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half power on main track

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  • Member since
    September 2011
  • 22 posts
half power on main track
Posted by Chitty Chitty on Friday, October 21, 2011 2:22 AM

Humph:  Okay so I have made the upgrade to DCC...Almost. From my Great Eastern trunk, I would like to thank all for your help along the way. Starting with completing my track work thru switches and  now I have taken your advice and gone DCC.  The only problem so far as I can see is the loco only goes half as fast as it did with DC. Sure its cool and much more realistic, but this loco goes twice as fast in DC.  Any input on how I can speed up the loco on my Great Eastern trunk. Could it be an adjustment on the throttle itself. I just cant seem to get it to go past half speed no matter what I do. (Chitty)

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Posted by mfm37 on Friday, October 21, 2011 4:01 AM

We're really going to need more information.

What DCC system? What scale and engine?

Decoder model if available?

What DC power supply were you using before the change?

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Posted by tstage on Friday, October 21, 2011 7:06 AM

Chitty Chitty

The only problem so far as I can see is the loco only goes half as fast as it did with DC. Sure its cool and much more realistic, but this loco goes twice as fast in DC.

I guess I don't understand your problem, Chitty.  Are you used to running your trains flat out?

The beauty of DCC is that you can adjust the top speed of your locomotive so that it runs prototypical.  Your DC power pack probably had an output of 18-19V.  Most DCC systems run in the 12.5-14.5V range so your trains won't run as fast - about a 1/3 less.

Tom

https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling

Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.

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Posted by cudaken on Friday, October 21, 2011 8:04 AM

 Is there Decoders in the engines you are running? On my Digitrax Super Empire Builder I have 3 power settings. N Scale, HO and O/G. If I set it to N scale (I am HO) it cuts my speed by about a 1/3rd.

 Cuda Ken 

I hate Rust

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Posted by henryflag on Friday, October 21, 2011 7:49 PM

I had a similar problem with a Digitrax DZ125 decoder I installed. The fix was to turn off BEMF by setting CV57=0. When CV57 was 0, the motor output (and speed) doubled.

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Posted by PennCentral99 on Friday, October 21, 2011 9:34 PM

Did you buy the loco with DCC already installed?  Did you install it?  Did someone else install it?  What brand of decoder?

One other thing to look at:  CV3 (acceleration) - a high setting will take several minutes for the loco to reach full speed

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Posted by richg1998 on Saturday, October 22, 2011 10:41 AM

Forget what the locos did when operating with DC if the speeds with DCC are close to prototypical.

Below is a link to measuring loco speed.

http://home.cogeco.ca/~trains/rroperat.htm

Rich


If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.

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