Hi, I just purchased a ESU tank car set with DC wheels. Dealer told me ESU does not have a free exchange policy regarding AC wheels. Dealer says if I am using Marklin C track (which I am) then most of the time there is no problem.If there is then I can purchase the AC wheels.

Has anyone had the experience of using DC wheel sets on Marklin C-track? Whats the worst that can happen ?

Ps. I have circuit & contact tracks on my layout.

Thanks for the quick response .Yes it is the #41201 wheels that will be compatible.Just trying to figure out if I really need these? Sounds like if they don't trigger my contact rails then I should order them.

Cheers Mike

I wrote it several times before: My Experience: No problem with Trix, Roco or Fleischmann, but derailments with Piko and Liliput and others.
I always swap wheelsets with Piko and Liliput and consider doing so with Tillig.
No derailments with ESU so far, but the DC wheelsets are "noisy" on C track turnouts due to the small flanges.

DC wheelsets do not trigger contact tracks.

Another option is to connect the two DC wheels by jumping the insulated section with some conductive paint.

I run many Piko cars - and those with DC wheelsets derail sometimes on C track turnouts, so with most cars I swapped the wheelsets.

On C track I have so far had little trouble running other brands rolling stock with DC wheel sets as part of a consist, but have encountered a number of issues on K track, but mostly on switches and turn-outs. I have become a huge fan of C track as a result.

I personally have had more problems with inter-brand coupling issues and differing buffer height issues (mentioned regularly on various threads on this Forum) than with wheel sets.

IHMO that is in some cases non Marklin stock is lighter and running characteristics can be improved by adding some additional weight to the item.

Mike,
Your dealer is right that most of the time there is no problem. Sometimes, however, the trains derail because of the difference in gauge. You can lessen the number of derailments by weighting the cars, but the sure way to resolve the issue is to swap wheelsets or regauge the existing wheelsets.
A few years ago, I made a wheel gauge, then spent several evenings regauging or changing wheelsets on my DC cars. It was the most worthwhile train project I can remember. Now the trains stay on the track unless I get forgetful and back through a closed switch.
Another useful project is adjusting couplers, but that's another topic.
Terry

I've not had any issues running Roco models with DC wheels on my C-track including over-through sets of turnouts including the double-slip - both 303mm "true 1:87" passenger cars as well as short 2-axle freight cars with DC wheels.

Interesting comments on the Liliput models. I have several Liliput DC-wheeled car sets that I have never run since converting over to AC - going to have to check that out, but I have a dummy locomotive (SBB Ae 4/7) from Liliput that has trouble when running with the single leading axle in front - it derails; when run with the 2-axle bogey leading and the single-axle trailing, no problems. I typically run this behind a Crocodile for an interesting double-heading consist (prototypical? don't care as it looks great!) without having to worry about syncing two different drives! I also have a dummy Roco BLS RE 465 with DC wheels and have no problems with this in "tandem" service paired with a Marklin RE 460.

As others have already said, DC wheelsets will not close the circuit across the two rails for occupancy detection, etc. - I've not had to worry about or deal with that yet ...

Hello.

What about Brawa wagons with DC wheels on C trucks? Do they work ok, or it is a good idea to turn to AC wheels???

Regards

Paris

Right.
But in this context I see "AC" as a reference to NEM 340 and "DC" as a reference to NEM 310.
Some "DC" wheel sets are universal and work on Märklin C Track, some others don't.
Gauge is the same (assuming H0), but wheel spacing is different.

Very interesting, I was not aware that Märklin had their own NEM for HO! But this does explain why watching Märklin related train fora for decades, has taught me that almost every long thread about derailments on Märklin track eventually resolved to people using non-Märklin wheels or couplers!

I run only Märklin stock on Märklin K-track and do not have ongoing derailment and coupler failures.

Visitors have run stock from other manufacturers on my layout, mostly successfully too.

I did not know that either.

I also dabble a bit in Z scale, and at least there, Marklin stuff is the same, "wheel-wise", as the other brands. In fact, I just recently replaced a bunch of wheel sets on some Marklin cars with "Fox Valley" wheel sets. There was some speculation as to whether they would work on the Marklin cars, as they were designed for the Micro Trains line; they not only fit, but were a vast improvement.

Mark in Oregon

I run roughly 90% Maerklin, with some Fleischmann and Trix items in the mix with only coupler swaps and have never had issues with derailing... yet! I use primarily M track as there's a lot of it out there and everything seems to run on it, both old and new. But then again, I don't use a whole of turnouts, which seems to cause most of the derailing issues I've been reading about.

As a side note, when I first returned to the hobby, I was frustrated between not only having to choose AC or DC operation, but also by the seeming near incompatibility of coupling systems across the manufacturers. N Scale solved that problem, as everything worked together. Then there was that trip to the Maerklin Museum and... well, no need to say more