walkingthedog Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 A good reason not to use Hornby points/track. However I do have one maybe two sets of Hornby points in my sidings and my tiny Beattie Well Tank 2-4-0 and two Electrotren 0-6-0 locos cross them with hardly a stutter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick_ Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 The problem is not confined to Hornby points. I use a mixture of Hornby and Peco insufrog points, both settrack and streamline and my tank locos used to occasionally stop on any of them if the speed was slow enough. Stay-alives resolved the problem. But my point is that Hornby sell tank engine sets including track and points and it seems silly that they are sold with an inherent fault that could be removed so easly with a small keep-alive built into the Hornby DCC decoder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 What if you don't have DCC? Maybe that's why my locos seem OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 Is there such a thing as stay alive for DC WTD, or hasn't it been invented yet.Seems to me like it could be usefull regardless of supply voltage format. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 Apparently there isn't a DC stay alive. One recommendation is a small rechargeable battery that keeps its charge for a very short time and recharges between points if you see what I mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poliss Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 So how would it be able to tell the difference between a power cut over points and just turning the DC controller off? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissaf Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 Off topic, but Rob started it !! Just airing a few of my thoughts on the subject of DC Stay Alives..........The problem with a DC Stay Alive as a concept, is that to do it properly you would need a fairly sophisticated control circuit that could monitor the input voltage i.e the speed required, then manipulate the stay alive components output (whether it be battery or capacitor based) to match. The control circuit would then have to have the added complexity of having to perform consistently over a wide input voltage range that also had to support voltage reversals ie. loco in reverse. It would also have to make a logic decision, is this loss of input voltage due to an unforeseen electrical continuity break, or is it because my user has purposely removed voltage / current because they want this loco to stop (in the DCC world any track voltage loss is deemed a fault, in DC it isn’t). This is an awful lot to ask of a controller if it is going to be cheap enough to deploy, just to overcome a few insul-frog issues..Not beyond the realm of human ingenuity, but probably not enough demand for manufacturers to be interested. Particularly as retro fitting to a bog standard DC loco would need soldering skills. Manufacturers treat your average punter as a thicko that needs to have something simple to install, else it will only be of interest to a relatively small number of skilled enthusiasts. Hence your DCC ready 'mass market' loco with a socket. If it isn't 'mass market' then there is little incentive..It’s not as if ‘Stay Alive’ is a common widely supported feature in the DCC world. If it was, then many more decoders would offer ‘Stay Alive’ options by default. If it was to become more common in DCC due to user demand then maybe, just maybe, manufacturers might see an opportunity to develop ‘Stay Alive’ controllers for DC as well..EDIT: After posting this saw Poliss comment. Same thought as my comment highlighted in bold above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 So how would it be able to tell the difference between a power cut over points and just turning the DC controller off? I guess it wouldn't poliss. I suppose you'd have to allow for the fact the loco will keep moving for a few inches. I suppose that's why you use a battery that holds its charge for only a few seconds. A bit like some types of DC controller that don't shut off immediately or even a flywheel. As I don't appear to have a problem with small locos over Peco points I've never taken much notice of the problem but thought I'd have a look due to this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poliss Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 I have a few different makes of points, all of the dead frog variety. My very short wheelbase 0-4-0 goes over all of them without a stutter, except for the Tomix points. They're not so well made and are actually rather bumpy. They are intended for their tram models though. The point is, that if they are well made, locos won't stall as they go over the plastic frogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 I totally agree poliss. I still maintain that most problems are caused by badly laid track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne2467 Posted June 30, 2015 Author Share Posted June 30, 2015 Still having problems with this loco. Must be the loco because I have tested it on separate track and others work but this one does not. Moves off but then stalls pretty quickly. Weird thing is though every now and then it will seem to work ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 I had forgotten about the way DC is operated (variable power levels to the track) and totally failed to comprehend that a DC stay alive would need to be intelligent enough to differentiate between a controlled stop and a power outage over a point. Glad I brought it up really else I would have sailed through life blissfully unaware of my error. If its within your rapidly improving skills set Wayne, my advice would be to take that loco apart (if not still under warranty) and have a look for dodgy connections, possible a broken wire within the insulation or dry soldered joints and/or a wheel pickup wiper problem, etc. I have several 0-4-0 locos that run over Hornby points fairly slowly without bother, but my B'mann Jinty was forever stalling. Close inspection using a spare point on the bench found it was the spring hangers moulded under the chassis that were lifting the wheels every now and then, just enough to stall it. Cure? - I took a file and trimmed the hangers a tad for improved clearance and now its as good as gold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne2467 Posted July 1, 2015 Author Share Posted July 1, 2015 If its within your rapidly improving skills set Wayne LOL. Will give it a go Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.