Train Studdering

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Litninbolt

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So I have a Piko DCC Loco, watch the video…Seems to do anywhere around track, even right over rails that have the track power lugs. What is weird is it seems to improve after a few “laps”, and then is fine , no issues. Im running DCC and digitrax, with their biggest power supply, and its this way whether one train or two are running..Other train, a USA train GP9 runs like buttah…. Video

On another note, I seem to have certain freight cars that just seem to not track well, and I get a derail after say 15 min of running…seems to be same car/s, I have put some lead car tire weights in, just doesnt seem to be helping, I haven’t really weighed em down, is that where I should go. They are plastic wheels, I hate to have to go spending $30+ for all my cars to metal wheels…Insight and experience appreciated…

One more thing, do many of you as a best practice, use the plastic joiner clips LGB has on a regular basis to hold joined rails together? Or rely more on good tight friction to do the job along with track ballast…
 
Metal wheels are well worth the investment :nod::nod::nod: no matter what manufacturer you run - LGB, Piko, Bachmann, the answer's the same :)
 
Greg Elmassian said:
I'd use the clips, belt and suspenders...

agree with Rhino...

Isn't this the second Piko loco recently that had poor power pickup? Maybe it has the sintered steel wheels... they are crap and will need more frequent cleaning, and will rust/oxidize over quickly.

Greg
Click to expand...
Hmm, what are sintered wheels? Also, what’s your opinion of the standard LGB screw clamps for track power? I hav about a 40 ft layout and approx 120 ft of track. I have 4 of these power clamps evenly spaced approximately about the layout…. I have also tried my Digitrax with the G scale voltage setting and the HO voltage setting for just this one train, and the studdering performance is the same either way…

I was wondering if I needed to add a keep alive Cap to the pc board, they do have a place for a “future” cap.
 
Sintered wheels are (in this case) wheels made from sintered steel.

Sintering is basically metal powder pressed into a mold with heat and pressure... the issue is that it is not solid steel, and there's no plating on them usually. As shipped many locos with sintered drivers have a thing protective black coating, like paint, and you need to remove it to make the loco work well.

If power pickup is done with brushed on the back side of the wheel, you have another crummy pickup location, again needs cleaning.

The cleaning can be somewhat done with solvents, but I use a stainless steel wire brush in a dremel tool that works much better (followed by cleaning with a solvent)

All that does not help you with the fact that now you have this steel wheel with no protection from rusting/oxidation, so often the wheels (and brush pickup areas) have to be cleaned if the loco has set for a while or you have high humidity or similar.

The last few Aristo locos came with sintered steel wheels, and some of the Piko locos...

This is a electrical continuity problem, not voltage or current or transformer or throttle...

Fitting a keepalive may help, but the problem is a keepalive just stores energy, if you are not getting enough overall all the time, you will still have problems.
 
Greg Elmassian said:
Sintered wheels are (in this case) wheels made from sintered steel.

Sintering is basically metal powder pressed into a mold with heat and pressure... the issue is that it is not solid steel, and there's no plating on them usually. As shipped many locos with sintered drivers have a thing protective black coating, like paint, and you need to remove it to make the loco work well.

If power pickup is done with brushed on the back side of the wheel, you have another crummy pickup location, again needs cleaning.

The cleaning can be somewhat done with solvents, but I use a stainless steel wire brush in a dremel tool that works much better (followed by cleaning with a solvent)

All that does not help you with the fact that now you have this steel wheel with no protection from rusting/oxidation, so often the wheels (and brush pickup areas) have to be cleaned if the loco has set for a while or you have high humidity or similar.

The last few Aristo locos came with sintered steel wheels, and some of the Piko locos...

This is a electrical continuity problem, not voltage or current or transformer or throttle...

Fitting a keepalive may help, but the problem is a keepalive just stores energy, if you are not getting enough overall all the time, you will still have problems.
Click to expand...
Great explanation and would back up "What is weird is it seems to improve after a few “laps”, and then is fine , no issues." as it runs the wheels and pick ups clean themselves.
 
My two-cents worth on your second and third questions.

As to your derailments - does it happen at certain spots or with certain wagons? If so, it could be a twist in the track which is especially troublesome on curves. I know this from personal experience! :swear: The track needs to be level side-to-side. Superelevation on curves with 45mm gauge track tends to cause problems. This is because it is very difficult to both keep it consistent and have a proper lead into and out of the curve when using sectional track. I highly recommend you stay away from any superelevation and keep all your track level across the rails. Get a torpedo level to check your track - it's very difficult to "eyeball" the track for level. I'd recommend a plastic one so you can check without cutting power if necessary. (I need to take my own advice here and buy one with a quality plastic body!;))

I also recommend you invest in quality rail clamps to keep your track together if you use track power (analog or DCC) and the layout is permanent or even semi-permanent, which your use of ballast implies. You'll never regret the move!
 
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phils2um said:
My two-cents worth on your second and third questions.

As to your derailments - does it happen at certain spots or with certain wagons? If so, it could be a twist in the track which is especially troublesome on curves. I know this from personal experience! :swear: The track needs to be level side-to-side. Superelevation on curves with 45mm gauge track tends to cause problems. This is because it is very difficult to both keep it consistent and have a proper lead into and out of the curve when using sectional track. I highly recommend you stay away from any superelevation and keep all your track level across the rails. Get a torpedo level to check your track - it's very difficult to "eyeball" the track for level. I'd recommend a plastic one so you can check without cutting power if necessary. (I need to take my own advice here and buy one with a quality plastic body!;))

I also recommend you invest in quality rail clamps to keep your track together if you use track power (analog or DCC) and the layout is permanent or even semi-permanent, which your use of ballast implies. You'll never regret the move!
Click to expand...
Total agreement here, but to add curves on gradients are the worse, it is mathematically impossible to get the track "flat" rather than level in these circumstances.
 
A small hopefully clarification... the track going up and down along the direction of travel is the "grade" and you want smooth transitions as it goes up and down, and not being like a roller coaster.

The side to side level is called "cross level" and you can indeed and do want to have this dead level, especially on switches. Model locomotives do not have the suspensions like the prototype to keep all wheels on the rails when there are cross level problems.

Greg
 
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