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I have just factory reset my 12 PS 2 and 3 engines/upgrades, and have noticed that there are very brief hesitations on block changes or traversing primarily Ross switches at running speeds, and on running at very slow speeds, the engine actually stops.  I seem to remember a friend of mine coming over and accessing a function of DCS which allowed the engine to bridge over these momentary interruptions, and he upgrading all of my engines at that time, and have interruption free operations for many years.  Now that I have wiped out all added functions with the factory resets, I have no idea what was done to address this.  I have called MTH tech support and they know of nothing like this kind of capability.  Any idea?

Thank you,  Ron

 

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Bob,

I seem to remember a friend of mine coming over and accessing a function of DCS which allowed the engine to bridge over these momentary interruptions, and he upgrading all of my engines at that time, and have interruption free operations for many years.  Now that I have wiped out all added functions with the factory resets, I have no idea what was done to address this.  I have called MTH tech support and they know of nothing like this kind of capability.

The reason that has no idea what was done, is that whatever you think was done via engine settings simply isn't possible. There are no DCS "functions" that can mitigate this kind of behavior.  It's a matter of the engine losing continuity with either the center or outside rails, or both.

The only things that can make any kind of a difference in this regard are:

  • Make sure that each PS2 engine's battery is full charged to keep the PS2 board hot during momentary power dropouts. This lets the engine's natural momentum keep it going over a dead spot.
  • Go faster over bad spots to get past them quicker.
  • Clean wheels, rails and pickup rollers.
  • Look for and eliminate dead rails.
  • Swap single pickup rollers for dual pickup rollers wherever possible.
  • Add pickup rollers to tenders that lack them.

I suspect that your issue is electrical in nature and has nothing to do with DCS.

 

Additions of (4) roller pick-ups to a lot of newer issue 3 rail engines was a big plus,  Atlas also has added small capacitors to smooth-out, bridge over, some of the intermittent operation of AC roller pick-up power.  Cleaning/lubricating pick-up rollers a big plus.   Wheels and flanges can also acquire a lot of dirt that tends to inhibit electrical flow.  Basic maintenance.  IMO, Mike CT

   

Last edited by Mike CT

Just spent a couple of hours testing your various suggestions.   Here's what I found:

1.  Running a lighted caboose over the switches yielded no power drop/interruption.

2.  Tried the 1-2 decrease in deceleration speed]\d, but could not find improvement.  May help once the basic problem is resolved

3.  Ran the Dash 8 over the switches.  in reverse, not problem.  In forward, big problem.  engine bucked, or just hesitated, and symptoms in between.  Turned the engine around, and the same thing happened going the other direction.   Cleaned the switches and surrounding track with green pad.  No effect.  Tried WD 40 on the rollers of the engine, to address any corrosion on roller axles,  but no improvement.  

4.  Ran SD-90 and U50C over the same switches in the both directions both ways.  NO Problem.

So my conclusion is as Barry suggested, an electro/mechanical associated with the engine.  NOt sure why it would primarily happen when the engine was going forward, but it does.  And it's occurrence must just be happenstance vs the factory reset of the engines.

Thanks all for your thoughtful, creative suggestions.  Believe this has nothing to do with DCS, but is electrical/mechanical.  If you have any ideas on why this would only happen when the engine is going forward, not backward, I would appreciate them.  I will do more investigation on the rollers and the wheels, but they do not appear to be a problem, although they're the most likely culprits.

Thanks all,   Ron

Ron Stevenson posted:

RoyBoy,

First ran the engine in forward and reverse in one setting.  Problems only in forward.  No problems in reverse.  Then turned the engine around, and the engine did the same, problem in forward and no problem in reverse.   That kind of eliminated the track as a source of the problem for me.

Thanks,

Ron

 

 

It matters with PS3 2/3 rail, shouldn't matter with rail king.

