Just received my centipede set and neither unit functioned properly right out of the box. MY layout is DC . As stated in the manual, around 7 volts the headlight comes on and the sounds begin. Then the units shut off and the cycle starts again. Any further increase in voltage does not change the situation. After a half hour of fiddling around, finally the lead unit ran thru the sounds and actually started to move, only to shut off again a few feet down the track. The "B" unit continues to turn on/off. Any thoughts or should I just return them to BLI?
As dualgauge correctly indicates, the track MUST be clean to run this one on DC. What is happening to you is that when the thing loses contact, the decoder re-sets from point zero. I use an old MRC 2400 (pulse OFF) or 2800. I turn up the thing about three quarters. What happens reminds me of an old momentum throttle that takes its sweet time. You must listen to the sound. You will hear the thing fire off then the sound of a diesel's increasing RPM. Eventually, it slowly gains speed. Once it reaches the desired speed, you can start to scale back the throttle. At about forty per-cent DC throttle, the thing will stop, but you will hear decreasing RPM. It will take a bit of playing with the throttle to get it to work ideally for you. I can make mine creep like a pusher (which is the service in which they would up working) or run at sixty-five SMPH as they were intended to do in passenger service. Clean track is a MUST with these things on DC.
Clean track on a DCC layout is also a must to run this locomotive properly. Staying cool and having fun with it....... Shades
If the wheels have a blackened/weathered finish, it may take some running time to wear it off the treads and begin getting consistently reliable contact with the rails.
