brossard Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 There was a thread about this but it's locked. I was fooling around with my friend's recently purchased R8211 this evening. I had all sorts of trouble getting a loco to run reliably. Did some troubleshooting and here's what I found: One set of roller bearings was higher than the others when in the center position so the loco rocked so electrical contact was intermittent. I was able to fix this by moving roller bearing sets around. After I had that sorted the loco still had trouble running. I got my voltmeter and had a look at what voltage was being received at the rollers (using NCE DCC). Voltage across the fixed track was 15 VAC - OK Voltage across the first set of rollers - 15VAC Voltage across the second set of rollers - 4-5VAC (Whoa!) Voltage across the third set of rollers - 4-5VAC (Whoa squared!) I was able to get two sets of rollers to show 15VAC by swapping roller units but never all three. Current comes from soldered contacts at the far end of the fixed track and feeds into rods that run the length of the rolling road. There are sliding blocks which run on the rods to which the roller bearing units are screwed. I think that continuity between the rod and block is poor resulting in low voltage. I couldn't get the road apart to check more deeply. Has anyone had a similar experience? I have a Bachrus Rolling Road - no problems with that AND the gauge is adjustable - Hornby's is not adjustable. Thanks John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
micklner Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 Mines works fine Sounds like it needs to go back for replacement Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prometheus Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 Mine works sufficiently well to be useful also. It's a bit basic and I'm not entirely sure that the blocks/rollers are completely square [the rollers not literally, obviously !] but it's useful enough and good value. Tony Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted November 8, 2011 Author Share Posted November 8, 2011 Thanks for the input guys. Tony, you sound like you're a bit dubious. I suggested to my friend that he ring the retailer about this, he's usually very good. My friend's call though. John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
micklner Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 Have you checked the runners sounds like one is bowed ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted November 8, 2011 Author Share Posted November 8, 2011 The real issue Mick, is that power is not being supplied to all the rollers. Checking continuity (with a decent multimeter) between the fixed track and rollers, I found the value fluctuating significantly and occasionally going open circuit. My suspicion is that the fit between the rod (carrying the current) and sliding block is so loose that you rely on luck to get any contact. There was a thread not too long ago that criticised a MR reviewer for apparently reviewing an older version of this road and saying that power is only supplied to the track, not the rollers. Maybe he had a point after all. John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium spamcan61 Posted November 8, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 8, 2011 Maybe this is why this unit is significantly cheaper than the alternatives! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted November 8, 2011 Author Share Posted November 8, 2011 COL (don't know if this official, Chuckling Out Loud), the Hornby Rolling Road in Canada retails for $89. It's been 3 years but my Bachrus set was $50. John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest baldrick25 Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 I can't see how the results you post there brossard, are correct or even possible. Lets assume there is 'something' inside the rolling road that means that the DCC voltage is not being fed from the first rollers to the second rollers or third set of rollers. As soon as you place a locomotive on there , then the pickups on the wheels will connect to rollers 1 ( say ) and then feed back through the pickups on the second axle , to give the same voltage reading - even though the rolling road is open circuit, and so on for the third set of rollers etc. I don't see at all how you are measuring 15VAc on the first set of rollers , and only 4-5VAC on the second and third set. - Where did the voltage go ? Was it because something was taking a whole load of current- NO, because the first roller would have the same voltage , as would the third, and the DCC controller would have tripped anyway. How were you measuring DCC voltage - its high frequency square wave of variable mark space ratio, that's not something you do with a test meter and then start quoting results afterwards. They were never correct to start with. At best its an indication, that there is something there, and nothing else. You would need an oscilliscope with at least 5MHZ bandwidth or some specialist calibrated probably custom designed meter.. Sorry but your results do not add up at all- even if the rolloing road is totally Kaput. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted November 8, 2011 Author Share Posted November 8, 2011 Well Baldrick, it may well be as you say but I wrote what I saw. I have been in this hobby 25 years, but I may have misinterpreted the readings and in hindsight, the low voltage readings were most likely fluctuating as contact between the rod and block was made and lost. I don't have a scope. My intent though was to see if anyone else has noticed any iffy performance on their rolling road. There could be a design issue or a quality issue. John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
micklner Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 Just checked mine same reading on track section and rollers. No variation when in use or not . You obviously have a duff unit for whatever reason Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium spamcan61 Posted November 8, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 8, 2011 COL (don't know if this official, Chuckling Out Loud), the Hornby Rolling Road in Canada retails for $89. It's been 3 years but my Bachrus set was $50. John Bang goes my theory then ;-). Although I can't explain the voltage readings I'd see if I could clean the rods in case they're tarnished and causing problems. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted November 8, 2011 Author Share Posted November 8, 2011 It's brand new Spamcan and I couldn't get it apart the other night without resorting to a largish hammer - it should still be on Warranty. My theory, as I mentioned, is that electrical continuity between rod and sliding block is down to luck because of large tolerances. Cheers John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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