I am attempting to install a TCS WOW 121 decoder into a Life Like proto GP7 and am having control issues. After installing everything except the Keep Alives the locomotive is very slow to respond to changes in speed and the sound keeps cutting out. I disassembled and clean the trucks including the pivot point. I get zero ohms when testing the rail to the motherboard/decoder pins.
It seems to me that the DCC packets and power are not consistently making it to the decoder. I tried resoldering the power pick up leads to the motherboard but it just got worse.
I can install the keep alive which will smooth out the power flow to the motor, but that won't help the slow response to speed changes.
Has anyone else had this problem with LL Proto Gp7 and/or TCS wow sound 121?
I've installed them in a couple steam locomotives without issue, this is my first diesel.
Thanks
Chris
Chris,
Did you check CVs 3 & 4 to see what the momentum is set at? They should both be "0" if you want zero or no momentum.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Momentum is set to zero.
I installed the Keep Alive now and as expected the sound no longer cuts out. However the lights flicker and the slow erratic response is still there. Although not as bad as before.
Did it run OK on DC? sound and erratic lights have nothing to do with momentum settings although I think a keep alive should keep the lights on.
I had one with seized worm gear bearings that didn't run at all. Once I cleaned that up, installation of a Loksound presented no problems.
The LL GP can also have cracked gears in the trucks. Easy Peasy fix.
There is also the issue of clean wheels. Just because it is NIB doesn't mean the wheels are ready to go.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Henry raises a good point. I picked up a NOS Proto 2000 GP7 a couple of years ago and it had the proverbial cracked gear issue. (Made a consistent thud or click with each revolution of the truck wheels.) I replaced both the front & rear axle wheel sets with Walthers parts and it runs as smooth as glass now - especially at low speed.
Does your GP7 chassis make any sort of noise as it is moving along?
Other than what has been mentioned, cleaned up LL Geeps run very well and your decoder doesn't have a commonly reported flaw that explains your problems
I installed a TCS motor-only board decoder (an LL8-LED) in my GP7. As mentioned, it works great and is an extremely smooth runner.
I purchased it NIB on eBay about 15 years ago and it ran great. About 5 years ago I pulled it out and it had a thump. I replaced cracked gears and it ran great again. Back into the box until last week. It ran ok on DC after a couple minutes of run time. I disassembled the trucks, cleaned out old grease, very lightly oiled the pinion bearings and cleaned the truck pivot surfaces.
It seems to me to be a power/track pick problem
Do you have a spare motor-only decoder you can temporarily wire in to see if the GP7 behaves the exact same way?
You might also want to try resetting your TCS decoder to factory settings (CV8=2). Sometimes decoders do funky things and need their brains realigned. Kinda like rebooting a PC...
After taking a couple days away I revisited this locomotive and decided to spray a very small amount of CRC 2-26 into the bronze axle bearings to clean them. Now the locomotive was MUCH better. Not perfect but no worse than a old Atlas yellow box RS11 I converted to TCS 121wow sound a month ago.
I disassembled and cleaned everything but the trucks thinking they were good since I did it when I changed the cracked gears. It only had 15 minutes of run time since.
Lesson learned, inspect, clean and lube everything while you have it apart.
Thank you for everyone's help in solving this problem.
Now back to work converting my Proto E8s.
The bearings in the LL locos can be absolutely siezed by green corrosion. I thought I once posted a pic, but cannot find it here or in Imgur. Well imagine a brass green patina and a drive shaft that does not turn.
The PO or the guy selling it on Ebay hosed it down with some sort of oil, which did no good at all.
BigDaddyThe bearings in the LL locos can be absolutely siezed by green corrosion.
Recently had a pair of new-old-stock L-L FAs with the green crud:
Proto_gear-3 by Edmund, on Flickr
Whatever chemical reaction takes place the result is an amber-colored lacquer that is stronger than Super Glue®
Total cleansing and relube are the only workarounds. These shafts were seized completely.
Proto_gear-9 by Edmund, on Flickr
Good Luck, Ed
I guess lifelike used different lubracants at different time.
good pics Mel. Mine cleaned up with isopropyl alcohol.