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I have the Premier Santa Fe Northern from 1995 that was originally Proto 1 by QSI. It was expertly upgraded (appears to be at least) by another tech and had the PS2 3v set up.

Everything in conventional seems to work great (haven't yet tried DCS). The only thing that is weird is that it you have to turn up the rheostat (Z-1000) about half way before it begins to creep at a steady pace. It also seems much slower at the relative voltage than all of my other upgraded and factory made PS2 steamers which are all tuned to about the same rate of speed/voltage.

What's also weird is that if you go below the halfway point on the z-1000 it gets a bit jerky and then every lower (maybe 10-12 volts) the headlight dims and brightens every time the motor tries to rotate. My other engines don't behave this way at that voltage and if you turn the juice down in Forward or Reverse, it will idle without turning off or switching directions, but the headlight or motor won't appear to strain.

the tach reader and take look good

the motor isn't binding on anything / turns smooth by hand 

the upgrade is clean

board seems good / PS2 3v

What does this sound like to you guys?

Last edited by DdotCdot
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have you tried a different transformer and see if the results are the same ?

also has it always  ran like this since you purchased it? the sound file determines the scale speed of the engines . I also wonder if the tech that did the upgrade used the correct sound file for that engine.

what is the item number of this engine

Last edited by Alan Mancus

Affirmative and affirmative 

the item number is right there in the title but it has the PS2 3v upgrade so it is no longer true to the factory item number 

the chuff is dead on with the wheels. I have perfect rhythm/pitch and watched it chuff while running for more than 30 laps. The positioning of the drive rods to the chuff rate never fell off. 

again, item ID is: 20-3015-1 aka MT-3015LP

thank you

It sounds like either something binding, (doesn't have to be the powertrain, any wheels dragging could be an issue.  It could also well be a poor connection somewhere, when the voltage is lower, the drop across the poor connection exacerbates the issue.  The fact that it's slower than all the other PS/2 at the same transformer settings suggests you have either a poor connection or a loading/dragging issue.

Have you measured the current drawn by this locomotive and the other similar ones at the same transformer settings?

Could be one of several things.  First - try a Z-4000 and run on a test track where you can monitor the voltage and amps.  How much run time on this locomotive?  The motor may have a problem, either internal or lack of lubrication on the bearings at both ends.  It could also be a poor wire connection.

You have to try and isolate it one item at a time.

bruce

Thank you all. I pulled the z-4000 out of storage tonight, hooked up the TIU, and ran more than 100 loops all evening with DCS. I put two other good DCS steamers on the line and ran them all at 3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 24, 33, and 45 Just for fun. 17v to track. No problems. Ran Perfect and didn't run ahead of or too slow for others to catch up

i guess I just need to run it with DCS always.

still seems strange that the voltage to speed calibration in conventional is dramatically different that others, but the DCS performance is phenomenal. I'll post a video of the conventional performance in a little bit

Last edited by DdotCdot

I've got a similar issue with a PS2 converted Premier GS4: 

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...conversion-tach-tape

 No flashing light or struggles moving it just runs slower than other Premier PS2 steam locomotives in conventional. Runs as fast as you want in DCS. My guess is that the Pittman motors need more voltage than the later locomotives with different can motors need. In DCS with 18v to the track it's a moot point. 

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