Does DCC cause/worsen dirty track?

[TEAMYAKIMA]

I am no DCC expert but a friend of mine who is not really a model railway enthusiast has asked for my help............... with virtually no experience he has built an O gauge track in his workshop ... his workshop is a dusty dirty environment and the track cannot be cleaned manually as it is above head height and designed to run as an 'amusement' just around and around to amuse him and his workforce and clients

 

Needless to say  the train ran once and the next time he tried it the track was so dirty that it has never run since - two years later!

 

I asked him what his plans were - as I would like to buy his stock of him!

 

He said that he had  a (non-enthusiast) electrical technician on his staff and he had asked him to advise him ..... this (non-enthusiast) expert thought that the dcc current was 'attracting the dirt' or to put it another way the DCC aspect  was making matters worse.

 

So in this particular case the two options are that the 'expert' manages to come up with a solution whereby the train runs in its current position reliably 7 days a week or my friend throws in the towel and sells up.

 

So is the 'expert' right does DCC current somehow attract dirt more than old fashioned DC?

 

 

[Dunsignalling]

If the railway is as described, and cannot be cleaned, its fate is sealed. DCC will not affect its performance for better or worse.

 

I'd suggest that, if your friend wants to keep his railway where it is and make it work reliably, he should get a battery powered (or even clockwork) loco. 

 

John

Edited June 15, 2017 by Dunsignalling

[Pete the Elaner]

DCC is a high frequency AC signal & to the average piece of dirt/dust, it is not dissimilar to a high frequency track cleaner on DC, so it should attract less dirt than DC.

 

but

 

Dirt causes the DCC instructions to become unclear so the decoder will then ignore them, which makes DCC more sensitive to dirty track.

 

A track cleaning vehicle will help to keep the track clean but, once it has got so dirty that trains will not run, you will be unable to propel it.

Edited June 15, 2017 by Pete the Elaner

[kevinlms]

I am no DCC expert but a friend of mine who is not really a model railway enthusiast has asked for my help............... with virtually no experience he has built an O gauge track in his workshop ... his workshop is a dusty dirty environment and the track cannot be cleaned manually as it is above head height and designed to run as an 'amusement' just around and around to amuse him and his workforce and clients

 

Needless to say  the train ran once and the next time he tried it the track was so dirty that it has never run since - two years later!

 

I asked him what his plans were - as I would like to buy his stock of him!

 

He said that he had  a (non-enthusiast) electrical technician on his staff and he had asked him to advise him ..... this (non-enthusiast) expert thought that the dcc current was 'attracting the dirt' or to put it another way the DCC aspect  was making matters worse.

 

So in this particular case the two options are that the 'expert' manages to come up with a solution whereby the train runs in its current position reliably 7 days a week or my friend throws in the towel and sells up.

 

So is the 'expert' right does DCC current somehow attract dirt more than old fashioned DC?

So tell him the problem can't be fixed, so please sell them to me!

 

Seriously, if he can't be bothered to clean the track as required (perhaps pushing a track cleaner vehicle around at the start of a session, might be adequate), why bother?

 

 

Obviously his 'electrical technician', has no idea on how to do a search on the internet. Perhaps that's telling?

[clecklewyke]

Why not try a battery-powered radio-controlled loco. This could use inductive charging, just like my toothbrush and then would be totally unaffected by dirt. There are lots of suppliers out there and his technician will have fun setting it up!

 

Ian

Edited June 15, 2017 by clecklewyke

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

The evidence I obtained at 'digital switchover' suggests sigificant dirt reduction on DCC compared to DC.*

 

But the big benefit of the ultra reliable starting due to DCC power being 'full on' at all times, is that signal to noise ratio of the evidence of dirt build up is vastly improved over DC. If a DC loco didn't start, most of the time there was no assignable cause. If a DCC loco doesn't start smoothly but stutters - a very much less frequent event - there is always an assignable cause and usually it is dirt, time to run the rail cleaning drag around.

 

In DC operation I ran the track drag at the end of every operating session, as this had tested as the most effective time to clean track, and it needed cleaning every time after the typical three to four hours of one of my operating sessions. In DCC operation of the very same layout about twenty sessions with no track drag cleaning were required to produce a stutter on starting. So I standardised on operating the track drag after every tenth session, and to date everything always starts smoothly.

[TEAMYAKIMA]

As the OP may I thank you all , you have confirmed my view and answered my question.

[Crosland]

He said that he had  a (non-enthusiast) electrical technician on his staff and he had asked him to advise him ..... this (non-enthusiast) expert thought that the dcc current was 'attracting the dirt' or to put it another way the DCC aspect  was making matters worse.

 

I have said it before - never expect an electrical technician or a sparky, probably used to dealing only with mains supplies, to understand low voltage electronics, unless they can demonstrate some real knowledge.

 

The advise is utter rubbish.