I have two Bachmann locomotives both are new but I assume they have been sitting in their boxes (new as in never opened) both dcc. They both run one way better than the other (the more expensive one) but I get the feeling like they may need lubrication. I see a lot of people on videos running their engines on speed 1 of their controller just crawling real slow and smooth.... The one engine will not move forward until about speed 6 .... Could this be a possibility and if so .... I only saw pictures for lubricating a 2-8-0 in the read only FAQ forum.
Thanks
If these have been sitting around, then they possibly need lube. oil the moving joints-SPARINGLY-and use a good quality grease and do not over-lube anything.
Rich C.
Addendum: A good-quality grease on the gears!
Rich C.
Will the oil and grease for Lionel stuff be ok ?
And thanks
Quote from: Vizzin72 on November 19, 2015, 03:27:34 PM
Will the oil and grease for Lionel stuff be ok ?
It can be used if it is
Plastic Compatible
Thank you I will check and post back if it ends up making the difference .... Prob will take me a week or two to actually get around to it
Are these DCC / sound engines? The only way to get the crawl performance you saw is cv adjustment, or a big-reduction gearbox which is unlikely.
The one is a f7a sound .... That one actually works pretty well at slow speed ... The other one I bought at a train is a rf-16 shark nose I believe it's called .... That is the one that really isn't performing well ... That one is just dcc .... What cv values would I be looking for ?
Cv 2 ?
on the shark, adjust the value of cv2 upward until the locomotive just starts to move on speed step 1; this may be a hit or miss adjustment, but I usually increase the value by 10 until I get the result I want.
you may also want to adjust your momentum settings cv3 and cv4 as well. some of my dcc on board locomotives would randomly stop and restart when going downhill. a value of 3 in cv3 and v4 seems to eliminate this.
Very helpful thank you so much I will try and let you know how I make out.
Vizzin72,
If the RF-16 still has the original Bachmann factory installed DCC decoder then not much adjustment to CV 2 is available.
CV 2 supported range is minimum 0, maximum 31 and the factory default is 10
Noted .... As long as I can give it even just a little nudge even if that is the case with 10 percent more or so it should be ok .... Thanks
Reset your decoder to factory default.
Set cv 2 , 3, 4, 209 and 210 to 0. Turn your throttle to step 1. Increase 210 settings until the engine just barely starts to move. It will jerk a lot. Then you hunt for the 209 setting that will smooth it out. It WILL get smooth I guarantee unless there is a physical bind in the running gear somewhere.
You'll need to jump around the cv settings in multiples of 10 or more to get in the neighborhood. Then you tweak closer.
This will take a while and some practice, be patient. As you may see, all of this is basically a big balancing act. Changing CV's 2, 209, and 210 affect each other.
When you finally get all of that done, set the momentum CV's 3 and 4 to suit.
When it's perfect, write down all of these CV settings in a record book so if the engine needs a reset you can put them right back in.
I've done this to over 30 engines and they all are smooth crawling ants.
Try it and let us know how it came out.
Excellent .... I have all the patience in the world .... I'll get back to you for sure
At this point, not that lubrication is the problem but just an FYI on lube; grease with Teflon is what you are looking for. Works and is safe on plastic and metal gears. I find it in big box stores in the fishing department, usually a grey tube, narrow tip, great for applying. Just read it to make sure it has Teflon; much less expensive than having to buy "model train" marketed gear grease.
For oil for metal parts like drive shafts and bearings, there are a million oils out there with needle like applicators. One of the few things my LHS actually carries that is useful for HO trains.
Noted thanks .... I am going t a show this Saturday so I'll look at prices before I go if it is cheaper to buy regular product online I will if it's about the same I will buy train stuff at the show .... I have oil from my Lionel stuff but no grease
I forgot one cv..... 212. Set it to 255. It may already be there. If the engine is too "hyper" and excitable, you can reduce it to calm it down.
Rembember .... Balancing act. These CV's are all interdependent.
This ultra slow speed capability is wonderful for folks like me who were model railroading 50 years ago and could not get die cast steam engines to go less than 15-20 scale mph .
I don't believe the decoder in the shark supports cvs in the 200s. those sound like cvs for a sound decoder which the shark does not have.
Yeah I see that .... I tracked down the available list however I believe I previous person suggested setting for Cv 3,4 and 5 etc which I will try ..... The higher number ones in question though are good advice for my other engine which has the sound trax decoder
Jim;
What has been your experience (if any) with white (lithium) grease? I have used this stuff in various applications, and have been satisfied. The plastics in question would be that really hard engineered plastic, like the kind ILSCO uses on their "Kupler" service bugs.
As the gears in this instance, seem to be mostly nylon plastic, I am cautious to say the least. your thoughts?
Rich C.
All I have read, says no no. I have never used it for Model RRing, and save it for other machinery, outdoor stuff, threads for bolts, etc.
I wonder if lithium was part of the component in what P2K series locos (when it was Life Like prior to Walthers buying them) had for lube-it used to get hard like peanut butter and is a pain to remove from gears.
The fishing stuff I speak of goes on thick and then thins out once it is mashed in the gearing, actually becoming less viscous over time. Sometimes over time, I will have to wipe the bottom of the truck (depending on truck manufacturer) bc some will make its way there. It does stay in worms and gears (delrin) well though.
All right so I adjusted CV 3 to its max I believe it was 31 thank you whoever had given me that value .... It now works great off on click forward even with rolling stock coupled .... It does now take several more clicks for it to increase at all, but that is ok you can't have everything I guess. Thank you everyone very much ... That was for the rf-16 ... As for the f-7a I decided to leave it as it is but I did adjust the master volume and horn and engine volumes .... I saw a cv for compressor ... I don't quite know what part of the sound that is so I left it alone .... I think everything is good .... I will return to the thread when I get a hold of some grease
Thanks
Quote from: Vizzin72 on November 21, 2015, 10:30:58 AM
All right so I adjusted CV 3 to its max I believe it was 31
You adjusted CV 3, or was it CV 2?
Quote from: Vizzin72 on November 21, 2015, 10:30:58 AM
.... It now works great off on click forward even with rolling stock coupled .... It does now take several more clicks for it to increase at all,
Expected – The Bachmann decoder is a basic 28 speed step decoder. Setting your command station for 128 speed steps and then sending out commands for step 1, step 2, step 3 or step 4 will all cause this decoder to produce speed 1 of 28. Sending step 5, 6, 7, or 8 will result in the decoder producing speed 2 of 28 and so on.
Set your command station for 28 speed steps to run locomotive equipped with this decoder, or live with its performance using 128 speed steps. Best -- installed a different decoder.
Yeah sorry I set cv2 to max .... Yeah I will fool around with it ... I think it was set for 28 but I can set it to 14
Do not use 14.