03-13-2011, 06:47 PM
Actually, since they're all identical mechanisms, they're pretty closely matched in speed as it is...
... well, now, anyways. They're about 10 years old or so, and the lube in them had turned waxy/gummy/gross. It was weird to watch them run, because you'd start them off, and you could hear the motor straining to get the lube liquid, then once it did become liquid it was like someone smacked them in the butt, and they'd take off.
So, after disassembling the drives, cleaning thoroughly and re-lubing with teflon grease, they all run close enough that I can put them 1-2-3 on the track and run them back and forth in consist without them bumping into each other. Unfortunately I don't have a layout per-se, just an 8' test track, so I can't let them do laps to see how they'll act. Also, I'd like to see them after an hour or so of breaking in.
As far as actually speed-matching with the decoders, I haven't played with speed-matching different drive locos yet. You can't do the quick-and-dirty speed match using the Min, Mid and Max CV's because Tsunami's don't use the CV5 (Mid) value. I've found, though, that if the speeds are very close, once they're in consist well-tuned BEMF evens out the slight differences and they seem to run well together.
... well, now, anyways. They're about 10 years old or so, and the lube in them had turned waxy/gummy/gross. It was weird to watch them run, because you'd start them off, and you could hear the motor straining to get the lube liquid, then once it did become liquid it was like someone smacked them in the butt, and they'd take off.
So, after disassembling the drives, cleaning thoroughly and re-lubing with teflon grease, they all run close enough that I can put them 1-2-3 on the track and run them back and forth in consist without them bumping into each other. Unfortunately I don't have a layout per-se, just an 8' test track, so I can't let them do laps to see how they'll act. Also, I'd like to see them after an hour or so of breaking in.
As far as actually speed-matching with the decoders, I haven't played with speed-matching different drive locos yet. You can't do the quick-and-dirty speed match using the Min, Mid and Max CV's because Tsunami's don't use the CV5 (Mid) value. I've found, though, that if the speeds are very close, once they're in consist well-tuned BEMF evens out the slight differences and they seem to run well together.