DCS Signal difference with 2 vs 4 roller 3rd rail pickups

It's possible that the pickup rollers have corrosion inside, on the roller axles. Try exchanging problem pickup rollers for new replacements.

I've had really good luck with DeoxIT D5 cleaning up issues with poor conductivity with rollers, you might give that a shot.

Thanks for tips but again I have replaced older rollers with new ones and still have problems.

4 pickup rollers per engine just seems to be a lot more reliable.

I'm not totally convinced that this is simply the number of rollers.  I can run all my two roller engines around the whole 50' loop and never see anything lower than a 7 or 8 for any of them.  There must be some other factor in the mix.

Something that not everybody thinks of, clean the outside wheelsets as well, the wheels that contact the outside rails need cleaning also.

I was having severe problems with an MTH PS-2 steam engine, part of my problem was the wheels on the steam engine on the outside needed a good cleaning as well. Don't froget to clean the wheels on the tender on a steam engine. Another thing that caused me problems was Gargraves track, as all three rails are seperated electrically at the factory.

Lee F.

Maybe I am way out of my league in suggesting this as a solution...but, do you have any of the "magic light" bulbs installed anywhere in your track system?  Perhaps, you have the latest TIU or some of the filters used by others installed...but, it sounds like you need some of these bulbs to clean up your signal.

What TIU are you using?  If an old one, where are your light bulbs? What track are you using? Do you have blocks and what length are they?  How many drops per block?  Are you running any passenger cars or smoking caboose?  What are the engines you are using? 

I have a large number of 2 roller engines and that has no bearing on track signal.  Like John said, you have something else going on.  Forget the roller situation if you have replaced them.  I find many early PS-2 engines with the corroded roller pins that Barry mentioned. 

Pay attention to what Lee mentioned. 

Marty,

According to his following statements, he's wired properly and has no problem with dual-roller engines, which are getting "excellent signal feed back".

Have rewired my entire main lower level with some additional track through the terminal blocks and as detailed in Barry's book.

 

Cleaned the track and then the rollers on the problem loco's then changed to new rollers, tried new batteries nothing seems to work.

 

I did try to wire one up to a dummy unit and added center rail pickup rollers to the dummy with a jumper cable to the power loco. This has significantly improved the signal on the loco.

The track is clean, getting a good signal on most other locos many on the layout.

I wouldn't start by investigating the layout, rather, I'd look first at the problem engines.

MTH DCS Filters are still solving DCS signal strength.  They're worth a try.

kj356,

How fast are you running the engine when doing the signal test? Are you experiencing  problems with controlling your 2 roller engines?