you just don't need them up front. Oh, my layout is 11x15, two level, in HO.
One more suggestion...... If/when you do convert to DCC, leave the DC locos off the layout until you get decoders installed. Yes, you CAN run both on the same layout, but it often causes a lot of grief.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
"If/when you do convert to DCC, leave the DC locos off the layout until you get decoders installed. Yes, you CAN run both on the same layout, but it often causes a lot of grief."
It is not necessarily true that you can run DC locos on a DCC layout. Some DCC manufacturers (ie Digitrax) support that feature and others (ie NCE) do not.
In any event, the advice to leave the DC locos off the DCC layout is spot on.
blabride Could I have changed something when it was run on DCC?
Could I have changed something when it was run on DCC?
Possibly. When you used the PowerCab did you do any programming? If you did you might have turned off the analog function, which means that the loco will not run on DC.
If all else fails, do a factory reset on the engine.
Bob