I am trying to find out if TMCC can be added to A K-Line F3 AB set with 2 motors in each unit but I don't have any # for telling when it was made. Thank you for any help. Choo Choo Kenny
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I believe so, if you use one of Electric RR Company's AC Commander products. I am not well-versed in this subject, but if you ask fellow OGR member gunrunnerjohn, he should be able to answer your question in much better detail.
Hope this helps, and good luck on getting TMCC on your K-Line F3 units!
Kenny,
Installing Tmcc is no problem. Use a Cruise Commander or a DC Commander not the AC Commander. It will be best to install a commander in both units then tethering the B unit.
Bill
I've tried multiple times to power four motors with both the Cruise Commander and the Cruise Commander M, it has never yielded good results. Several installations run sort of OK, but the speed regulation suffers trying to run four motors.
My advice is to simple remove the motors from the B unit and make it a 2-motor set. Unless you're going to be pulling some bodaciously large consists, you'll be happier with the result IMO.
Bill's advice for two Cruise Commanders obviously works, but certainly adds to the expense for what I feel is minimal gain.
I wonder if Jon Z can come up with a wiring diagram to slave the second Cruise M, similar to what K-Line did. G
You "might" be able to just parallel the wires from the first CC-M. You have the four motor driver lines that come on the 4-pin connector, and the serial data. You might need a booster to drive the extra board with the serial data, not sure about that. I'm also not clear on the 5V pins on the motor driver harness, I believe that's to power the opto isolators, they may not have the power to drive the additional board. It seems the CC-M manages the motor speed strictly based on the back-EMF feedback in response to the PWM signal coming in, it would be nice to confirm that. If the 5V is an issue, a small 5V supply in the slave might be an option, and maybe add a buffer for the serial data to avoid excessive load on that output as well.
I've tried multiple times to power four motors with both the Cruise Commander and the Cruise Commander M, it has never yielded good results. Several installations run sort of OK, but the speed regulation suffers trying to run four motors.
Hmmm, I've been running a set of MTH Centipedes, a set of MTH F-3's, an MTH Shark AB set and a pair of powered Atlas RS-1's for years using Cruise Commanders. The 4 motors in each set are all connected in parallel and one Cruise Commander is used for each locomotive set. They all run very smoothly at road speed and also during slow speed switching operations.
bodaciously
I can't help it John.
I haven't heard it since my Marine Corp Days ......Brought back some good memories that aren't even close to trains.
Larry
Kenny
Sorry for the off wall remark.
Sometimes I think some of the members on here are smart enough that they could take just about anything that will fit on any track and customized it to run remotely. TMCC, Legacy, DCS or what ever.
Sure makes it nice for the rest of us .......well you know...like me, challenged wanna be techs.
Larry
Have fun with your project.
Thank you everyone for the info! If the deal goes through for the F3 AB units I will be looking for someone to install the TMCC system into the units. Take care Choo Choo Kenny
