Poll: Do You run DC or DCC
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DC
32.69%
17 32.69%
DCC
63.46%
33 63.46%
Arm chair
3.85%
2 3.85%
Total 52 vote(s) 100%
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DC/DCC
Charlie B Wrote:The more sophisticated a system becomes, the more chance there is for a problem. I have DCC, but only because of the sound and other abilities like lights and being able to run more than one train at a time. That being said, I will probably put basic decoders in some of my DC locomotives, and any new ones I get, but no more sound unless it is the only way I can get a unit I want. I have several locomotives that have to be reset constantly, and are going back to be repaired, but it is nice to mute the sound and just let the trains run, even though I don't mind the sound when I'm using it.
Charlie

Well,since you mention it..

I have read complaints about this or that locomotive not running right on DCC but,it perform flawlessly on DC when tested.

iF these was DCC novices having problems I would simply call inexperience however,these are season DCC users discussing the problem.

Time was when the DCC guys and gals said it does away with wiring now,its advisable to have DCC power districts-aka old fashion power blocks.

These same folk advised it was ok to run a DC locomotive a DCC layout using address "00"..Now its no longer advisable..

DCC/Sound needs spotless clean track-nothing like a sound equipped locomotive stalling on dirty track and going through the start up sequence.

My point?

Seems to be a tad more aggravation with DCC in some areas..

Which leads to a age old question.

Does the good outweigh the bad?

I suppose to many yes to others no.

Like DC,DCC is far from the prefect method of running trains.
Larry
Engineman

Summerset Ry

Make Safety your first thought, Not your last!  Safety First!
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Most of that changing of the recommendations is about as bogus as a $3 bill. It's amazing how many 'experts' pop up overnight saying no, don't do it this way, do it that way. One of them, conveniently, is a vendor who prefers systems that don't do the address 00 thing, and sells devices to divide the layout into multiple sections. There's an awful lot of mythology out there about what does and doesn't work, much of it completely unrelated to the type of control system being used. If you have just one set of feeders and lots of loose rail joiners, DC locos won't run very well either. But this seems to get translated into "DCC needs lots of feeders to work". Not so.
I also don't see why people are having so much trouble with keeping their track clean. I NEVER clean mine, except after painting the rails, no matter how good you are, some gets on the tops and needs to be cleaned off. My non-sound locos don;t have flickering lights because they lose contact due to dirty track adn wheels, and the two sound locos I do have don;t go through all that startup stuff over and over, they just creep along as slow as I want. Of course, they don;t happen to use that brenad of sound decoder which stupidly goes through the entire startup sequence every time it loses power, either. Nor would I particualrly use that brand were I to install sound in any of my other locos.
You can make it complicated by listening to too many 'experts' before installing anything, or you can just go out and buy a system and hook it up per the included instructions and have fun running trains.

--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad of the 1950's in HO

Visit my web site to see layout progress and other information:
http://www.readingeastpenn.com
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I'll second what Randy says about dirty track. The only time I've cleaned mine is when I've painted rails or done other work like ballasting etc. I've let the layout sit for months without even looking at it sideways and fired it up and ran my sound equipped Geep no problem. Anytime I've lost power to a loco its because of dirty wheels. ...and my Tsunami's don't go through their entire start up sequence when they stall, a quick nudge and they'll happily pick up where they left off.

All that said, the easiest way to clean your track is to run trains. After all, its hard for any thing to build up on your rails when your running your RR on a regular or routine basis. Misngth
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Randy,While I agree with your views it doesn't make those topic anyless bogus..

There seems to be problems and even MR now recommends "power blocks" for trouble shooting a problem and isolating locomotives when not in use-recall MR was and remains the pusher for DCC..

I said 6-7 years ago on the Atlas DCC forum it wasn't wise to use a DC motor on a DCC layout and was in a sense booed-the same subject came up after MR mention it with agreement to want I already said before...Its not wise to run a DC motor on a DCC layout.

As far as sound and dirty track..I notice that at the club during the fair.

Anyway those are my observations gleamed from other forums.
Larry
Engineman

Summerset Ry

Make Safety your first thought, Not your last!  Safety First!
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I will continue to watch from afar... Big Grin
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With any electrical circuit it's nearly always a good idea to have power districts. My layout is only 6'x2' foot so don't really need them.
My track is always dirty. I don't run my trains enough to keep it clean. I don't have any problems with my sound fitted locos.
The main problem with DC locos on a DCC layout is when they are not moving. It can cause motors to overheat, although several people have reported that they have never had this problem.
Roco, the makers of my system, have only released four controllers since 1996. Computer manufacturers, on the other hand, release four brand new systems a year.
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Hey Wayne, I was just looking back over this thread and realized that I somehow missed your description of reed switches. You are exactly correct in how it works. Let me know if you try it. I think some of the local guys here were sad to see me go DCC because of my unique system.
Les
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Every time I see a post on another forum saying never to use address 00 to run a DC loco, it's only a gimmick, etc. - it turns out the person saying that happens to use one of the system that does not support that feature. Curious, huh? I often throw a new loco ont he track and dial up 00 to see if it works. I've never fried any, or melted a shell on one. It works better on some locos than others, and is not somethign I'd tend to do as a regular means of operating, but HO decoders are not expensive and in anything of fairly recent vintage, easy to install so there really isn't a need. I don;t have any locos with coreless can motors, putting those on DCC track without a decoder pretty much will destroy them, quickly. So did early DCC decoders that did not use high frquency drive. This has been known from the early days though, this isn't new information.
Part of the overkill is people being gadget hounds. I orignally had the idea of breakign my layout into sections, with a power toggle and an LED indicator to tell that power was on for that section, and another indicator for a short, on some sort of master "power board". Luckily I came to my senses before I constructed such useless garbage and wasted my money. Even our whole 14x120 modular setup is only broken into sections because the distances invovled made it more economical to add an additional booster rather then run the bus wires that far. Some people even break their layouts into dozens of train-length 'blocks' with individual short protection - I find this to be much overkill and complications to the wiring that simply aren't needed for smooth operation. If you have to watch your trains like a hawk because any second they might derail, you have problems that go far beyond which control system you use. And if your operators pay attention to where they are going and don't run switches lined against them, you've eliminated the number 1 cause of shorts on the layout. I beleive I've committed overkill myself by breaking my layout into 4 sections: 2 mainlain halves, staging, and yard, but since I already had the hardware I figured I should use it. I don;t think this was really needed at all, especially after I changed plans and the staging is now just 2 tracks. But it's already in place and wired, I'm not rippign out wiring now.

--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad of the 1950's in HO

Visit my web site to see layout progress and other information:
http://www.readingeastpenn.com
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Randy,Even in DC you have block overkill..I've seen simple 4x8' loppers that had 10 blocks! Overkill for sure.

I agree many are gadget hounds and some even consider setting CVs because they have no idea what they are doing and some may not even know how to properly install a decoder beyond a simple plug and play system..


Looking back over the years and seeing and reading about the reported problems with DCC I don't think the perfect control system has arrived yet.
Larry
Engineman

Summerset Ry

Make Safety your first thought, Not your last!  Safety First!
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