RailPro > RailPro Specific Help & Discussion

Consisting Problem

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Alan:
What happens if you physically turn one loco around the opposite direction and then couple together?

nodcc4me:
I linked them both in the forward direction and they ran without error. What does that mean?

Alan:
Your motor leads are not electrically isolated from the loco frames.

nodcc4me:
OK, I still don't fully understand why that changes things when they are unlinked. Are they shorting out through the couplers? If I reverse the motor leads on the problem loco will that fix the problem? This was never an issue until recently.

Alan:
Presumably yes, the electrical path must be through the couplers. It is the only place the two locos physically contact each other.

The clue was your comment "as soon as the throttle is raised". At 1% throttle no motor should exceed LM limit.

Reversing motor leads is not a solution. That would make the loco directional dependent forever. Not good.

Place an ohm meter across a motor lead and frame. Repeat for other motor lead. If either shows continuity then you have no choice but to electrically isolate the frame. Frames in the electrical path are never good. Other issues will arise down the line.

I suppose you could use plastic whisker couplers but that is a band aid fix at best.

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