I have heard that DCC brings out the maximum in marginal locomotives. I know a piece of junk only has so much potential, but..., I have purchased a bunch of IHC C-Liners "A" units real cheap to kitbash with-they run decently enough, but if i make several kit-bashed locos with cabs at each end or turn two into powered "B" units, etc, will it be worth the money to "DCCize" this quality of loco when i go DCC in about 5 or 6 months? I'm wondering how much truth is in this. For instance, do locomotives without flywheels do better with DCC? Or, if i put a lot of work into the shells and really like them, can the folks at Micro loco motion re-motor them? Just want some assorted thoughts on the subject. Thanks, Curt
Would that be like putting a Cadillac motor in a Ford, or restoring an old classic with a new motor and a 12 volt system? If DCC is all its cracked up to be, it should enhance the shells. Right? It may not make them worth any more at a future sale, but they should run like a scalded cat for now!
I am not the expert on this but there are some things that DCC can do that may improve the performance. There are DCC decoders that have BEMF included. BEMF monitors the load and the speed of the motor as compared to the commanded speed and adjusts the amount of power that is sent to the motor. This will smooth out the performance. It really shows up doing switching and going up and down hills. The jerkiness is greatly reduced. You can also set an initial voltage, a maximum voltage, and a mid-point. The initial voltage can kick start a motor. You can have a speed table that sets certain voltages for each of 128 points (depending on decoder). It really comes down to how bad the locomotive runs to start with and how much money you want to spend on a decoder. I personally would put the money into improving the locomotive and less into the decoder.
The interesting thing for me as i consider all this is that when i get the money to go with DCC, i will be able, for the first time in my life, to buy anything i want without concern for cost. I don't know if any of the rest of you have what i call the "model RRing on a shoestring" [don't even know where i got that shoestring thing?] problem, but i have scrimped all my life on my hobby. When i finish my present project i will step into a wonderful financial situation instantly. Mean time, i want to enjoy my plentiful free time while i wait for things to wrap up. Sooo..., i am building my RR with DCC wiring and working on projects i can afford until then-thus my C-Liner projects. Hope this helps clarify what i am asking about. Thanks for the feedback thus far. Watash: Looking foward to seeing locos run like scalded cats! Would that be like the old Athearn Hustler? Curt
My personal experience (thru many of my club members) is that DCC is not some sort of "magic wand" or "correct all". It has been my experience that DCC cannot make a poor running loco run better. It just makes them run "wireless" or "blockless". In fact, it seems to be a good point to operate all new locos on DC to determine their operating characteristics before attempting a conversion to DCC. While it is true that you can use a good DCC system to "fine tune" your operating characteristics (using all of the available features), it still remains that if you have a poor running locomotive (poor design, bad components, weak tolerences) DCC cannot overcome these obstacles. This has been exhibited by some of my club members that have converted some of their older and poorer running locos to DCC, only to have consistent problems. Harold
I agree with the previous poster. DCC is not a magic wand. You can't take a lemon of a loco and make it into lemonade. To make a lousy loco run better, you may have to get new wheels, new moter, new gears or just a good tune-up/clean-up. The only way DCC will help you with a cheaper loco, is that it will let you govern the top-speed so it can run with other locomotives in the consist. Also, beware of the type of motors you have. For some reason they do not recommend running cheaper so-called "coreless" motors with DCC. I believe, but could be mistaken, that the AC current from DCC signals really plays havoc with them. If you guys want further information of my experience with DCC go to my website below. I have a whole area, dedicated to my trials and tribulations with DCC. No matter what the experts say, it is still going to cost you. I also have to add the DCC helps low speed performance as well. I can make my good Atlas units downright creep along with DCC. Also the locomotives run a lot smoother and have better speed control. You don't get the herky-jerky starts. Personally, I would not put a decoder in a cheap locomotive, or one that ran marginally. [ 26 November 2001: Message edited by: ajy6b ]</p>
