Rapido announced via a Youtube video that they have noted a high failure rate in the motor of this engine. They will replace motor if it fails, at their cost, but there are changes you can make to CV's 51 52 and 54 to prevent failure.
These are CV's related to BEMF, though how it works to prevent failure is beyond my paygrade.
The RS 11 will have the same motor, but will have those CV changes already made to it.
They are to be congratulated for their honesty in addressing the problem.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
This is a seriously wonderful example of quality customer service in the face of a product problem. I commend Rapido for their handling of this.
Based on the Loksound manual, what they are doing is greatly reducing BEMF below speed step 20 (out of 128). CV54 is the BEMF strength, CV52 is slow speed BEMF strength, and CV51 is the speed step which determines if you are in slow speed mode (use the BEMF strngth in CV52) or fast (use the BEMF strength in CV54.
The normal recommendation is to not se CV51 and 52 unless you are unsatisfied with slow speed operation, in which case they recommend setting CV52 to 5-10 HIGHER than CV54.
So my guess if the strong BEMF is somehow overheating the motor when running slow, heating it up enough to melt the enamel on the windings and/or causing the solder on the commutator tabs to melt. Once the enamel insulation melts, the winding becomes electrically shorter, lower resistence, and higher current - and gets even hotter. Until something opens up and stops the flow of current through the damaged winding.
AH yes, the cybermen, as found on the Battlstar Galactica in the Star Wars movies....
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
rrinkerAH yes, the cybermen, as found on the Battlstar Galactica in the Star Wars movies....
Jason is still beating his head against the table and you just outed yourself as not a Dr Who fan.
LOL are you kidding? I'm a huge Dr. Who fan. Pertwee (third Doctor) is my favorite. I have a Dalek and a Tardis hanging on my tree, and I have an etched metal kit of a Tardis waiting for me to get up the nerve to actually try and build it without wrecking the pieces.
And if Jason gets tired of Dr. Who episodes, we can switch to Star Trek. Star Wars, I don't know how it is still popular after jumping the shark multiple times now. Give me more Han Solo movies and keep the other junk out and I'd be happy.
Then I have to award you an honorary 300,000 post count.
Tom Baker was my favorite.
rrinker Star Wars, I don't know how it is still popular after jumping the shark multiple times now. Give me more Han Solo movies and keep the other junk out and I'd be happy.
Star Wars, I don't know how it is still popular after jumping the shark multiple times now. Give me more Han Solo movies and keep the other junk out and I'd be happy.
Star Wars will never die!!!!! Also I am not really a fan of 7/8 (maybe 9 too, well have to wait a few days and see!:), but not Solo either. (I would NOT recommend talking of you love of Solo near my friends!) I want more like Rouge One!
And there’s the picketers! I guess anymore weird sci-fi not train stuff may need to jump through hyperspace to the diner!
On the Rapido front, nice to see them agknowledging their mistakes. I saw that video while on YouTube earlier today but didn’t get a chance to watch it. Seems like the motor issue is not major if Rapido is going to keep using the same motor.
It may sometimes seem like Rapido has a lot of issues with their stuff, but I wonder if all manufacturers have similar issues, just only Rapido makes a good effort to fix them. Either way Rapido is doing a fine job!
Regards, Isaac
I model my railroad and you model yours! I model my way and you model yours!
That's what I mean about it jumping the shark. 4-5-6 were good (as originally made, not the endless redos! Those are the ones I saw, first run in theaters). OK, the dancing teddy bears were maybe a bit much in 6. 1-3, JUNK, and 7 was not great, and it seems to have gone even more downhill with 8 and now 9. 4 was still the best. Space opera at its finest, even if the storyline was 'borrowed'.
As for Rapido, they seem very committed to making sure their products are top of the heap. They've done an awful lot when it comes to setting up their manufacturing and so forth that other companies just haven't, and it really helps the quality. And they are quite transparent about stuff. Plus, the whole gang looks like they have a lot of fun doing what they do - if I had something to offer, I think I'd love working there.
rrinkerAH yes, the cybermen, as found on the Battlestar Galactica in the Star Wars movies....
Now, now, let's all take a sip of Vitex and appreciate a well-done trolling. I only wish he'd mentioned the Borg in the same sentence, but I had not noticed the resemblance of that annoying little fellow from the first Battlestar Galactica to the Cybermen, so I'm grateful even if Big Daddy is not.
I wish the musketeers had done the technical discussion of why they used the original CV settings (which I don't think they mentioned although you can see them briefly in the second reprogramming example) and why the changes are desirable -- I note Jason refers to the cumulative damage Randy described, but only peripherally (the mention that the fixes won't work retroactively).
I was amused that the new motors cost 'four times' what the originals did. Is that usual in sourcing motors for production, did they get an unusually good deal on the originals, or was there a harder 'QC problem' with their fabrication or design?
I'll be interested to see the discussion on optimal CV settings for the coreless motors when they become available.
rrinkerOK, the dancing teddy bears were maybe a bit much ... Space opera at its finest, even if the storyline was 'borrowed'.
Yeah, ripping off Beam Piper without even a nod of credit.
I still haven't made it all the way through 'Attack of the Clones', the acting and production are so excruciating. And the whole Jar-Jar Binks backfire leaves me wondering to this day 'what were they thinking' even after they tried to explain it away.
With J.J. in the picture it would almost certainly jump the shark if it hadn't before, just as with Trek. I like the Rogue One arc... but absent the necessary C.J. Cherryh-like complex character development that Lucasfilm isn't really known for already, I have little trust in where it will wind up.
Request to someone who cares out there: did they officially retcon out the reference to Midichlorians being a Dreel-like source of the Force, or is that canon now?
I'll never forgive JJ for ruining Trek. He even said he didn't like Trek, but still signed on to direct? Did he really need the money? Why would you do something you don't even like? He really wanted Star Wars, well, now he has it.
Who knows whats canon any more, in EITHER series. It keeps getting changed at the whims of those in control. Which is precisely the problem.
The only part of Episodes 1-3 of Star Wars I have even seen is the pod race - a friend had Episode 1 and a brand new GIANT TV and crazy surround sound system and it was a good choice to show it off. ANd I don't care to see any more of it.