Recent Posts

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21
RailPro Specific Help & Discussion / RailPro and Decoder Buddy
« Last post by Jeff1022 on August 01, 2026, 06:27:38 PM »
I was talking with Nick of Nix Trainz at the recent St. Louis RPM meet and he told me that his "Decoder Buddy" board would work with a RailPro module.  I'm just getting my feet wet with RP, but his boards have a 21 pin receptacle and I believe the modules are a 9 pin.  So, how can this be true per him?  Has anyone been able to make these work together in some manner?  I also inquired about his "Stay Alive" capacitors and he said he had never tried it, but he did use another brand stay alive with a RailPro module once and it worked.  So, give it a try and see is all he had on that. 

Any thoughts from the group will be greatly appreciated.  Thanks. Jeff Youst
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RailPro Specific Help & Discussion / Re: Where to buy RailPro
« Last post by LVRR1856 on July 21, 2026, 05:09:11 PM »
Best to call some vendors as some are small mom & pop outfits, their webs sites don't always reflect accurate availibility.
Some can also get direct shipping from Ring.... Just a thought.
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RailPro Specific Help & Discussion / Re: Over Amp motor issue with LM-4S-G
« Last post by gregeusa on July 19, 2026, 08:56:29 PM »
Not to disparage RP, but clearly the amp rating is not average, but peaks.

Try the power resistor as suggested... 1/2 ohm should do it, if not 1 ohm.

It will lower the top speed of the loco a tiny bit, but will most likely work.

Get the ones in the extruded aluminum body, and bolt down to some metal to dissipate the heat.
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RailPro Specific Help & Discussion / Re: Over Amp motor issue with LM-4S-G
« Last post by blwloco on July 19, 2026, 05:48:09 PM »
Sorry! Should have mentioned that. The locomotive is a Sunset (90's, not modern Sunset 3rd Rail) UP MK-6 2-8-2. Locomotive was factory stock when it arrived at the shop; maybe run on track power once?

There is an adjustment to the lower sensitivity threshold, but when I manually adjust it, the engine jolts. say 0 to 15 scale mph instantly.

I put a competitor's decoder in the engine to see if I am crazy. It's a 4 amp decoder, and it had no issues. I got the same 3.5amp read out for the motor. I am not sure what's happening here and RailPro customer support hasn't given me any help (other than advising I read the manual).
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RailPro Specific Help & Discussion / Re: Over Amp motor issue with LM-4S-G
« Last post by gregeusa on July 19, 2026, 01:50:44 AM »
Not surprising... the market is littered with units that don't meet specs... current handling is the big one.

Isn't there some adjustment to lower the threshold of sensitivity to load?

What is the locomotive pray tell?
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RailPro Specific Help & Discussion / Re: Over Amp motor issue with LM-4S-G
« Last post by blwloco on July 18, 2026, 10:15:27 PM »
I just tried that. The intermittent cuts disappeared, but the decoder still tripped under prolonged load, particularly going uphill. I measured the motor again and it's only pulling 2.9amps with some resistance; 3.5amps stalling. I am not sure the decoder can handle the advertised 8amps. Unless I am misunderstanding that.

The low speed control is still nonexistent. I adjust the start voltage but if I go too high the engine will take off and stop. No low speed control at all.
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RailPro Specific Help & Discussion / Re: Where to buy RailPro
« Last post by sieggs1 on July 17, 2026, 08:31:49 AM »
Hello,

Thank you for the links, however, I was unable to find anyone with LM-3S-21 units in stock.

I have a couple that need repair so I may ship them back to Ring for fixing.

Thanks again,

Rob S.
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RailPro Specific Help & Discussion / Re: Where to buy RailPro
« Last post by LVRR1856 on July 16, 2026, 07:12:25 PM »

Did you try

https://rcsofne.com/ring-engineering-railpro-wireless-train-control/

or

https://rldhobbies.com/remote-control/railpro/?page=1&mode=2

or
https://yankeedabbler.com/pages/search-results-page?q=ring%20engineering

Let us know how you make out.
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RailPro Specific Help & Discussion / Re: Over Amp motor issue with LM-4S-G
« Last post by gregeusa on July 16, 2026, 01:02:22 PM »
Seems that one of your problems is that the motor is "spiking" short term current and trips the decoder.

Try adding a 1/2 ohm power resistor in series with the motor(s) and see if that works... common issue in large scale.

Greg
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RailPro Specific Help & Discussion / Over Amp motor issue with LM-4S-G
« Last post by blwloco on July 16, 2026, 10:01:07 AM »
Hello RailPro forum! My name is Nick Bulgarino, and I have a model repair shop that installs dead rail systems. I am new to RailPro, and I am running into an issue with the motor control.

There are two issues I have: the first is low speed control; the second is over amping the circuit.

The locomotive, even if I change the start voltage, will not move until I reach 20% or higher. Then it'll jolt forward. I can bring the speed back down and control it, but that's not very prototypical. I am trying to figure out how to fix this, but the manual does not cover this issue.

The locomotive has a stall current of 3.4 amps. The LS-4S-G is advertised to handle up to 8 amps. I am getting an over current error when operating the engine under medium to long train lengths even after doing the Motor Full Load Current test. The test puts the motor current at 750mA to 850mA. That is well below the threshold I think. In order to operate the engine, I have to limit the top speed to 45%. This is too slow for most operations and lacks the power to pull a train up grade.

My question is what am I missing?

Thank you!
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