I just had this vision of one or two plastic flatcar(s) with plastic trucks, with one center roller and one wiper on one of the axles of one of the trucks. So two hot wires from two different center rollers, and two ground wires from two different axles. Then, there is a matrix of LEDs with resistors that will some how indicate which of four just went dead. What happens with two, three, or four go dead, not sure.

Meanwhile, never hurts to clean the outside wheels on your loco - got burned by that with a Atlas GP60 with rubber band tires on the inners. Also had an Atlas dummy that the connection to the outside rail was thru the frame to truck connection, and it didn't always make, so I ran some jumper wires and tied the frame and two truck frames together.

I have a hard time seeing an E-8 having that problem but you never know.

Michael and Clem,

I scoured my basement, but do not have a box(with product no)for  the Rail King, Dash 8 with factory installed PS2, which is having the problem.  Have tested other PS2 engines, and they don't have the problem.  I believe the 3 switches are  Ross switches.  ( the Dash 8 also shows the hesitation on most switches on the mainline. but have not tested them  yet)  And this is a Dash 8, not an E-8, fyi.  ( Have not tested my E-8 yet).    I did clean the drivers and pick up wheels, but to no effect so far.   Just wondering why this is just now surfacing as it has run very reliability for as long as I have had it.

Will let you know what my engineer friend and I discover tonight.  Thanks for your persistence.

Ron  

And the PS3 SD90 showed no problem.

 

 

 

Hello All,  Bill Kobernus, friend and O gauge model rr'er extraordinaire,  came over and analyzed the situation last night.  We found that the engine hesitated or stopped on all switches regardless of direction of travel, and always with the front  roller on the dead spot of the switch.  Upon further inspection, we found silver marks on the plates just on the coupler side of the rollers , indicating that those black metal plates had been hitting the center rail, and likely causing shorts(See first two pix).   We took a Dremel tool and ground down those marks to create more clearance from the center rail(See the final two pix attached.   Note the  blue painters tape, which Bill applied to keep the steel shavings from fouling the underside of the engine or track.  We used a fine paint brush to clean up any residue)   I will paint both plates and that should seal the metal.  Upon further investigation with the front roller on the dead spot, and tipping the engine slightly to the side away from us, Bill saw a spark just above the rear truck.  Bill had also seen those same sparks while the engine was running.  Now we are sure that we have a short on one of the wires going to the rear truck,  it's my job  too find and fix that.  Then we should have a good, working Dash 8 engine.   

     Thanks to everyone who game me input on this and to Bill for helping me put the final fix analysis and fix on the problem.  Ron

 

 

 

 

Edited w/pix

Hello All, Bill Kobernus, friend and O gauge model rr'er extraordinaire, came over and analyzed the situation last night. We found that the engine hesitated or stopped on all switches regardless of direction of travel, and always with the front roller on the dead spot of the switch. Upon further inspection, we found straight line silver scoring on the plates just on the coupler side of the rollers , indicating that those black metal plates had been hitting the center rail, and likely causing shorts(See first two pix). We took a Dremel tool and ground down those scorings to create more clearance from the center rail(See the final two pix attached. Note the blue painters tape, which Bill applied to keep the steel shavings from fouling the underside of the engine or track. We used a fine paint brush to clean up any residue).  I will paint both plates and that should seal the metal. Upon further investigation with the front roller on the dead spot, and tipping the engine slightly on it's side away from us, 

IMG_0756IMG_0757IMG_0762IMG_0763                         Bill saw a spark just above the rear truck. Bill had also seen those same sparks while the engine was running. Now we are sure that we have a short on one of the wires going to the rear truck, it's my job to find and fix that. Then we should have a good, working Dash 8 engine.

Thanks to everyone who game me input on this and to Bill for helping me put the final  analysis and fix on the problem. Ron

Attachments

Images (4)
  • IMG_0756: See scoring on coupler side pad
  • IMG_0757: Scoring on the other coupler side pad
  • IMG_0762: Dremelling the indentation to create more clearance
  • IMG_0763: Blue tape to corral the filings from Dremelling

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