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shaggy

My RC lego trains are annoying me to no end

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I've completed my RC train layout (yes...picts soon) and am really happy with it.

But now that Ive started building my MOC traincars I am finding out that the RC engines can't pull them. When I go to Youtube and see city and train setups, I see the trains pulling 12-15 cars. My RC trains cant pull more than 6!!!

Ive also had the displeasure of replacing AA batteries now too.

I am thinking about switching my whole set back to the old style 9v, but that means scraping ALOT of track.

any thoughts??

yes yes..I know this is a hot topic...and most seem to like the 9v over RC..and HAD I known there were 2 different formats out there before I bought my 2 RC sets I would have never gone RC

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Even the older 9v system would have had trouble with that much of a load. Most of the time the longer trains you see have multiple motors. As you might know the recent RailBricks has a great article on long trains. I recommend reading that if you have not done so already. That magazine also says that the RC motor have the same power, just less traction. Supposedly if you change the rubber on the wheels they work much better.

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Even the older 9v system would have had trouble with that much of a load. Most of the time the longer trains you see have multiple motors. As you might know the recent RailBricks has a great article on long trains. I recommend reading that if you have not done so already. That magazine also says that the RC motor have the same power, just less traction. Supposedly if you change the rubber on the wheels they work much better.

Just read that..right after I posted this!

Ill be calling lego tomorrow to get those replacement rubber bands!

If that doesnt work the only option I see is to lighten the load or buy another RC motor and battery pack and run 2 engines. My RC remotes only have 3 channels and Im using 2 of them already..so I imagine engine #2 would run on the same frequency

Edited by shaggy

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Don't forget that both standards are dead. My advice is to wait until 2009 and buy the new trains. I own 7897 and 7898 and I plan to stick with those until then. I haven't got the room for more anyway... :'-(

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Don't forget that both standards are dead. My advice is to wait until 2009 and buy the new trains. I own 7897 and 7898 and I plan to stick with those until then. I haven't got the room for more anyway... :'-(

wait..what?

RC trains just came out. Is the info I just read about in the Railbricks newsletter all about this new format? sorry ..its late and Im just a little confused. Didnt RC trains *JUST* come out?

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A Late welcome to EB from me. :-)

Well... I've had the same problem regarding an overload of cars behind the locomotive.

I work partime at an train layout... altough not LEGO... but they do know about LEGO

trains there and when I had the problem, i asked them and they gave me 3 solutions,

I will "draw" them here:

[Locomotive] [Car] [Car] [Car] [Car] [Car] [Car] [Car] [Car] [Car] [Car] [Locomotive]

[Locomotive][Locomotive] [Car] [Car] [Car] [Car] [Car] [Car] [Car] [Car] [Car] [Car]

[Locomotive] [Car with hidden motor] [Car] [Car] [Car] [Car] [Car] [Car] [Car] [Car] [Car]

How about that?

About RC release ... The first 4 RC sets came out summer 2006 so let's say...

it's 1.1/2 years old. The LEGO 4.5, 12 and 9 VoLt trains were about ... 30 years ...

That can mean:

1. Lego found out RC isn't such a succes ?

2. We can expect an RC line for the next 20 years (= as long as 9 VoLt lived) ?

== Rupee ==

Edited by RupeeClock

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RC trains just came out. Is the info I just read about in the Railbricks newsletter all about this new format? sorry ..its late and Im just a little confused. Didnt RC trains *JUST* come out?

TLC is still working on the details, but the new "Power Functions train system" due to release in 2009 will feature are a new designed remote control with a speed regulator and a new rechargeable battery box.

Official announcements regarding the future of trains can be found here and here. The new system will feature some kind of remote control, but as Sinner pointed out, the current RC system is gone (and indeed had quite a short life).

Not that I'm complaining, anyhow... Besides the issue that sparked this thread, another problem that many AFOLs have with the RC system is that you cannot build huge display layouts, because of the limited range of the infrared signal.

Edited by paksu

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TLC is still working on the details, but the new "Power Functions train system" due to release in 2009 will feature are a new designed remote control with a speed regulator and a new rechargeable battery box.
Thanks paksu! *sweet* You answered that question very well. Personally I think the RC trains were an experiment that never was supposed to last. Looking at S@H they seem to have sold well.

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... another problem that many AFOLs have with the RC system is that you cannot build huge display layouts, because of the limited range of the infrared signal.

If you use a circuit like this, the Infra-red range problem will be a thing of the past:

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=2957467

It also allows PF IR signals to be repeated inside tunnels!

The circuit is in two halves, the receiver circuit on the left and the output circuit on the right. The receiver circuit has a receiving range of at least 2 metres and its output is to a PF plug. Connect as many output circuits to the PF plug as you need, to cover the area of your layout. Since the output circuit uses fresh power from the supply rails, you can add many output circuits to one receiver circuit. The re-transmit range is about the same as the standard PF IR parts, so place output circuits every 4 or 5 metres, to account for the bright lights and electromagnetic noise at exhibitions.

The reason why the official parts have a better receiving range is that they have the advantage of an automatic gain control built into the receiver chip, where my circuit is just a simple transistor amplifier.

Mark

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