BLI Pennsylvania M1a/b

[djconway]

Joe -- I have been working with my M1 lighting.
The difference between the default of 100 and 10 should be and is noticeable on my Digitrax Super Chief system. I am  using JMRI program on the main to change the settings and observe the result. 

The use of a super white LED may be causing you not to notice the shift.
I was able to get a noticeable dimming by setting CV 231 to 8.  Seems real low on the 4 to 100 settings but it is dimmer.

As for the stop and restart your NCE  -  I have one idea, some decoders need a power off/on cycle for changes to take effect, going to have to go looking in the Paragon 2 manuals.

[Joetrain59]

Thanks, I'll try that later.
 Joe D

[Mike C]

Also are you programming on the main or program track ?  I do all programming on the main , and wile I have noticed some odd behavior a couple times , it's nothing real bad . I set the headlight to 5 and it's not as bright as at 10 .  I've spent a lot of time programming my M1 , and found the Paragon Steam users manual to be very helpful . The guide that's in the box doesn't list all of the CV's available in the decoder . http://www.jimsmodeltrains.com/assets/userGuides/BWLParagon2-Steam-TechGuide.pdf

[Joetrain59]

206 pages for that manual! That's a novel. LOL. I want a housecall from a DCC Doc.
 Joe D

[peteski]

206 pages for that manual! That's a novel. LOL. I want a housecall from a DCC Doc.
 Joe D

That's nothing Joe - the QSI Quantum sound decoder manual is over 400 pages!    You are entering a new realm of model railroading. The good ting is that you won't need to ready all of it - just what you need.

[VonRyan]

Still glad that the real M1s were too heavy to cross the Delair Bridge.

If BLI decides to be intelligent and make their N-Scale H10s with proper Lines East tenders instead of the weird Lines West ones, I'll need to take out a loan...

[strummer]

That's nothing Joe - the QSI Quantum sound decoder manual is over 400 pages!    You are entering a new realm of model railroading. The good ting is that you won't need to ready all of it - just what you need.

See, this is why I've always thought it would be ideal to also offer an analog version of these new releases. That way, one could add (or not) whatever extras one wanted, or, in my case, just leave it as is. You read a lot about this in the Lionel-type forums, as a great many of their new releases have problems with all those "bells and whistles", something I wouldn't want anyway.

Just spit-balling...

Mark in Oregon

[eric220]

I was talking with Ed K yesterday about the power consumption of the BLI locos. I wonder if the increased power draw yields a total electrical system that is more sensitive to increased resistance, such as dirty track. Ohm's law says that current=voltage/resistance, so if the voltage remains constant, an increase in resistance would quickly affect the available current. Given how much power these things need to function, that might help explain why the M1 and Centipedes are so sensitive to track imperfections.

[peteski]

I was talking with Ed K yesterday about the power consumption of the BLI locos. I wonder if the increased power draw yields a total electrical system that is more sensitive to increased resistance, such as dirty track. Ohm's law says that current=voltage/resistance, so if the voltage remains constant, an increase in resistance would quickly affect the available current. Given how much power these things need to function, that might help explain why the M1 and Centipedes are so sensitive to track imperfections.

You have the equation right but if the voltage source (the booster) remains constant then the increased resistance (wiring, or the track itself) between the booster and the decoder will result at a voltage drop at the decoder. This will also reduce the current slightly (as the decoder itself acts as sort of a "complex" resistor). It is all interconnected.

While I have not measured and compared the average current draw of multiple brands of sound decoders, I don't really think that the BLI sound decoder is more of a current hog than any other similar decoders.  But there are things which could make BLI decoder more sensitive to intermittent power delivery. One is the minimum voltage it needs to stay running.  The other is how long it can keep on running when experiencing a power dropout. This is dependent on the size of its keep-alive (filter) capacitors and on its current consumption.  If the BLI decoder consumes more current than other brand decoders, and/or it has smaller capacity keep-alive caps,  then it will be more susceptible to resetting during brief power interruptions.

I guess in the end the fix might be as easy as adding another large value keep-alive capacitor to the decoder.

[eric220]

Well @peteski I will certainly defer to your electrical knowledge. A voltage drop at the decoder would easily account for the shutdown sensitivity. I'm basing my assumption of the high current draw on the accounts of people who have tried to run these on DC, and have had to crank up the power to a very high voltage just to get them to wake up.

[Jay Gould]

I was thinking of this very problem this morning.  I have a DC layout that has functioned very suitably over many years, but back when I built it,
I wasn't too knowledgeable about wiring.  (I have a couple posts about this on this thread two pages back.)  Now when I got my DCC K4, it ran
very well, beyond even my expectations.  Then I got the M1a, and it was a different story.  My track feed wasn't good enough, or consistent enough,
unfortunately, for the M1a. 

What I wonder about now is this: if I decide in the future to get another DCC locomotive I worry that I won't know in advance
whether it will run well like the K4, or if my layout won't sustain it, like with the M1a.  I wish there could be a rating, or some sort of indication, as
to the current requirements of each loco's decoder when it comes out.  I realize that the higher current requirement of the M1a is related to its quality
performance, but it would be great to have some idea beforehand about the decoder situation, so you could avoid getting a loco you can't run.

[Mike C]

I got an M1a a couple of weeks ago , and liked it so much I got the M1b yesterday . Both run great , but the new M1b has 1 annoying problem . Everytime it goes over my Kato switches ( only the points , not the frog ) the chuff cuts out . Now it's the chuff only that cuts out ,every other sound will continue . Still haven't figured it out after cleaning rails , points , checking the wheels ....ect .

[basementcalling]

So glad the SPF finally have an engine to actually slobber uncontrollably over. ☺

Glad BLI has a hit.

Still not sold on sound though from some comments in here as the wave of the future.

[eric220]

I got an M1a a couple of weeks ago , and liked it so much I got the M1b yesterday . Both run great , but the new M1b has 1 annoying problem . Everytime it goes over my Kato switches ( only the points , not the frog ) the chuff cuts out . Now it's the chuff only that cuts out ,every other sound will continue . Still haven't figured it out after cleaning rails , points , checking the wheels ....ect .

That sounds like something to contact Broaway Limited over.

[Dave V]

That chuff drop-out happens to me too sometimes.