N Peter Witt Street Car acting up on Kato tracks

[nocturaline]

Hello all,

First time here. I recently bought a Peter Witt Street Car With Lights (DCC) in N scale. It works fine on the Bachmann basic track i own, but acts in weird ways on my main Kato tracks. The Kato track system is not DCC.

When put in 'forward,' it moves extremely slowly and hesitantly at low speed and stops at higher speeds (above 2 on the Kato control box). Sometimes the headlight turns on, then off, and the car refuses to move at all.

When put in 'reverse,' it first goes forward, then moves back in reverse after a few seconds, then stops after some hesitation.

Being new to trains, i have no idea what's going on. if someone could help, that would be awesome. Thanks!

[Hunt]

Usual suspect is the pulse power generated by a DC power pack is the source of the erratic performance.

[nocturaline]

that could be it, but what i don't understand is that all my other Bachmann and Kato trains work fine on the Kato layout with the Kato power packs. the street car is the only one acting up.

[Hunt]

Identify the Bachmann DCC decoder equipped locomotives that run fine powered by which model Kato power pack.

[nocturaline]

The Kato power packs are the Standard SX. The other Bachmann locomotives that work fine are the GG-1 PRR, which is DCC ready, but not equipped with it. the other is a 0-6-0 steam locomotive from a Durango & Silverton set, which is not DCC ready.

Could it be the DCC interfering then? and, if so, i assume i can remove it, but how?

[Hunt]

Does the Peter Witt Street Car With Lights (DCC) now run fine on the Bachmann track using the same Kato Standard SX DC power pack used with the Kato track?

[nocturaline]

Unfortunately, I can't use the Kato DC on the Bachmann track, since the connections are different - it's all DC, btw. No DCC. Ultimately, it's not a big deal; i got the street car for cheap and i have Japanese street cars i can run on the Kato tracks, specifically on the Unitram tracks.

[brokemoto]

If you are running it on UniTram, those curves are too sharp for it.  What is happening is that it is climbing the rail on the curves which compromises the electrical contact.  Unfortunately, Kato made the curves and turnouts on UniTram too sharp for most equipment.  One thing that does run well on them, though, oddly enough, is the E-R Shark.

[nocturaline]

I don't think that's it. True, the Peter Witt doesn't run on UniTram, but it also doesn't run on the regular UniTrack tracks, which is what I'm currently using to test it. And I've seen a Youtube video of that same street car (maybe not DCC) running perfectly on UniTram.

For sure, the Kato and Tomix/Tomytec trams run perfectly fine on UniTram.

I suspect more and more that the DCC is the culprit. The question remains: is it possible to remove it, and if yes, how?