Hello, Everyone:

Does anyone know if older decoders, like Delta or C80, consume substantially more power than the modern ones, especially MFX decoders?

I ask this question because I am finding that my Delta/C80 decoder loco that now runs just fine, seems to require substantially more power than more recent locos.

However, at the same time I had the Delta loco fixed, I doubled the space of my layout (not a big one to begin with anyway). I connected the inside loop that I was planning to use either in DCC/AC or simply DC (with a separate power supply) and turned it into one oval with inside another oval and powered by one MS2.

The power shuts out when I use the older loco with another loco and the entertainment car playing music.

Two modern locos and the entertainment car do not have this effect. At least this is my preliminary observation.

The Delta loco by itself and the entertainment car together are fine.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Tom is correct in saying that it is the motors and not the decoders that make these older locos draw more power.

Actually they are in most cases linked because the older decoders did not require a DC conversion of the motor so tended to keep the original, less efficient, AC motor.

Baggio

I still have an old 3000 class 89 loco from my original digital starter set purchased 28 years ago. It is crude looking compared with my other eight steam locos and i have never thought that it was worth upgrading so it has the original old style motor and c80 Marklin decoder. It still runs well at normal settings of my 6021 control unit but it is just used to test track and it is not assigned to regular service, I listed it on e bay for $ 30 and got no interest so I plan to keep it for another 28 years!

Tex

Hi Silvano,

I don't have any problem running two Delta or 6080 locos at the same time on my MS2. Maybe it's the entertainment car which draws more power?

Do you have anything else powered from the track, like lights or accessories? If you do you should change the way they are wired to draw their power from a separate power supply if possible.

Yes they mean the same thing. 6080 is the part number and C80 is the name of the decoder.

How do you power your station lights? Are they powered from the track feed? If so they may be taking up some of the power available for the trains. If they are powered from a separate supply then they will have no effect.

The power consumption of the locos grows with the speed. I can imagine that Ray's locos only draw half the current of Silvano's locos.


The Uhlenbrock decoder 76200 requires a modification of the motor - just a re-wiring, but you end up with four motor connections instead of three.
The current drawn with this decoder could be a bit higher than other decoders, but you get load regulation. And you can keep the decoder if you convert the motor later on with a permanent magnet.
The TAMS LD-W series can be used without motor modification (except for the LD-W-2 that also has four motor connections).

You can use almost any decoder with those AC/DC motors. Märklin do that with the mfx versions of the old 3015 crocodile in various colours.
No load regulation, but can be done.

How do you define power hog motor?
The old 3015 crocodiles have the standard motor of 1 gauge locos.
I think DCMs run better than SFCMs and LFCMs. With a field coil they will draw more current than modern DC motors with permanent magnets.

Some locos from the ’60s have very large flanges that will rattle on C track. It cannot harm to focus locos from the ’70s and later with DCM for use on C track.

I just did it: Without the lights in the station platform, I can run the Delta loco, the FS424 and have the entertainment car with the lights on and the music playing.

BUT, if I add the lights from the platform, kaput. The power goes off.

I am thinking of using my analogue Marklin transformer to power the station platform. I think this is what Eroncelli suggested.

Good night from Toronto. Over.