Tom, My experience with AM locos I measured a few years back, is that in most cases a good HO decoder will be fine. I do have a couple of caveats:
- I don't mean an N scale decoder that works in HO. Most HO decoders are 1.5A/1.8A/2.0A decoders, while most N decoders are 1.0A. N works fine in HO, but I would measure carefully before I would use an N decoder in any loco except the SHS SW/NWs. - A number of years back I saw several instances of SoundTraxx HO sound decoders overheating in AM Pacifics. It was inconsistent (i.e., not every loco) and it usually occurred after the loco had been operating from more than 20-30 minutes, but it occurred often enough so it made me a little more cautious about that combo. As a result I would measure the stall current on each AM Pacific before installing Tsunami's in them. (I do have a Tsunami installed in one of my AM Pacifics, but it does not get a lot of run time.) I would also say I've not personally installed any SoundTraxx sound decoders in the last several years as I prefer ESU and QSI sound decoders currently. So things may have changed with the current generation, and it may not be an issue. - And finally I always recommend that you do NOT power a smoke unit through a function on a decoder. Smoke units simply draw too much power. You should power from the track directly, and simply use the function to turn on/off that track power to the smoke unit via a relay. Hope this helps a bit. Michael Greene Sent from my iPad On May 8, 2013, at 2:05 PM, "Tom Hawley" <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I got the following via another medium, from a person closely associated with > the model RR industry (not Mr Bashista). Can anyone answer? > > I get calls at least five times a year for people who are programming their > DCC American Models engines. They always ask the stall speed/voltage. What > should they use - mostly? > > Tom Hawley -- Lansing Mich > > >
