Quote from: Jim Banner on February 23, 2007, 04:06:06 PM
TOC, you are quite right, all Wally asked was whether he could run his g-scale locomotives with decoders installed by Bachmann with the Bachman DCC system. There were numerous things Wally did not ask, including anything about Bachmann decoders, shiny wheels, worn wheels, current draw, grades, tractive effort, and on and on.
If we accept your premise that Bachmann installs two kinds of decoders, "Tsunami Decoders" in large scale and "Bachmann Decoders" in smaller scales, then traindude 109's first answer was smack on, and should have ended this thread. One five amp booster is barely enough to run a two motor plus two single motor locomotives at the same time, and then only if there are no steep grades involved. He might have added "and no long trains are involved either." He even went so far as to tell Wally he would need non-Bachmann decoders in his other LS locmotives. At no point did he suggest that the Tsunami decoder in the 3 truck Shay was inadequate to drive a Shay with as many cars as it can handle up the steepest grade it could handle.
Interestingly enough, this is supported by your own data, TOC, where you say a Shay can blow a 4 amp breaker on a 4% grade. Blowing a 4 amp breaker means the locomotive is averaging more than 4 amps. That would not leave enough power to also run two single motor locomotives with a 5 amp booster. To run the Shay and run the pair of single motored units, you would have to limit that Shay to lesser grades, just as traindude 109 claimed. (I suspect Stan missed that "and" and thought traindude 109 was claiming the Shay could not handle the grade. Traindude 109 was talking about the booster.)
Traindude 109 also suggested someone else would provided more information but it seems that all the "experts" have been doing is fighting! So let me say to Wally - there are lots of other decoder manufacturers out there that make decoders suitable for large scale at prices ranging from less than $50 to about $110. Generally a 3 amp decoder is enough for a single motor locomotive and a 5 amp for a dual motor job. Four motor locomotives generally have lower power motors and so can also be run on 5 amp decoders, although this is marginal. Decoders up to 8 amps exist but the choices are limited, and of course price goes up with amps. To run more locomotives, you can generally add more boosters. I say "generally" because there are boosters that are limited to one per layout. The MRC Power Station 8 was such a booster. Whether the Bachmann 5 amp booster is also limited to one per layout, I do not know - I have not yet had the chance to take one to pieces.
Thanks for standing up for me Jim!
That is exactly what I was pointing out.
