I'm starting to run out of ideas on a project I've been working on for a while now.
I've installed a Loksound micro decoder into the tender of a LL 2-8-8-2. The speaker and decoder reside in the tender and I have wires running between the loco and tender for electrical pickup, motor, and headlight. My problem seems to stem from the electrical pickup. When the loco and tender are sitting still I can usually (8 in 10 times) get the lights and sounds to function. But as soon as this thing tries to move it acts like it's not getting power. I constantly have to tap it with my finger to get it to move. If I simply put my finger in front of the loco and let it push against my finger and spin it's drivers in place it seems to work OK but again, as soon as it is free to move it cuts out and stalls every 1/2 inch or so.
Are these loco's poor runners to start with? I admit I never really test ran it when I bought it becuase I didn't have a layout to test with at the time. Are there things people have done to improve the electrical pickup on these things? One would think that with 28 wheels on the track with power pickup that this unit shouldn't have this problem.
