Unreliable controllers

[Andy007]

   Hi everyone.  I have two Gaugemaster Combi controllers (about 10 years old) and on Farish Powerbox 0199 (about 25 years old).

I have a number of Dapol M7 and 2-6-2t locos and they all run very smoothly on the Farish Powerbox with good control over speed.  However on the Gaugemaster they run at a minimum speed of around 100mph and the slightest move on the controller makes a massive difference in speed.

Has anyone else experienced this and if so are the Gaugemaster controllers as good as they make out?

On this occasion it would be unfair to suggest Dapol is at fault as they run so well on the Farish Powerbox as do Union Mills.

I must stress that the other locos I have are ok on both.

Any help please?

[jonclox]

It  would cost a bit in ;postage but do remember that G/Masters recon they will honour goods returned to them after guarantee runs out for life so it might be worth phoning them and explaining the situation

[Andy007]

Thx for that. I am suspicious because it seems ok with Farish Locos, but not Dapol or Union Mills

[dodger]

I dont know about UM locos but the 2 Dapol types you mention require the lowest current of any I own and require very small controller settings to run slower than Farish locos.

I have no knowledge of either controller you use but from you comments it is possible that the Gaugemaster controllers are not defective just too coarse for your Dapol locos. I had similar problems with H&M controllers many years ago on larger gauges. Talking to Gaugemaster may provide a solution.

Dodger

[Andy007]

Thanks for replies so far....

I hope to get to the bottom of this as indeed I find that I never use more than about 30% of the combi power available on any loco.

[dodger]

Thanks for replies so far....

I hope to get to the bottom of this as indeed I find that I never use more than about 30% of the combi power available on any loco.

That suggests to me that they may be coarse controllers.

Dodger

[Andy007]

Thanks again, i assume by "coarse" you mean that they are too powerful for n gauge.  Wasn't there a make of controllers who offer a model that they say is particularly designed for n gauge?

[Dorsetmike]

Farish or AGW for me, good control of the "jackrabbits", the Farish Power box  were made by AGW. I have one of each of these, plus a smaller Farish/AGW and a Farish Handheld

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AGW-Solid-State-PE144-Dual-Circuit-Control-unit-/311533907165?hash=item4888de2cdd:g:spQAAOSw-zxWpS9V

This one has sockets on the output, I replaced them with screw terminals

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AGW-Solid-State-PE144-Dual-Circuit-Control-unit-/311533907165?hash=item4888de2cdd:g:spQAAOSw-zxWpS9V

[east anglian]

After    10  years   my   Gaugemaster   Transformer    decided   to    cease   working,    returned   it    to   Gaugemaster   on   the   25th  of   FEB   2016     and   it   was   returned   in   working   condition   on   the    28th    with   compliments   and   no    charge,    cannot   fault   their    service   and    for   lifetime  guarantee   well    done   Gaugemaster

[MikeDunn]

returned   it   [...]  on   the   25th  of   FEB   2016     and   it   was   returned   in   working   condition   on   the    28th   

Blimey !

Where did you get your time machine from ? 

[silly moo]

When the Dapol M7s and Q1s first came out they took off like rockets and were very difficult to control or run at slow speeds. I'm not sure whether later batches have improved.

I remember a suggestion that made sense. Buy a Markiln Z gauge controller as they run at 10v DC and below and give much finer control.

I never came across a Z controller to test out the theory but I do find that most of my locos run much better with the Bachmann controller that comes with their train sets as opposed to an older Arnold controller I was given.

[Dorsetmike]

One way to "tame" the jackrabbits is to fit a low value resistor between the controller and track with a switch connected across it, for other locos close the switch to short out the resistor, open the switch for the Dapol and UM.

  [CONTROLLER]-------|--[RESISTOR]--|------>TRACK
                                 |---[SWITCH]---|

Resistor should be at about 1watt, can't remember the ohms, it's buried under the test track but a quick calculation gives somewhere between 25 and 40 ohms, "preferred" values in that range would be 22, 27, or 33 ohms; you need to drop about 2 volts, Dapol draw around 60mA, UM about 100 "flat out"

[Andy007]

Thanks you all for your interesting replies.

I think I'll go down the additional resistor route with a switch to isolate it when not running the M7's.

Thanks all!

[Byegad]

One way to "tame" the jackrabbits is to fit a low value resistor between the controller and track with a switch connected across it, for other locos close the switch to short out the resistor, open the switch for the Dapol and UM.

  [CONTROLLER]-------|--[RESISTOR]--|------>TRACK
                                 |---[SWITCH]---|

Resistor should be at about 1watt, can't remember the ohms, it's buried under the test track but a quick calculation gives somewhere between 25 and 40 ohms, "preferred" values in that range would be 22, 27, or 33 ohms; you need to drop about 2 volts, Dapol draw around 60mA, UM about 100 "flat out"

My thoughts exactly. A friendly Maplins will have a selection of resistors, although stripping one from a Scalextric or similar hand controller will do the job too. This is what I did back in 1974 in order to use an old Hornby Dublo controller on N gauge.

[austinbob]

One way to "tame" the jackrabbits is to fit a low value resistor between the controller and track with a switch connected across it, for other locos close the switch to short out the resistor, open the switch for the Dapol and UM.

  [CONTROLLER]-------|--[RESISTOR]--|------>TRACK
                                 |---[SWITCH]---|

Resistor should be at about 1watt, can't remember the ohms, it's buried under the test track but a quick calculation gives somewhere between 25 and 40 ohms, "preferred" values in that range would be 22, 27, or 33 ohms; you need to drop about 2 volts, Dapol draw around 60mA, UM about 100 "flat out"

My thoughts exactly. A friendly Maplins will have a selection of resistors, although stripping one from a Scalextric or similar hand controller will do the job too. This is what I did back in 1974 in order to use an old Hornby Dublo controller on N gauge.

Most controllers these days have low impedance (resistance) outputs so that the voltage doesn't change much when the load varies (for example going up a hill)
If you have any inclines on your layout, then with a resistor in series with the controller, any increased load (going up an incline) will increase the current which drops voltage across the resistor and will result in a slowing of speed.
Isn't physics clever!!