Is anyone familiar enough with the runs of the Proto 2000 Pa's? I have three different Pa's two in Missouri Pacific and one for the St Louis and Southwestern. All the have the same light board in the back with a DCC plug like the one in the TCS decoder installation on their website. They all three run very well on DC. Does anyone know if there was an earlier non dcc run that had the bad motors or did any of the DCC ready PA's have problems too.
Thanks
SB
I've got the Proto 2k PA/PB DCC ready versions with decoders in them. and they run flawlessly. Good stong pullers, very smooth drive mechanisms, no motor problems here.
Truck.
SB.
I have an early PA that had the plug. Tested it on DC and at 12 volts it pulled 1.5 amps. I eventually put a TCS T1 with a long harness in it and it runs pretty good. The older PAs and E units were power hungry. I just put it back on the work bench to do away with the factory board and light bulb. I am going to hardwire the decoder and instal LED headlight and number board lights. There is not much run time on this unit. I run more steam than diesels. I will eventually sell it or just keep it as a spare loco.
Pete
I pray every day I break even, Cause I can really use the money!
I started with nothing and still have most of it left!
It was some of the older ones (and also some early E units as well) that had motors that would draw somewhere north of 4 amps. Since there's so much space, people once suggested putting G scale decoders in them, but really - one loco using 80% of your DCC power is pretty silly. At the time it was possible to get replacement motors, but it was so long ago that even with proof of purchase I don;t think Walthers would provide motors. Howver, the motors were physically the same as newer ones, so it is possible to buy a replacement motor if you happen to have one fo the older units. It migth be easier though, to buy a newer one in some roadname you don;t care about, and swap shells. Probably cheaper, too.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
As I recall the problem wasn't the continuous running current of the motors, but that they would spike up to 4 amps on start. Our club had two. We went through three decoders before we figured out what was happening. Since I do not normally use the factory circuit boards with or without plugs, I do not remember if those units had the NMRA plugs or not. So unfortunately, I cannot directly answer your question.
As I had six similar units, I had contacted LifeLike and they were going to replace the motors for free. Then whammy Walthers bought them out before we could complete the transaction. Walthers claimed the parts got all mixed up in the move and they would not honor the deal. drat.
All I can say is to get an amp meter that can measure spikes and test the units. If they spike don't even try to put a decoder in.