Do I need to fit stay alive to my new 66

[exmouthcraig]

Morning All,

I have been running in my new GF class 66 and have managed to get it to crawl round the oval at a considerably low speed, on DC I havent chipped her yet BUT one thing I noticed is that at very slow speeds, the ones I want to be running, the lights dont work. They do at every other speed, and I was very impressed to see that the headlight above the cab worked like it should!!

I dont know if this is just on DC or if in DCC I can really confuse and frustrate myself with CVs and have them working all the time???

Or if I need to fit stay alive to it to get these to work. Help and recommendations please.

[njee20]

Just on DC - where the voltage isn't high enough to light the LEDs. Not an issue on DCC as they receive full track power all the time.

I've never bothered with stay alive myself.

[ntpntpntp]

You're simply running the loco on DC at less than the minimum voltage the LEDs need - which could be 3V-4V depending on the LED forward voltage. 

Remember on DCC you'll have constant track voltage available to the decoder to run the lights even when stationary.


Nothing to do with stay-alive, which is about maintaining power to a decoder over dead sections and dirt. Mainly of benefit for small short wheelbase locos, a bogie diesel should never need it.