Stroudley Terrier running problems (new tool)

[Mar Mallard]

Recently found a second hand Stepney R3780.  Excellent value locos for what you get! Absolutely love it. However it is running badly.  Stops on every point unless run at speed, speed set way too high, stops and starts jerkily, etc.  I am using Railmaster on a large layout with the default RM R3780 settings.

 

It does not look dirty and the pick ups are against the rims and it runs okay on a rolling road.  I do not believe it is my layout though, as all other locos run fine.  I'm trying to work out what is due to the loco itself and what decoder settings can be changed (obviously to calm down the speed, decceleration, etc).  After initially planning on a Hornby decoder, for the first time I decided to try a Zimo MX617F due to the stay alive function but I am now regretting it as the default values are obviously incorrect and, while I have programmed umpteen TTS chips and understand basic CV language, I am finding the Zimo instructions just too complicated.

 

Any simple programming tips or advice from Terrier owners?

 

Thanks :-)

 

 

[Going Spare]

As the loco "stops on every point", it tends to suggest that one or more of the pick-ups is not maintaining contact with the wheel at all times. Is good contact maintained on every wheel when it is forced sideways to its fullest outward extent by the curvature of the track, particularly critical when running over the plastic frog? Also, are the wheels passing smoothly between the frog and the check rails? The back-to-back distance between the wheels should be 14.5mm for Hornby points. Others may have help to offer regarding DCC matters.

[ColinB]

I agree with "Going Spare" check all your pickups on the loco, the other thing I have also noticed is some points are not entirely flat so 0-6-0 locos with small wheelbase pivot on them. Then of course it depends whether you have live frogs or not. I use Zimo decoders in virtually all my locos, they run perfectly straight out of the box without the need to play with CV values, all "stay alive" does is to stop the loco reacting to transient loss of DCC signal. If you are really at a loss I find YouChoos are really helpful regarding matters with Zimo decoders.