# Keep Alive



## Mister Bill (Jan 30, 2014)

I had a Bachmann GE 44ton reworked to DCC. It stalled a lot and the tech installed a keep alive.

It worked good for a year or so but now, not so much.

Can or will a Keep Alive go bad or stop working?

I cleaned my track and wheels, and they are not suspected to be part of the problem,

Bill


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## Mark VerMurlen (Aug 15, 2015)

If it was working and now its not, I would suspect maybe a broken wire or poor solder joint has become loose on the keep alive circuit.

Mark


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

Or the wipers on the wheels are weak. I guess its always possible the caps in the keep-alive are going bad.


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## tr1 (Mar 9, 2013)

*Keep alive components used in a RC circuit?*

What are the size of the electrical components in a keep alive
circuit?


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## Mark R. (Jan 26, 2013)

I've read on numerous forums of other people having similar problems. Unfortunately, there has never been a logical reason given as to why. Supercapacitors can last for millions of charge / discharge cycles without losing energy storage capability, so the problem must lie else-where ....

One common occurence when asked specifics from the individuals experiencing this problem, is that their track voltage was set higher than most. These stay alive modules do have a maximum track voltage rating. Higher than rated voltages will most likely cause them to break down over a period of time.

Optimum track voltage should be right around 13.8 volts. I've seen some as hight as 18 volts ! That is also hard on the decoder itself. If you are running your track voltage voltage too high, try setting it to a lower level .... although it may be too late now if your capacitor is already not holding a charge.

Mark.


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## Mark R. (Jan 26, 2013)

tr1 said:


> What are the size of the electrical components in a keep alive
> circuit?


It will vary depending on the manufacturer. The TCS KA1 uses 6 x 220,000 uF 2.5 Volt Capacitors, while the KA2 uses 5 X 1.0 Farad 2.7 Volt Capacitors.

KA1: 36,667 uF (microfarads) at 15.0 Volts.

KA2: 200,000 uF (microfarads) at 13.5 Volts.

Mark.


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## Mister Bill (Jan 30, 2014)

Thanks for your help. I took the shell off and did a little housekeeping and it seems to be back to normal.

Bill


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