Chrissaf Posted September 19, 2019 Share Posted September 19, 2019 I have presently upgraded to RailMaster Pro, My track is four loops one of which has six turnouts (or points), All my engines run, witout stutter, around the track, at 10 mph (Shunt speed) . My one new engine, Tornado, pauses at each turnout. I have cleaned the track, wheels and engine pick-ups but to no avail. all engines are DCC. Help!. All advice welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissaf Posted September 19, 2019 Share Posted September 19, 2019 You haven't stated your track brand and turnout (point) type. So assuming Hornby track and not Peco, then that would be 'Insulfrog' points. Obviously there is something in the Tornado pickup design or wheel position tolerances that is in variance to your other locomotives that don't exhibit this issue. As the Tornado only pauses and doesn't stop completely, then there must be some forward movement momentum which is taking the Tornado just past the position where it loses track power. So rather than trying to diagnose the exact cause and make adjustments. Then it might just be easier all round to fit your Tornado with a 'stay alive'..Tornado is a large enough engine that would allow you to fit a decoder with a 'stay alive' capability. You could either replace your current decoder with one that is manufactured and shipped with a built in 'stay alive' already fitted. Or fit your own 'stay alive' to your existing decoder (but this requires very fine and delicate soldering skills)..Decoder brands such as Zimo and TCS as well as others sell 'Stay Alive' decoders (Hornby do not)..A 'Stay Alive' (sometimes also referred to as a 'Keep Alive') is basically a capacitor that stores an electrical charge. This charge is then used to keep the electric motor turning when the pickups lose power. The bigger the capacity (uF - MicroFarad value) of the capacitor, the more charge the capacitor can hold and the further the loco will travel without power. If the 'Stay Alive' capacitor is too large, then you can sometimes see the loco lurch forward from a stationary position when the track power is turned off at the end of a 'play session'. This can be corrected by turning off 'DC Operation' support in CV29 of the fitted decoder. Since you have RailMaster, amending CV29 is something you can easily do..If you feel that you have the soldering skills to do it, then there are posts on this forum that will show you how and where to fit your own 'Stay Alive' capacitor. Just be aware that the 'Stay Alive' capacitor is polarity sensitive and must be fitted the correct way round else it will swell up and go bang. For example, these 'how to' posts based on Hornby decoders:.Stay Aliveshttp://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/post/view/topic_id/13404/?p=2 Stay Alive TTShttps://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/stay-alive-install-for-tts-decoder/?p=1 Stay Alive Super Capacitors with Hornby Decodershttps://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/what-super-capacitor-works-with-hornby-decoders/?p=1.TIP: I write long posts. If you intend to write a reply, it would be appreciated if you didn't use the 'White Arrow in Blue Box' button. This is not a 'Reply to this post button. It is best to write any reply you want to make in the 'Reply Text Box' at the very bottom of the page and click the Green 'Reply' button..See also – further TIPs on how to get the best user experience from this forum.https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/tips-on-using-the-forum/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britannia Builder Posted September 19, 2019 Share Posted September 19, 2019 I have a Hornby Peppercorn A1 'Bon Accord', which I think is the same as a Railroad Tornado with different livery. It used to hesitate over points in the way you describe. I then fitted a TTS decoder (decoder in smokebox, speaker in tender) and this made the problem a lot worse because the sound decoder stopped the loco dead and ran through its start-up sounds after each interruption. If you don't want to buy a decoder with stay-alive, and don't have the dexterity to solder a stay-alive capacitor to your existing decoder, an alternative option is to fit pick-ups to the tender wheels. I did this as shown in the photo and it completely cured the problem. /media/tinymce_upload/82c576d6bf3e99975159e1e59de3077d.jpg The A1 tender has plastic lugs conveniently placed to which phosphor bronze pickups can be glued. Regards, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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