LGB decoded locos on Analogue

[bigjack]

At the moment, I am without my Massoth 1200Z, and am relying on an analogue controller.

Several of my locos have ESU decoders in them, and they run fine. But the locos with LGB chips run very slowly, and some times faulter, any ides why?

 

[ntpntpntp]

Not noticed any such problems with any of the LGB chipped locos in my fleet when they visit friends' analogue lines. I run various brands of decoder, they all behave well except for a couple of NCE decoders which sometimes cannot decide which direction to run!

Only thing I can think of is maybe you're not quite cranking up the voltage enough for the chip to wake up and stabilise? All decoders need a certain minimum voltage on the track, but it does vary by a volt or two with different brands of decoder. When on the cusp of this voltage you can get all sorts of juddering and bad running. Different decoders also behave differently in terms of the way they soft-start (or not) under analogue DC.

 

[bigjack]

I've put 2 of the locos out that have LGB decoders in them, and to get them to run a a reasonable speed I've had to crank the small 2 amp controller unto 20v, whereas the ESU equipped locos will run happily at a reasonable speed with 12v. Strange, but no matter, locos are running.

 

[p.williams]

just a question, bigjack, that neither my lgb dealer or forum members can't answer:- do you have dcc point controlers ?
if so how do they get on with dc power through them or do you disconnect them from the track when using analogue control ?

 

[Cliff George]

I've put 2 of the locos out that have LGB decoders in them, and to get them to run a a reasonable speed I've had to crank the small 2 amp controller unto 20v, whereas the ESU equipped locos will run happily at a reasonable speed with 12v. Strange, but no matter, locos are running.

There is a CV in most ESU decoders that defines the starting analogue voltage required to start moving, CV 125 I believe. I don't think LGB decoders have anything similar.

 

[ntpntpntp]

just a question, bigjack, that neither my lgb dealer or forum members can't answer:- do you have dcc point controlers ?
if so how do they get on with dc power through them or do you disconnect them from the track when using analogue control ?

I cannot comment on all brands of point decoder, but in general I would expect them to be untroubled by DC. They won't see a command signal so shouldn't react. Certainly the NCE Switchkat dcc accessory decoders that I use don't react to DC.
One thing I will mention, is that I decided to run a separate DCC power feed next to the track for all my point decoders rather than connect them to the track. Usually the track feed and the point motor feed wiring are bound together at the command station end, but if I want to run analogue DC track power I can separate the track feed and plug this into a DC controller whilst still being able to operate the points through DCC. Best of both worlds, especially given that I use NCE DCC system and have a Minipanel module driven by a small mimic diagram rather than using the dcc throttle and button pushing!