I have two Spectrum H.O. 44 tonners equipped with LokSound 3.5 decoders. The locos run great,especially at low speed, and the sound is good for such small engines but their light weight makes them susceptible to stalling when none of my other engines do (I "gleamed" my trackage). My question is this. What size (mf and physical size) capacitor would I need for a "stay alive" function and where would I connect it? Thanks for any help. I really like running these two engines but their tendency to stall is irritating. The track is clean and all wheels do put up current, by the way. My other engines rarely stall.
John Cornette
Mebane, North Carolina
Below is a link to stay alive info. Follow his directions. This is assuming you have electronic experience.
http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/mainnorth/alive.htm
I have a couple Spectrum 44 tonners and a Spectrum 70 tonner with the LokSound Micro and no issues. I use the 16mm x 35mm oval speaker in a baffle I made.
Clean track is a necessity and powered frogs. I have run these locos on our club layout with no issues.
I do not have any added capacitors.
With Tsunami I need stay alive but in larger locos.
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.
Rich,
Thanks for the info. My 44 tonners only stall when going very slow and not that frequently. I set acceleration on the decoders to "0" and the state to maintain settings so that a gentle nudge is all that is necessary for the engines to continue (no start up sequences after a stall). I probably will leave well enough alone! I also made my own baffles and use speakers that fit in the "hood" area to leave the cab "open." These little engines fit my layout and operating scenario so well I use them more than my larger, more expensive engines most of the time. Thanks again.
John
My 44 ton and 70 ton start at just about 1mph, speed step 1 using the NCE Power Cab in 128 mode. Below are numbers I got from a fellow in South Africa in the Yahoo LokSound Group.
LokSound settings
On to some hybrid settings (I'm assuming that you'll want to keep the North American sound slot assignment.
CV130 = 0 (no output)
CV133 = 0 (no output)
CV136 = 0 (no output)
CV139 = 0 (no output)
CV190 = 4 (Sound on/off)
CV193 = 4 (Sound on/off)
In other words, change CV's 130, 133, 136, 139, 190 & 193.
This will cause the loco to behave as follows:
On power up, the loco remains silent.
Press F8 - the loco goes through the start-up sequence then settles on idle.
Second press F8 - the loco goes through the shutdown sequence, then becomes silent.
CV3 14
CV4 14
CV5 32
CV6 16
FWD Light CV 113 127
REV Light CV 114 127
Aux Beacon CV 115 47
CV 165 4
CV 168 4
Been a couple years since I did this. I stopped using the lights on/off when reversing the loco. No prototypical for the loco.
Union Freight in Boston MA could not use one loco in 15 to 20 cars transfer runs so they would M.U. them.
How many cars are you trying to move with one loco?
Model Railroader, January 2001 has a article on the UFRR using this loco in M.U. service.
What radius curves and size of turnouts on your layout?
Adding a stay-alive capacitor to a 3.5 would require some REALLY fine soldering skills as you have to tap into the circuitry on the board where the input signal is rectified .... I wouldn't recommend it. Besides, the size of a "standard" capacitor in sufficient size to make much difference, would be rather large physically.
Take whatever room you have and add some weight. Having a "tighter" wheel to rail contact will really improve the pick-up on that little engine.
Mark.
¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ
Thanks to all who responded to my query re: my 44 tonners. I will answer "in bulk" since I am presently in AZ with my wife visiting one of our sons for the Thanksgiving weekend. \
I normally do not handle more than 6 or 7 cars with either engine and all my cars have metal wheels and roll well.
The minimum radius on my switching layout is 24" and my turnouts are Shinohara (Walthers) #5's or better (three curved). I did add weight to each engine, using lead (yipe!) shaped and glued below the frame but above the "skirt," drilling holes to allow for removal of the two screws there. I have even "tweaked" the wheel gauge to insure maximum contact without violating NMRA standards and to avoid shorting out on the turnouts.
I plan to check the recommended CV settings when I return to NC later this week. Like Rich, each loco starts at step one at one SMPH and runs smoothly, as do all my ESU equipped engines. I even k"de-equipped" an Walthers H10-44, emoving the QSI decoder and replacing it with a Loksound--much improved performance and sound!
Thanks again for all the help and suggestions. I really appreciate the input! I've almost concluded the problem is some not quite evenly layed trackwork in a couple of spots, aggravated by the weight and lack of flywheels in the engines. They run SO well that I will put up with the occasional (maybe two or three incidents in a 2 hour session) stalls.