I think the Portsmouth branch of the PRR reached a milestone this weekend--two trains have been running non-stop, unattended since Saturday 11 AM--OK, that's only 34.5 hours ago. If you count the cleaning train that ran all day Friday (I did shut it down that night), I'm up to 46.5 hours without a glitch. And very little rumbly track any more--maybe I'm just wearing it off? Things were pretty glum here a few weeks ago, as track gremlins were raising their heads. A little persistence, a whole lot of cleaning and attention to details, and the mainline is running really well. Now--onto the main yard! It's actually running pretty well, but for some dirty spots and, perhaps, some off-camber curves. Sigh! I was so worried a few weeks ago. Now I'm giddy!
I'd be worried, too. Congrats, a heckuva milestone, considering all the work you have invested in the last month!
A major accomplishment in the categories of reliable trackwork and engines. However, I think I'd have concerns about leaving electronics operating unattended overnight.
Pete: It looks like some of the "gremlins" that have been plaguing you have started to disappear. That's great news. Weren't your command stations on the warm side? Stay cool and run steam....
PSG, I turned my command station down from 14.3 to 11.3 volts. It was a great improvement, as I now have much more of the throttle in use. On a 128-step throttle, I'm now at steps 60-80, instead of 40-55. I'll start fiddling with speed tables sometime this winter.
Pete: What command station are you using? I have a Lenz 100. I Multiconsist most of my loco's and the Multiconsist function won't allow me to use 128 speed step with the Lenz system. It only allows 28 speed steps. I have my command station set to 13 volts. If I set the voltage down to 11 volts for extended periods the Lenz system automatically shuts down because of the buildup of heat due to the 4.5 volt differential between the power suppy (15.5 volts) and the voltage of the command station if set to 11 volts. The 2.5 volt differential I have now works fine. I could possibly cut it to 12 volts at most. Speed tables work extremely well. I have most of my steam/diesel roster programmed to work on speed tables. This is alot of fun to set up BTW.. Stay cool and run steam.....
Bob, I have an NCE Pro, with a 5-amp transformer as power supply. Absolutely no problems with heat build-up or shut downs. I never even thought of the possibility. There's 800 feet of track in one power district for now--I'll get to dividing it up later. (For non-DCCers, this basically means a short, such as cuased by a derailment, shuts the whole layout down; with power districts, a short will only shut down the district involved.) I'm using the "advanced consist" feature instead of "old-style" consists. This feature assigns, as I understand it, a temporary address for each decoder in the consist. This address can either be a consist number (from 1-100) or the lead loco address. And it allows 128-step throttles. I've been running three ABBA consists (twelve locos on three trains) without any problems. I imagine speed tables can be fun to set up. When I was on DC on the previous layout, I had consists assembled according to tests. I had enough engines to switch and swap. I would place 8 Bachmann F7s on the layout at various points, then choose the four that ran fastest for F7Consist 1, and the four that ran the slowest as F7Consist 2. There were some surprising results, as long as I wanted to keep experimenting. For example, (and without my log books, this is just an example), the DC performance of the old Atlas FA-1 matched the DC performance of the Minitrix 0-6-0. So I could "consist" the two together with good results, even if it meant putting the FA-1 into a cheater boxcar.
I didn't have concerns--but perhaps I should? I've read the horror stories of engines melting under DCC conditions, but never found an understandable root cause, nor had it happen to me. I've never had a problem with the power supply nor command station nor throttles. What am I overlooking here?
Provided that your NCE Pro cuts the track power when it detects a short (it should) then you "should be ok. Also as you pleasantly found out, running 11.3-11.7 volts with N scale equipment will help as well and keep things cooler as well. You obviously have great trackwork as it sounds like you have 1 district with a 5 amp power supply and probably don't have any voltage drops problems- you have a lot of track for 1 district. Even though it is strongly suggested to go no higher than a 5 amp power supply(N scale); some have gone to the 8 amp power supplies and it does not take more than a second and a quick short at 8 amps to fry and melt anything in N scale. Now if you did create 2 districts that may not work for you and the unattended marathon sessions. It would shut the power down in 1 district and allow that other train to keep going until it reached that district or the other train. Now that might be an interesting picture... Brian
Pete: Having no experience at all with DCC, I'm not sure about the potential for damaging engines or decoders. My personal concern would be a lot more pedestrian, running to the potential for a fire hazard. I may be overstating the risk, but I won't (personally) leave the dryer running unattended. The equipment in question may actually be pretty safe in this regard, and if so, my concern would be retracted. But in any case, I'd rather be safe than sorry.
Brian, Yes, that's a lot of track for one district. It will be broken into at least three mainline districts in the future--one for each deck. I have all the gear. I'm taking things one step at a time, and that's one of the next steps. The NCE systems does cut power on a short. Jenks, I clean my gas dryer every year nowadays, after seeing what a three-year build-up can do. I literally undress it completely, and use a vacuum and air-gun to clean. I also clean the ducts. I am concerned about something setting my foam board layout on fire. Ira-- About 2200 scale miles, by my calcs.
