3 Truck Shay Questions

[wizard]

Hello,

Just got my first Bachman nd have a few questions.
I bought a 3 truck Shay w/DCC and sound actory installed (82697).
I normally run PWC which I know will not work with this engine.  I have no DCC controller so I repowered the track with linear DC.
Questions:
1. The DC power supply I have can only put out 14.5 VDC.  It seems to run the same speed between 10 and 14.5 volts.  The sound works but it is very very slow.  I know the prototypical engine ran slow but this is just slightly above motor stall.  Is this normal for running a DCC equipped engine with just DC linear power?  I am positive nothing is binding in the engine.
2. I know 0 about DCC.  What specifically would I have to buy to get the engine to run under DCC?  If I did get DCC could I simply put DC of 20 volts to the track or what?

Your help will be most appreciated!!!

Karl

[Curmudgeon]

Did you read the review in GR?
Did you fix the wires as shown in the link provided in the review?

That said, the review was not of a dcc powered unit.
I have one of those here.
8+ volts to start it.
21V, the decoder shuts down.
If you put a new 2-truck Shay on the track behind it, and turn the pwer up, the 2-truck will ram the 3-truck and knock the third truck off before you can turn the power off.
The only way to get it to function as other Shays do on track power is to electrically remove the quasinami board completely.
The wires to the screw terminals come out, and screw into the 4 ports on the left rear of the upper board, along the back.
The plug comes off the other end of the quasinami and plugs back into the upper board.
Then go buy a good aftermarket sound system with an accessible volume control that you can connect reed switches to.
Mine has been so modified (less than 15 minutes work), and the quasinami board, to the best of my knowledge, is now landfill.

[wizard]

Do you know thw month and year of the review?

Karl

[Curmudgeon]

June 2007, page 117

[tac]

That's a pretty sad state of affairs, but even worse over here in yUK.

1.  We only get the 'full' loco - no straight DC option for us. 

2.  It costs us just under $1800, best deal. 

So basically, you are saying that to get it to function we have to throw away a sound system that costs us around $400 to replace...   

tac
www.ovgrs.org

[Tony Walsham]

Hi Tac.

Boingggg!!!!

Is that the sound of a penny dropping?

You need to lend your weight behind the push to have screw terminals as part of the proposed standardised plug in electronics interface.

I'd like to think that a smart Company such as Bachmann would see the advantages of screw terminals, as it opens up the options for simplifying the installation of add on equipment.

[Curmudgeon]

Any time you get simply "dcc functionality",it is by eliminating most other functionality.
CnT has been the norm for 11 years with Bachmann engines.
And if you think this is bad, the Ames Super Socket folks are now arguing for a common hot, or common ground, for their single-wire chuff trigger.
The answer is easy.
Two wires.
But, when you have a set goal for mandatory incorporation of dcc in ALL locomotives, well, you ain't seen nothing, yet.
At least we can still "work around" this stuff.
When they make is surface mounted components on the main board you cannot remove, and then use an interface in which the motor is an integral part of the design, and it won't function well if you gut the electronics, well, it will be too late.

That Shay should have been simply "ready", plug in your own.
Unfortunately, we are getting to many crybabies who don't want to actually DO anything, to whom any actual knowledge and experience is beneath them.

And the dcc manufacturers love it.