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Broadway Ltd Tips
- As you suggested in our telephone conversation in December, the engine wheel sets were out of gauge. I finally solved the problem with my two Broadway Limited Imports (BLI) C30-7s by replacing the stock wheel sets with Atlas wheel sets. Now the engines run fine. The BLI stock wheel sets had a narrower, sharper wheel flange than the Atlas wheel sets. Apparently this narrower shape was enough to derail and then short the engine on the frogs. Thanks for your help.
- Broadway addresses the F7 shell issue [more]
- After running in my BLI AC-5 and E8 locomotives I have experienced sudden and definitely unwanted slow-down/stop problems on clean track and with clean wheels. I use a Lenz LZ100 command station (version 3.5) and a Lenz LH100 hand terminal (version 3.0). The output voltage for the tracks is 15. Shifting the CV11 from the default value of "1" to "2" cleared the problem. As far as I have understood CV11 controls how many seconds the decoder may wait for a control packet issued by the command station. If this period is set too short, the packet will not be present when needed and the decoder will stop the locomotive. When a new packet is detected after maybe a fraction of a second the decoder will interpret it as "go", the motor is accelerated and the locomotive moves until the decoder again is waiting a packet it does not get. Hoping that this will help some MR-fellows having run into the same problems as I did.
Peter L., Copenhagen, February 2006
- High capacity reset for PowerShields [more]
- Now that I've got new software AND added momentum,
my SW7 runs OK BUT! I have a piece of old rough track with nominally
24" radius curve (maybe 22" in one spot?) and the SW7
would occasionally make it without derailing. After much close
eyeballing it appeared that the trucks were being obstructed in
turning movement. I found that the coupler pockets were fouling
the side frames. So a bit of judicious filing of the back of the
coupler pockets and tapering the side frame clips have cured the
problem. Thought I'd pass it on as the other tips on reversing
helped me. Contributed by Brian Robinson, April 2005
- Reversing direction at other than zero speed creates a high
current spike, 3-6 Amps, that is momentarily triggering the short
circuit protection of some DCC Systems. [more][easy
fix]
- I recently bought a Broadway Limited C&O T1 2-10-4 from
you and have some tips to make it run better. When I received
the locomotive it would climb the track on graded curves (I have
28 - 30 degree curves), I found the front and rear drive wheels
to be out of spec (too wide), I fixed that and it ran better.
However on 2.3 percent grades with a full load of cars the front
drive wheels still wanted to climb the track on the grades. I
found that if you add kadee knuckle springs (put the two springs
together) to the front drive wheel bearing springs it stays on
the track with no problem. I believe the factory springs are too
soft and allow it to climb the track on a hard up hill pulls.
It now runs very smooth on any hill at any speed. Contributed
by Chuck Gilbert, Feb 2005
- Managed to hook up a working tender light to the BLI 2-8-2 Hevy
Mikado. It turned out to be very straightforward and took less
than 10 minutes. Take the shell off the tender and at the rear
of the tender on the circuit board you'll see the markings P10
and Rev just in front of the coupler. These are your leads to
the tender light (ie., solder your tender light wires to these
points). Right beside P10 and Rev on the left are 2 square pads,
one in front of the other, marked R2. These need to be joined
together. I soldered a small piece of solid wire between the 2
squares. I used a 320 ohm 1/4 watt resistor in series (ie- just
wire it into one of the lines) in one of the leads to the tender
light with a 1 1/2 volt light. Its a little dim but I like it
that way! A 200 or 100 Ohm 1/4 watt resistor in series would make
the light a little brighter. I understand that wiring a 100-300
ohm 1/4 watt resitor between the 2 pads (R2) would accomplish
the same thing. That light is directional- It is off when the
engine moves forward and both it and the headlight (in dimmed
mode) are on when the engine is in reverse. Hope this helps others-
Looks great on an otherwise excellent engine! Contributed by
Dave Gorelle
- PowerShields boost restart for Broadway Ltd and DCC [more]
- BLI Hoppers will
not accept Kadee coupler springs [more]
- We had a Hudson from the latest batch returned by a customer
complaining of excessive noise when muted. We disassembled and
found ... [more]
- Problem of the BLI AC4 restarting with return to default settings
- Setting the switch to the forward position cures the problem.
[more]
- While programming a long address onto CV 17 you
must have the sound on or it will not work.
- Front coupler on the 2-8-2 - We were able to convert
with minor effort using a Kadee #4 or #13 that has a slotted shank
and a small machine screw, a # 080 or #1 will work. [more]
- Front coupler on M1 A/B can be modified (Much
like the 2-8-2) using a Kadee #4 or #13, that has a slotted shank,
and a small machine screw (an #080 nylon to eliminate shorting),
is best. [more]
- M1 A/B shorting Resolution - Bob Liberman did
some digging and determined that the volume control potentiometer
was impinging on the top of the reset jumper assemply, thus causing
a short. The remedy is to apply insulating tape to the bottom
of the trim pot. If you still have a short while the tender shell
is removed it may mean that the speaker is shorted to the tender
frame. [more]
- Hudson - If the sound does not respond to the
running of the loco, clean the wheels on the loco and the tender.
Do a reset on the decoder. There may also be a problem with the
springs on the tender trucks.
Links to reviews, photos:
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