EZ Command 5 Amp Booster Doesn't Boost!

[WGL]

 I just connected a new EZ Command 5 Amp Power Booster to my EZ Command Control.  My Spectrum DCC SD45 & my Intermountain DCC with sound F7A & B run slower with the power booster connected than they do with EZ Command Control 1 amp power!  The booster's green light turns on, & the power to the locomotives shuts off when I turn the booster's switch to Off. I pushed the two wires that connect to the track under the terminals on my EZ Lock terminal rerailer track.  I have the Command Control plugged into an electrical outlet & connected to the booster.  I have the booster's power plugged into an electrical outlet.
  So far, this looks like a big, expensive waste of money that I will have to return.

[Yampa Bob]

Do you have the output set to 18 volts?  It it's set on 14 volts, then the locos may run slower than with the EZ Command.

Are the operating instructions downloadable in .PDF format, anywhere on the Bachmann site?  I would like to read up on the booster.

[Jim Banner]

Boosters are not meant to increase the voltage to make our trains run like slot cars.  They are meant to increase the available current so that we can run more locomotives or larger locomotives. 

Chances are your trains were already running faster than the real ones do and have now slowed down to more realistic speeds.  There is a very easy way to check your train's speed.  Use your watch or clock with a second hand to measure how long it takes a car to go past a fixed spot.  You might find it easier to time how long it takes ten cars to go past a fixed spot, then divide the answer by 10.  Once you know how many seconds per car, divide that number into 30 to get miles per hour.  Or use the table below

seconds            miles
per car              per hour

.2                        150
.3                        100
.5                         60
.7                         45
1                          30
2                          15
3                          10
6                            5

For example, if it took 5 seconds for 10 cars to go past a particular telephone pole, then that would be .5 seconds per car.  From the table, that would be 60 miles per hour.  Maybe okay for a time freight or a passenger train but waaay too fast for a coal drag.  Speed through an urban area might be limited to 30 miles per hour (one second per car) while in a yard or backing into a siding it might be only 10 miles per hour (3 seconds per car.)  Coupling speed should be down around 5 miles per hour (6 seconds per car) to avoid spilling the conductors soup.

These speeds may seem slow to first, but they work one bit of magic for our model railroads - when it takes longer to get from A to B, then the distance from A to B seems farther.  By slowing down, we make our model worlds larger without having to add a single inch of track. 

[WGL]

Jim,

  I clocked my Spectrum SD-45's speed at 85 HO mph & my Intermountain F7A DCC with sound at 69, both at full throttle with the E-Z Command Control's 1 amp.  Adding the F7B did not increase the speed of my passenger train.  Those speeds seem scaled down sufficiently to me.  I just thought that the passenger train was supposed to run faster than the freight when both were pulling about the same length train.
  With the 5 amp power booster, my SD-45 runs at a top speed of 61.8 HO mph, & my F7A-B runs at a top speed of 53.8 HO mph.
  I think that $140 to make my trains slower is a waste of money.
Yampa Bob,
  I used the 14 volt because it is designated for N, HO, & n30; the 18 volt is designated for LS & G.  I wonder if trying the 18 volt would be safe for the trains. 
 

[Yampa Bob]

I was not implying that we increase the voltage to increase speed, since with DCC, the voltage to the rails is constant.  I was just wondering if the 18 volt setting might be correct for HO with sound, and 14 volts seemed low.

[taz-of-boyds]

WGL,

If you can get faster speeds at all, you will need to change the programming on the decoders in the locomotives, if possible for a higher speed.  The decoder in the locomotive is controlling the voltage to the motor.

Charles

[Jim Banner]

It sounds like your trains are running pretty close to the maximums of the prototypes.

When using your E-Z Command without the booster, you have in fact been running your trains with a constant 18 volts on the rails if my E-Z Command is typical (and I have no reason to suspect that it is not.)  Trying your booster set for 18 volts should cause no problems.  The maximum that a decoder can apply to your motors is about 2 volts less than the track voltage due to voltage drops in the rectifiers and output transistors in the decoder.  That would be 16 volts, which is what many dc power packs can put out.  This is more than the theoretical design voltage for H0 which is 12 volts and it may cause premature failure of incandescent lamps in some locomotives.  But motors do not behave like resistors.  The heat they dissipate is not proportional to the square of the applied voltage.  In any event, you can monitor motor heating rather easily just by feeling the outside of the locomotive body from time to time.

