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BLI's F Unit Thread (Title edited to reflect changing situations with these units)
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[quote]QUOTE: <i>Originally posted by Don Gibson</i> <br /><br />[quote]QUOTE: <i>Originally posted by Safety Valve</i> <br /><br />I wanted to state that I ran ABBA BLI F7 units on a railroad today sucessfully as a consist. <b>It took two throttles to drive all 4 horses but am learning about consisting as I go along.</b>Getting the 4 to work together resulted in a locomotive lashup that will pull everything I own up the wall. I have never seen such brute "Grunt" force in a desiel until today.[/quote] <br />REALLY? Real F-7's generally pulled 3 - 6 passenger cars and maybe 10 freight cars on the 'flatlands' and ABBA with 16 cars up 2% grades. How many cars are you expecting to pull? <br /> <br />Your BLI's are Powered A's and dummy B'S. <br /> <br />[quote]QUOTE: It is my humble opinion that these units represent the best Model Railroading can offer and it takes alot to get me to feel this good about a locomotive.[/quote] <br /> <br />I'm not sure if what you have is good or bad, but I am disturbed by 1. your need for "2 throttles" to run 2 (powered) units . I dont own a single train that won't work with just one throttle - including some ABBA's with all 4 unit's powered. <br /> <br />Something is wrong. 1. your power pak's VA capacity, or 2. something is draggin'. 3. BLI'S with QSI sound require 5 volts just to start. I suggest starting with strong power pak - with meters. 30 VA is only 2.5 amps @ 12 volts. http://www.modelrectifier.com/products/trainSound/product.asp?ID=1265&Subcategory=Big power <br />[/quote] <br /> <br />No sir, each of the 4 locomotives in the set are individuals with thier own decoders, sound and motor. They each have a two digit address based on the lead unit's first two digits. <br /> <br />A unit 231 makes it #23 and the B 231X makes it #24 for simplicity. Using the "F" marking on the B unit to have both pull together in the same direction is useful. Now the other set needed to run backwards but is useful because there is no room to "Turn" the locos for the run back. <br /> <br />The reason one of sets were dead is the throttle for those were closed. Once both throttles are open sufficently they all ran. <br /> <br />Regarding the consisting, I am working on making each of the B units slave to the A's and hopefully result in just having two for one throttle. <br /> <br />We had consisted the units as a A-B set which worked well for one throttle (I think it was a 400) on the program track and then we consisted the other AB set. The fun began when we attempted to lash both consists together. We ended up using one throttle for one consist and the other for the other. <br /> <br />I have heard the PCM will have A units with decoder while the B unit has a motor and sound but no decoder. It will be plugged into the A unit like a steam locomotive tender so.. I think from a programming Point of view it might actually be a good way to do it. <br /> <br />I do worry about things like wires hanging down too low or wearing off at the connectors. <br /> <br />The control system used on the layout was a Digitrax mid range system with 5 amps. <br /> <br />We had genuine concerns for power usage and after about 20 minutes running the booster itself was still cool to the touch and did not drop out on us due to heat. <br /> <br /> The sound was rather quiet but suspect that is because I havent mastered the volumes yet. I posted the video and it turned out well. <br /> <br />Alot of the BLI steam will pull 15+ cars up 3% grades in HO scale and I own a few that can do it. My thinking towards model trains is heavily influenced by bad performing trainset units from my early years. So pulling power is one of the citeria I have for my motive power. They will pull a 15 car up the hill with or without a helper or they will get sold off. <br /> <br />BLI has done a good job with them. So I do enjoy showcasing these models.
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