I have had a set of Lionel TMCC Railsounds 5 Odyssey speed control engines for a number of years and barely operated them as they have not matched speed for many years. It is a stunning looking set of Santa Fe F7 powered A, dummy B, powered B, dummy A. I have tried the reset everything and Odyssey on or off, different momentum settings but cannot get them to respond together it often results in one or the other just spinning out.
Any suggestions? Tks
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I have read from a lot of folks here that Odyssey engines don't run well together but my SF F3's with three powered units work just fine together. Odyssey has to be enabled to get them to start together and stay in synch but otherwise no other caveats. I typically run them for an hour or two on the club layout with no issues. Not sure its makes a difference but I don't run them as a train, simply assign each one the same ID number.
Pete
Install the ERR Cruise Commander M in each one?
Isn't the secret "setting the stall speed" as in one of Mike's Lionel videos?
Stall is not functional for cruise control.
Can't you turn cruise off? I really don't know. With DCS - yes.
Gregg posted:Can't you turn cruise off? I really don't know. With DCS - yes.
Some engines yes. If you have installed a CC-M, then you can shut it off.
Factory installed Odyssey you can only if the locomotive has a switch, later installed engines have it.
Gregg posted:Can't you turn cruise off? I really don't know. With DCS - yes.
Some have a switch and some you can use keystrokes but you have reinitialize the keystroke method every time. You will never get them to run together smoothly with cruise off.
To see how closely they will run together just put them on the track about an inch apart and see how close they stay together.
Pete
I can run them on parallel tracks, engines clean and track clean but they never run the same one might start earlier then the other one may run faster or slower they are never consistent if I hook them together always one engine has the wheels spinning at some point. have tried Odyssey on off resets etc. no luck??
Here's my findings. Many times the problem lies in the fact that the locomotives in a lash up have momentary loss of power from dirty track, rollers and such. One unit loses power, the other pulls harder, the other unit has power restored and a fight develops. Our club layout is notorious for having dirty track. I solved the problem by running a jumper between each unit in my ABBA configuration to tie all four units together. I use a 'D' type sub miniature M-F crimp pin/socket, wire, and a little heat shrink for the permanent solution. I ran them this way for four hours continuous at a show last November. You can test this easy with the shells off and simply wire nutting a temporary jumper between the locos as I did.
Have seen that issue at a friends house with the UP F3's where the powered B will not run with the A-B-A set. You'd think if they are built at the same time with the same parts they'd run together!
Let me throw this into the mix. My Lionel SF F3 ABBA are actually from two different runs. Train 18 and train 19. One has an Odyssey off/on switch, the other does not yet they all run together with Odyssey turned on and use the same engine ID, no lash up. I use a Cab1/Command base connected to a Legacy base which is what is connected to the track. When starting the engines I watch the Command base for the first blink. When I see that I wait for the engines to start moving which typically takes a couple of seconds. After that I just turn the red knob and they run together.
I mention the Legacy base as I am not sure if it converts relative speed steps to absolute speed steps and closer synchronization.
NYC Z Man brings up the point of having clean track so check that too.
Pete
kj356 posted:I can run them on parallel tracks, engines clean and track clean but they never run the same one might start earlier then the other one may run faster or slower they are never consistent if I hook them together always one engine has the wheels spinning at some point. have tried Odyssey on off resets etc. no luck??
Step one is check to make sure you HAVE a F7 powered B unit and not and F3 with TMCC. The F3's are geared differently and have a smaller worm on the motor axel, also make sure they are BOTH TMCC. The later Legacy release powered B units WILL NOT run with the older F3 or F7's.
Next make sure you did not lose a traction tire.
Next do a factory reset for both powered units.
Make sure both powered units are set to Odyssey (ON). not Odyssey NO.
set them on the track and watch which one is slower. Is it hesitating? Note that gear sets love to attract metal particles and all sorts of dirt. Even the grease likes to harden up over time. Make sure these gears are not binding. To be prudent I would clean both gear sets out.
Last, is you may have a bad motor bushing. The F3's are notorious for this. The F7's were a little better. Pop the shell and watch the flywheels turn. Is one motor faster than the other? Turn Odyssey off for this experiment. You can see one motor working harder than the other...My luck has always been the motor with the odyssey board is bad...the good news on the F7's you can still get a replacement!
Let us know what you find...
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