7121239 Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 Hi,A model railway enthusiast for 50+ years.I would like to convert an older sprinter to DCC.Simply, it has two motors and I have looked on the net to see if I require two decoders, without sucess. Is there a process to fit one decoder to control both motors or how do I go about it.Cheers,Ian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hedley_reynolds Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 Hi Ianwelcome to the forum and is the motors in each car and if so you’ll need 2 decoders one for the front and one for the rear car also if you go onto dcc concepts website and you can download a wiring diagram manual for the decoders with all of the colours of wires and where they connect too as well also you’ll probably get a better reply from others as well Hedley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 Hi Ian, adding to hedley - by looking in the Hornby Railway Collectors Guide, I can see that his assumption about motors is correct, 2 cars, one Ringfield motor in each. There is no reason in principle why you can’t run 2 motors from one decoder but - you would need to have decoder wiring running from whichever car you mount the decoder in to the motor in the other car and pickup wiring coming back from the other car to the decoder, and you would need to use a decoder with at least 1Amp current capability to handle both of them. Personally, I would put a decoder in each car and just give them the same address so they both respond to the throttle at the same time. On conversion to DCC, best to go to Brian Lambert’s site on his DCC pages where he describes conversion of all 3 types of Ringfield to confirm which type you have and the correct conversion procedure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7121239 Posted February 6, 2018 Author Share Posted February 6, 2018 Many thanks Hedley,It's great to be pointed in the right direction - I feel motivated already.Ian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 Ian, just posting to confirm I replied at the same time you were replying With some more detail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7121239 Posted February 6, 2018 Author Share Posted February 6, 2018 Thanks Fishmanoz,Lot's of the exact information I was looking for. I always felt that one decoder should control each of the two motors but would require the two cars to be permanently connected. Two decoders would overcome this....Many thanks,Ian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 If you do it with one decoder ,you don’t need permanent connection as there is a standard 4-pin plug and socket used to connect between a loco and it’s tender when the motor is in the loco and decoder in the tender. So it’s up to you which way you do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hedley_reynolds Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 Hi Ianthat’s no problem I knew that one of the guys who are more experienced with dcc etc would be able to point you in the right direction and I couldn’t remember about Brian Lambert’s Website as well as he’ll show you what you need to do including if you have to isolate the motors but not only his site but the forum and the likes of Fishman and the other guys will keep you right Hedley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7121239 Posted February 6, 2018 Author Share Posted February 6, 2018 Great guys,Ready for the challenge....Ian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 No problem Ian. Great place around here, you get new fellas turn up, ask some questions, get some answers and before you know it they’re up to 99 posts (hedley’s count as I’m typing) and giving good advice to others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 Having tried to run a bi-Ringfield motored Class 56 I offer the following. Use decoders that can have their start voltage (Vstart) adjusted as one of my motors was stiffer than the other and would drag its wheels until enough throttle was applied whereupon it would take off like a startled rabbit as the second motor cut in. You may have to tune the CVs until both motors run nice together.Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2e0dtoeric Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 Some of the cheaper DCC controllers cannot alter most cv's.Do your Sprinters work well on dc? If not, sort that out first! If they stutter and hesitate on dc, they will be even worse with DCC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir TophamHatt Posted February 14, 2018 Share Posted February 14, 2018 I'm not so sure on that one.I've hard wired plenty of trains, some of which never saw DC running and they're fine on DCC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEREK123 Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 @Sir Tophamhill I, like Eric would advise a full clean of track , wheels and thorough examination of brushes and armature and commutator ( B2B , tyres etc too ) is essential for DCC to run well ( especially on older locos ) ...... DCC is really fussy !! and electronic digital and not analogue !! .... I believe most of us would do this before DCC decoders are installed.Hardwiring or via plug / socket is irrelevent.Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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