Not knowing the past history of your locomotives, it is impossible to say from here whether their top speeds have been limited by previous adjustment of their decoders.  If you bought them used, they may well have been.

Another factor that affects speed is lubrication.  If your locomotives are in need of lubrication, then they will run slower.  If you do relube your locomotives, be sure to use plastic compatible oils.

[WGL]

Yampa Bob,
  Thanks for trying to help.  I bought the booster under the same impression as you, that 3 locos would barely move at 1 amp.

Jim,
Thanks for the information.  I was hoping to hear from someone who uses E-Z Command Control & the E-Z Command 5 Amp booster.  I will try the 18 Volt connection.  My Spectrum S-45 I bought new about 2 months ago.  My Intermountain F7A-B I bought new less than a month ago.
  I just don't see why the booster should slow down locomotives that were already scaled down at the factory to run at about half the speed of my train set locomotive.  If I wanted to slow them more, I could run a third locomotive at the same time, add sound to my SD-45, or simply turn down the throttle.
  I e-mailed Bachmann service last night but haven't received a reply yet.
  Last night, I disconnected the booster, because I prefer how my locomotives run without it.

[WGL]

 I just unscrewed the piece blocking the 18 volt side of the switch & turned it to 18 volts.  Now, my trains run at about the same speed as with E-Z Command Control's 1 amp alone!  I guess I'll quit while I'm even & trust that, if I add a third loco or add sound to my SD-45, the booster will then help.  Thanks, again, Yampa Bob & Jim.

[Yampa Bob]

WGL
No problem.

On another matter, I see you model Great Northern. I am thinning out my freight cars, and have a couple that don't fit my roster.

[hotrainlover]

Bob,
I would be interested in GN cars, too.  Please email me the list...
Thanks!
Hotrainlover

[taz-of-boyds]

WGL,

Sorry I missed an obvious point about what you said.  The problem you were having had nothing to current (amps) that the controller and booster can supply, which is why changing the voltage could make a difference.  If the systems are getting max voltage to the motors and programming the decoders will not help, and all else is fine, the locomotives are running at their designed max speed determined by the gearing etc.  The F7's are normally freight locomotives.  For speed, 80 mph is not unreasonable for passenger service at least on the commuter trains I ride.  The voltage the controller and booster are supplying may not be the same as the setting, nothing is perfect...

It has not come up, but how is your wiring?  Could you be have wiring problems causing a voltage drop to the track?  If you don't already know, and want to study DCC until your eyes pop, you could visit:

http://www.wiringfordcc.com/

All the best,
Charles

[WGL]

Yampa Bob,
   If I recall correctly, you began this hobby 2 years ago.  You must have collected cars pretty fast, as I seem to be doing.
I'm also trying to find what other railroad's cars GN used in Minnesota during the '50s & '60s.  I remember seeing SOO Line & Burlington Northern, so I added one of each to my freight train.  I'm curious how cars from other railways got onto GN trains.

[Yampa Bob]

WGL

You have a good memory.  A dealer friend sent me a big box of cars, that a customer gave him to dispose of.  I had to update most of them with metal wheels and kadee couplers, but they are nice cars.

I packed them back in a box and stored them, don't remember what I have but I'll check this week.

[WGL]

Charles,
Thanks for the ideas.  I didn't know that speed could be adjusted in the decorder.  I was disappointed that, unlike the E-Z Command Control, the booster doesn't have a wire that plugs into the E-Z Loc terminal rerailer.  I was concerned about just wedging the wires under the rerailer's terminals, but the 18 volt setting made a big difference in restoring the performance of my trains.
 I'll pretend that my F7 normally pulls passenger cars.  I've seen photos of GN mixing freight & passenger cars or using the F7 or predecessor to pull freight.
 I just heard the horn of the Union Pacific north of town at 12:43 a.m..  I hadn't heard it for almost a week after hearing it several times a day & night.

Yampa Bob,
That sounds like a big surprise package.  I expected that you would have body-mounted, good knuckle couplers.
  Since we have Union Pacific here in Western Wisconsin, I will acquire a UP DCC freight locomotive, which lets me collect some UP cars, too.