RailPro > RailPro Specific Help & Discussion
New problem cropped up
Josephbw:
I MU'd 2 engines together to test that function, and everything went OK until I started them around my test loop. My No. 1 engine was pulling No.2 and they seemed to be fighting each other. So then I got another engine (No. 3), and paired it with No. 1, and it was a little better matchup, but No.1 was still trying to pull away from No. 3 also. All 3 engines have had the full load current test done at initial setup.
Just for kicks I tried to MU all 3 engines together, but that didn't happen, I got the error message "Maximum number of locomotives are in use" when I tried to select the 3rd engine for the consist.
Then I redid the load current test and these are the same results (within a few mA's) as I had originally. No. 1 was 330mA, No.2 was 560mA, No.3 was 530 mA. These are all three brand new Atlas engines with less than 30 minutes on each one.
It's apparent that I'm going to have to adjust the acceleration and speed for at least two of them. But my question is, is there a limit on how much power the engines can draw in a consist? I was approaching 1-1/2 amps with this combo.
Thanks, Joe
Alan:
Try breaking in the locos by themselves real good before consisting. New locos need some time on the rails for the brushes to seat well and the gear sets to smooth out. I wouldn't be surprised to see the two 500mA engines come down as they get some track miles on them.
For the second part, electrical draw of the total consist is limited only by your power supply's ability to provide sufficient voltage/amperage (wattage) and your wiring to get it there (minimum voltage drop). The modules don't care and are not affected by other locos power needs.
G8B4Life:
Are your modules and controller up to date with the latest software? RP can control 6 locomotives at once, singularly or MU'd so it seems strange to see that message, unless you had another MU operating which it doesn't sound like you did.
I'd also try letting the loco's run by themselves for a while as well. Because our models are not examples of fine precision mechanical engineering we usually do have to wear them out a bit first to bed them in.
It may also be just plain that the loco's don't like working together (even real one's have this problem sometimes). Like speed matching I believe that RP's load sharing can only go so far to compensate for characteristics like motor speed and gear ratios; too far different and load sharing probably won't work as well as expected. Adjusting the acceleration and speed might have to be done.
- Tim
KPack:
As stated, run the locomotives first forwards and backwards for a while to break them in. 500 mah for an Atlas seems high to me. Most of my Atlas locos are down in the 300's, with one or two around 200.
As far as the maximum locos, I wonder if you had another active consist that you weren't aware of? I don't know if having other locos consisted but not actively controlled makes a difference. Never really tested that. Un-MU everything and try it again.
I have two locomotives that are a bit more picky when it comes to MU'ing. Even Railpro has it's limitations of what can be done within the bounds of model locomotives. However, there are ways to help with these rare outliers. One of my 'problem' locomotives was actually an Atlas that runs incredibly smooth and draws very little current. It liked to push/pull other locomotives around. The fix was to artificially set the full load current. To do this you open the full motor load current setting, then when it asks to set it automatically select "no". You will then be able to move the full motor load current setting using the wheel to whatever you want. In this case I raised the load current higher, to be closer to what most of my other locomotives are. Works much better now with no pulling/pushing. I haven't seen any deleterious effects of manually adjusting the load current.
The other locomotive is a highly modified Athearn with a Kato drive which doesn't quite fit perfectly with the athearn drivetrain. To get it to work I had to put more pressure on the athearn dogbones, which increased the total resistance in the drivetrain. The motor runs smoothly, so it seemed to give a lower reading on the automatic load current set than what it actually was. It would run great with an indentically modified locomotive, but then with others it struggled (was drug around when it was the follower). Artificially adjusting the full motor load current to a higher setting solved the problem. I believe the higher setting is more accurate for that locomotive, based on the increased resistance in the drivetrain.
Try it out and see if that solves your problem.
-Kevin
Antoine L.:
I have had the same problem as the OP.
Seems like now I don't have it.
It felt really "random" at that moment.
Antoine
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