I can honestly say I was amazed at how long the sound kept rolling after I pulled the locomotive from the test track.
Uhm, OK, I did bring up cell phone batteries earlier... But I have heard about heat sinking of decoders. Maybe that's for small shelled locos (like N or Z) where there is allot less cool air in, say, a tender or other decoder housing areas...
I'm not so sure that Max wasn't being facetious... At any rate, I really doubt that heat is a problem with these electronics after talking to the TCS rep. I would think that just like any other electronic component (computers for example), if heat were an issue a heat sink would already be attached to the component with advisories stating minimum clearances around said heat sink.
Doesn't matter what "you've heard", Mark. You do not put heat sinks on decoders! There is no place to do so. You need to make sure no part of the decoder (except the frame pads on drop-ins) touch the frame or any other metal. You do not want to short them out. Nor is there room. I have installed over 100 decoders; from drop-ins to the latest LokSounds - not one has a heat sink. Never had a problem that wasn't created by my own installation error.
Me? Be facetious? Shirley, you jest! And, I found this on another forum: "As for heat sinking decoders - all the major brands have a power rating which is the maximum current they can handle as they come - ie, if they are wrapped in palstic, they can handle the rated current without removing the palstic or adding heat sinks. Larger decoders for O and G often have instructions for adding a heat sink, they don't often come with them because they aren't always needed, add to teh cost,a nd also make the decoder that much bigger." Much the same arguments as here, throughout, as you might imagine. But it does occur to me that Mark might have seen advertisements or suggestions for heat sinks for larger scale or older decoders? And finally, if you mounted your decoder, with a thin layer of caulking, to the outside wall of a metal tender or a metal engine, simple convection would tend to pull heat away from the hotter location into the metal surrounding it. That's not an option for plastic locomotive bodies, but some of these locos have some hellaciously large internal weights that would probably act as a place to pull heat away from the decoder if you mounted it there with said bathtub caulking. Although, if you're pulling enough current to heat your decoder that much, you probably need to grease your gears and lube your bearings. Just my two cents... .
Thanks Max ! Convection is the operative (in both ways) word !! At last, someone who backs up allot of what I'm bitchin about ! But I do leap off thread here...M
