first thing to do might be monitor the track voltage and see if it changes when the loco slows...

if it drops, then check for higher current (overload / motor issues) when it slows.

Voltage stays ok, then would suspect the loco, maybe carbon buildup between commutator segments, severely worn brushes, etc.

Do you mean the SW-1500?


it was listed in the 1996 catalog...

Very typical story with large/long locos.

Many people got excited and made a lot of noise over the:

Dash 9
E8
Mallet

But when it came down to it, it was a limited market and since there was a lot of time between announcement and delivery, the number of people who would ACTUALLY buy the locos was limited.

Also, many people found out that they just did not have the layout to run such large locos.

But Bachmann must have seen the outrageous prices on the used/NOS market, and dove in.

This happened with each of the above locos... people made a lot of noise, but the second or subsequent shipments sat on the dealer floor and eventually were sold at cost... RLD hobbies had pallets of E8's, Dash 9's sold for very cheap. Many mallets were sold cheap.

So it's good to see that Bachman did not fall into the same trap. Wise decisions will keep the company profitable.

Perhaps they could now make another MORE POPULAR Aristo loco?

Greg

The ESU sound decoders (that you are using) have firebox flicker function for LEDs

Why not use blinking LEDs and just turn them on?

starting at the beginning, what does ESU say?

1 no ground needed, just available off the decoder board
2 wire gauge will be fine, it does not draw a lot of current
3 resistor is calculated by the supply voltage in the normal way
4 on the 4-4-0, I think the smoke unit is wired from the track, i.e. it is NOT a logic output, so you will need perhaps a relay operated by a function output on the Blunami. I do not have a schematic of the 4-4-0.

Greg

Yeah, buy a 5v seuth unit, and then add a 5 volt regulator and you will get smoke at less than the speed of light.

Greg

I did not think the smoke unit is fan driven? Modulating the heater will not make it puff... it's a resistor that has thermal mass... it will not switch on and off rapidly like an LED.

I pulse a fan motor, leaving the heater pretty constant, lowering and raising the heater current with speed somewhat.

Ahh, the Shay was "dcc ready", but no socket.

On the K27, the earliest "socket", I do see that the smoke heater is indeed switched with a transistor, which should be in the current range of most function "outputs". The transistor is an 8550, which is a high gain PNP.

But, you have to supply voltage to a PNP to conduct, so the logic may have to be reversed from a normal function output, just like the chuff needed to be.

So, you are indeed correct, thanks Stan.

Thanks Stan. Is it safe to say all current production with the socket have logic levels for lights and smoke?

Is there an easy way to tell this? (I suspect the first locos with the socket, which I think was the shay, did not have this).

Greg

The motherboard takes care of the LEDs, logic level current.

I think the smoke unit might also be in the same way... but direct wiring will be more tha 300 ma... I'd ohm it out....

if it is the same as the dash 9 (meaning it has the socket) then perhaps it works the same:
J1-8 Smoke Activation 11.2mA  The smoke unit itself draws up to around  0.6A. but this current is funneled through the + and - connections and not through the function pin.



Greg

if you are buying one, and cannot see it in person, ask the seller to make a short video of it running.

Lately the secondary market has had a lot of locos with lots of broken parts. It's not just the trucks that can break, they are just the most famous.

I'll be interested likewise if Loco Bill can find some statistics. Very popular loco, one of my wife's favorites.

The oldest ones have their trucks disintegrating, so you will see lots. A very popular loco which can be repaired with a new set of trucks in most cases.

Notice there are about 3 versions (off the top of my head) of this loco, and the value directly depends on the version.