Recent voltage drops.

[Frenchie]

Thank's diesel, I got an ammeter, I'll check everything again.

FWIW, thank's for the link I'll check and also see if it exists here in Europe, or something identical.

I agree kjd, the more I think about the problem the more I think the loco is the culprit. I went through all possibilities and I always come back to the loco.
As I said previously, as soon as I get another decoder I'll equip a loco and WILL SEE.

Thank's everybody for your great help.
I sincerely appreciated.

 

[Frenchie]

Touching the loco could also result in moving the loco very slightly past a bad spot, which is the impression I had of what he meant by that.

As for intermittency, there are variables like the exact speed of the locomotive and such that can affect whether a problem shows up. I would think that if it's moving fast enough, a short spot of dirty track won't be a problem. The slower it's moving, the more likely it is to react to every bad spot on the track.

On a more general note, my typical troubleshooting methods would result in taking said loco and running it on "known good" track, like maybe some spare Unitrack or something that is known to function properly. If it works there, and not on the layout, then you know it's something about the layout, otherwise it's the locomotive.

JMHO.

When I say "touching" the loco it is just that.
I don't push it or slide it on the track.
And remember I installed a current keeper which works wonderfully. It delivers power for 15 sec after switching off power.

Thank's for the suggestion I'll try that.

 

[insomniville]

When I say "touching" the loco it is just that.
I don't push it or slide it on the track.
And remember I installed a current keeper which works wonderfully. It delivers power for 15 sec after switching off power.

Thank's for the suggestion I'll try that.

Ah, I misread and missed the current keeper. Oh well, still an interesting thread; there is apparently an art to track cleaning.

Good luck!

 

[Frenchie]

Ah, I misread and missed the current keeper. Oh well, still an interesting thread; there is apparently an art to track cleaning.

Good luck!

Oh yes ! ...

 

[Frenchie]

As promised I'm back. Strangely enough, about two weeks after my last message, the issues I described previously suddenly disappeared !
The famous Atlas GE U36C ran smoothly, surprise !
Actually I faced one disconnection two days ago but it was only one "shot ".

I received a second Blunami PNP 8 and a current keeper ll.
I installed it in my now very old Kato GP35.
This loco is a very smooth runner and at no time did I notice any disconnections, it performs like in a dream.

I exchanged several messages with the team at Soundtraxx and I thank them, especially Thomas. Very quick answers, I am very satisfied with the contacts. It helps me to understand the product. I suppose that users feed backs are important to them, therefore to me.

After trying consisting with both locos on the head end, today I tried with one in front of a 19 car train, and the other pushing at the rear. A very delicate and tricky configuration considering the ups and downs, curves and countercurves typicals of a mountain climb.
Everything went well, so far so good...

What a thrill to stand in the middle of Sullivan's Curve and hearing the head GE to the left and the rear geep to the right, both in notch 8 !

WOW ! JUST AMAZING guys !!