Locomotive Performance

[Vizzin72]

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

[electrical whiz kid]

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.

[electrical whiz kid]

Addendum:  A good-quality grease on the gears!

Rich C.

[Vizzin72]

Will the oil and grease for Lionel stuff be ok ?

And thanks

[Hunt]

Will the oil and grease for Lionel stuff be ok ?

It can be used if it is Plastic Compatible

[Vizzin72]

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

[Trainman203]

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.

[Vizzin72]

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 ?

[Vizzin72]

Cv 2 ?

[jward]

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.

[Vizzin72]

Very helpful thank you so much I will try and let you know how I make out.

[Hunt]

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

[Vizzin72]

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

[Trainman203]

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.

[Vizzin72]

Excellent .... I have all the patience in the world .... I'll get back to you for sure