The last several weeks have been focused on production and the motor test series. As usual the testing is easier than the write ups. The first three test bed engines have been documented. Ten plus more are in process. Why so many? Many reasons. Mostly to have verification about a given motor in several environments. Is it the motor or the other parts of the drive?
A second activity, that is really part of the motor test series is the module impact on performance. There are four separate engines that have completed testing with various module configurations. These are various DCC decoders. While I resist doing a full up examination on decoders, I am interested in understanding the potential extent the impact on the performance of these engines. This testing shows more impact than I would have thought.
Some of the decoders are used, some are new. So far the used ones are not desirable. They exhibit an extreme pulsing in speed until the 9 volt level. The new decoders also visibly pulse at the initial velocity, but smooth out rapidly. The pulse amplitude is much less. To investigate if the new vs used condition matters, a new version has been acquired and will be part of additional tests.
Several very interesting conclusions in these reports.
Contemplating expanding the general module research to include a Railpro and the latest Bachmann Wi-Fi products. Not sure they will respond to the varying power supply voltage. May just get one and see.
On a different front, a client sent me two steam engines to tune up. A Rivarossi 2-8-8-2 and a Bachmann 2-8-2. Upon receipt, they both run. The Bachmann has some binding and a squeal. The Rivarossi runs erratically on the track, but fairly smoothly applying power directly to the motor brushes. I will post the results before and after with some pix when appropriate.
This week, on the model railroad hobbies the web site, a car to measure draw bar force, track voltage, speed and distance as discussed. The author is gong to publish the how to build the model in the near future. I’m excited to give it a try. It will fill a lot of holes in this work.
Happy modeling,
