Spectrum passenger cars

[cactus]

I received 8 new cars as a gift and I placed them on my DCC layout 5 of them shorted out my system repeatedly.  Prior to placing them on the layout I checked wheel gage, made sure insul. wheels were on correct side and took the roofs off to check out the inside wiring and coupler mechanism.  These cars won't roll two feet w/o shorting out.  How do I correct?

[trainguy]

Hi Cactus
it's possible that the insulated wheels are rubbing against the sideframes.
check the side play in the axles.push the insulated wheel toward the sideframe and check with a resistance multimeter

you could paint the inside of the sideframe with liquid electrical tape available at home depot and other outlets

this way the wheel is insulated from the sideframe and you can see if the insulated wheel is rubbing on the sideframe

It worked for me 

Lou
NYSME

[cmgn9712]

Well, see , you have a problem. The cars are lighted for 12v DC. DCC uses higher voltage which tends to burn up car lights. In fact Kato specifies their HO car cannot be used DCC without modifications. Walthers cars also have some problems.
First you will have to check each car to see if the lights still work and test each for shorts. If they don't test good you will have to open them up and look for burned wires, melted plastic etc. You could disconnect the wiring on a bad car so you can run it without lights.

[jschmid]

Buy a NMRA wheel gauge. its multipurpose.

[Gene P.]

"The cars are lighted for 12v DC. DCC uses higher voltage which tends to burn up car lights. "

Wow. Are manufacturers addressing this issue? I also run DCC and have quite a few passenger cars, which although not shorting out, have the interior lights extra bright(owing to the voltage??). What are the modifications you suggest? Thanks!!

[johndmuller]

Walthers has a variation in their lighting system for DCC - presumably those lights wouldn't burn out on a DCC system.

Would they work on a DC system (if so, would they be too dim)?

[murfling]

Put a resistor in series with the light bulb in the car. 1 K ohm usually works out well.

[Jake]

Well, see , you have a problem. The cars are lighted for 12v DC. DCC uses higher voltage which tends to burn up car lights. In fact Kato specifies their HO car cannot be used DCC without modifications. Walthers cars also have some problems.
First you will have to check each car to see if the lights still work and test each for shorts. If they don't test good you will have to open them up and look for burned wires, melted plastic etc. You could disconnect the wiring on a bad car so you can run it without lights.

Mine work just fine with b-man E-Z command.