Problem with my lgb nicki franks

[Neil Robinson]

That meter does not do AC amps, let alone square wave AC...
Greg

I agree with your advice but dispute that comment. To me it appears that moving the dial one click anticlockwise would select 10A AC. I suspect that it wouldn't be accurate in this case as intended for 50/60 Hz sinusoidal current.

 

[ntpntpntp]

That meter does not do AC amps, let alone square wave AC...

Sure looks like it has AC Amps ranges to me? How well it will cope with DCC is debatable, but worth a try



Running on DC and measuring on the DC 10 Amp range is a good idea if the op has a DC controller?

 

[Greg Elmassian]

You are correct, seem to have tunnel vision today! Thanks for correcting me!

You will most likely not get an exact reading, unless it is an RMS reading meter, but it should be close enough to see if there is an issue.

Greg

 

[Adam1989]

So now I have it set to ac I get a reading there was nothing on dc so with the tender connected lights and sounds on it fluctuates between 0.44 and 0.58

 

[Adam1989]

And without the tender

 

[Neil Robinson]

So now I have it set to ac I get a reading there was nothing on dc so with the tender connected lights and sounds on it fluctuates between 0.44 and 0.58

Nothing amiss there but in an earlier post you mention all is well for the first 10 minutes or so. I suggest you run the loco with the ammeter in circuit and on AC and check the reading when the loco starts to misbehave.

 

[Greg Elmassian]

You did not state the loco was actually running... was it?

Greg

 

[Adam1989]

You did not state the loco was actually running... was it?

Greg

Yes that was with it running for about 5 minutes each no increase it amps draw

 

[Zerogee]

Hmmm.... well, I think that pretty much confirms that the motors are both OK. Which in turn suggests to me that the problem is in the XL decoder itself.
Might still be worth following Neil's suggestion a couple of posts above, and running it for a bit longer until the problem re-occurs, keeping a careful eye on the meter to see what the amp reading is just before it shuts down. Not sure what that would actually prove though, except to confirm that something screwy is happening inside the XL...?

Jon.

 

[Greg Elmassian]

loco under load or not?

 

[Adam1989]

loco under load or not?

No the loco was not under load didn't seem to make a difference the other day when I was trying it without the tender.

 

[dunnyrail]

Thinking along the lines of what has occurred so far, do you get any of these issues with any other double motored Trains if you have them?

If so it may be pointing to your controller setup.

If not then likely as not as Jon. suggested it will be the XL Chip.

 

[Adam1989]

The only other double motor loco I have is my mallet which will run for hours faultlessly.

 

[dunnyrail]

The only other double motor loco I have is my mallet which will run for hours faultlessly.

So likely it is the XL Chip then.

 

[Zerogee]

Thinking along the lines of what has occurred so far, do you get any of these issues with any other double motored Trains if you have them?

If so it may be pointing to your controller setup.

If not then likely as not as Jon. suggested it will be the XL Chip.

If the controller itself was shutting down, then the sound would cut out too - but it doesn't (as per the original post), suggesting that parts of the XL are still remaining active enough to continue to pass the SUSI commands to the Uhlenbrock sound module. That would strongly suggest (to me, anyway) that something in the main driver stage of the XL is getting too hot to function, then cooling down to within operating limits again...?

I fear that you've reached the point where the best bet is to ask Muns (or another friendly Massoth dealer) if he has a replacement XL in stock.

Jon.

 

[Adam1989]

Would my German mallet have the same sort of motors, if so is it worth running that and comparing the readings, it also has a XL in.

 

[Neil Robinson]

Would my German mallet have the same sort of motors, if so is it worth running that and comparing the readings, it also has a XL in.

Yes and yes.
I suspect similar results unless tested when the suspect loco is playing up.

 

[Zerogee]

As Neil says, exactly the same motors (two standard Buhler type), and yes, you should get a similar overall current draw from the Mallet as from the Nicki&Frank running with its tender connected. If it's something you can do without any hassle, then checking the Mallet's current draw would probably be an interesting comparison test.

It's useful practical information to have on here that your tests appear to have shown that a standard multimeter will show a reasonably accurate (or at least, a close-to-expected) reading for DCC current draw when set to the AC amps scale.

Jon.

 

[Greg Elmassian]

That's not what I would call a standard multimeter, it's unusual to have AC amps that high. List price is about $200 here.

It does not appear to be RMS but many non-RMS meters measure voltage and current OK

I'm still confused at the measurements.... I have not read that the OP has measured current draw up to, and during the "failure"...

I'm still of the opinion that the possibility exists that the loco starts drawing too much current and shuts down the decoder. It's unusual that a decoder "warms up" and quits after a while, usually it is something more mechanical.

Greg

 

[Adam1989]

I will have more time for testing tomorrow so I will run the franks until it stops and record the results when it stops. Then also run the mallet for a comparison