Hello Community,
I am looking for a decoder for a Marklin 37780, and I don`t want to replace it with the same decoder. I want to add something with sounds and better command for motor propulsion going uphill. The one I have runs fine but terrible when going uphill. All my other digital lokos don`t have that problem.

Any advice on where I can find a Decoder for this model ?

I saw this post that had a similar situation but I can`t find the same model he used. And I tried emailing the company they don`t answer

https://www.marklin-user...-ICE3-digital-conversion

Thanks,

It’s not the motor. Because I hear the motor revving up when going uphill and vice versa when going downhill. Also if I give max power the train goes uphill with not alot of struggle; It’s definitely the decoder.
I’m checking with Loksound what’s the recommended decoder. Usually the decoder comes with a sound module that has preloaded sounds and a speaker. I’m investigating will let you know…

Hello!

I have both the 37780 and the 37784 Railbow.

I've experienced same issues with 37780, especially when running all 8 cars. It's not because of the decoder. It's because the restaurant car only has 2 driving axles.
One fix would be to change the non-driven axles with driven ones. I've seen this at one home page but I cannot find it now.

It also helps changing to LEDs as this train uses alot of current and there are very small contact surfaces. On the same home page they had rewired the restaurant car with ground to the wheels and also using catenary.

I haven't experimented yet but that's one way to go.

Edited by user 26 November 2023 06:11:30(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

I have an 8 unit train. It draws about 1 A while standing and about 1.5 A while driving with lights on.
It only has two powered axles and already stalls on flat track.
I don't think a new decoder will improve the tractive effort, but if it does I should also do the upgrade.

Because of the high current draw the train can slow down in areas that are far away from the feeder wires. Other trains that draw less current will behave differently.

I’m experienced exact same. With cars it’s not bad but with 4 cars it’s bad. And on flat surfaces no issues.
But the restaurant car is powering both axles. The motor is propelling both sides of the wagon. So if it’s not the decoder or the motor, how can we improve propulsion ?
The shaft from motor to axles is 58 and 59. Motor is 56

3

Hi Waterslip/All,

W-slip a first name would be nice.

Problem:-
As you add extra coaches to increase the train length to a maximum of six intermediate cars plus the two
end cars (this is stated by Märklin) I noticed a considerable drop off in speed which I didn’t like. The
problem is a design constraint for the continuous electrical connection through the entire train which is
made of very small wires and small tracks on the PCB connectors to couple the coaches. As the end cars
increase the distance away from the powered car the resistance increases causing a power loss at the motor.

I overcame the speed loss by doing the following.

1. Replace the the bulbs with LED lighting. This isn't an easy task as the change of direction also changes the polarity for the lighting circuit.
2. Add a ground contact 205783 to the restaurant power car
3. Run the train from the the restaurant power car pantograph.

The result is a very fast train that will also climb grades.

As current models drive four axles, Marklin must have made the change for this reason. Thinking more about it, from an engineering perspective, driving two more axles with the same motor uses more energy than driving just two. Gearing has some friction too. A heavier or a double flywheel may help, but also needs more torque to ramp up.

From the OPs description I don't think this is the problem, the motor appears to have plenty of power, there just isn't enough traction and the driven wheels slip, so adding some more driven wheels may well be all it needs. Yes there may well be slightly more losses, but I suspect this will be more than offset by the extra available traction on the rails.

The only item from this series that I have is the 37789 transparent three unit ICE made for the 140th anniversary of Marklin, and the limited running I have given it I haven't had a problem like described, so haven't investigated it to see how many driven axles it has.