As near as I can tell there is not even an LED in the firebox or any place to put one. I looked over the parts drawings and the only LEDs are the front and rear headlights. It would seem that the documentation was done before the plans and before  factory got working on it. The documentation never got changed to reflect what was actually produced. To bad because the flicker would be a neat effect.

DavidB

i have been trying to get the "firebox flicker" to work on two trench locos.  I can get them into "light mode" and then when I press F1 nothing happens. I cannot see any lights in the firebox inside the cab or underneath the locomotives. I turned off the room lights to improve my chances of seeing the feature,

Press F8 2x Press rotate light/sound mode or page. I hear the "light mode activated" voice.
Press F1 to turn on the firebox flicker and I don't see any lights flickering or otherwise. (the bell sound DOES NOT play some one assumes the mode is set right.)

If I go into page 2 or 3 of the decoder functions those wok when F1 is pressed.

Any ideas? I figure the flicker should be seen inside the cab but I don't see any lights.

I did do a general internet search but didn't find anything

Anyone get this to work? How?

Thanks,

DavidB

Hi,

Have you tried  91% Isopropyl Alcohol?

Check your local pharmacy, drug store or supermarket. I get mine at my local grocery. Don't get anything but the 91% used as an antiseptic. The lower concentrations don't work as paint strippers.

I use 91% to strip paint on models.

David

An excellent idea to use the Grandt Line parts. Thanks

David

Does Bachmann offer the brake wheels and staffs for On30 cars as spare parts? I keep losing them and could use several to repair some of my On30 cars. They get broken or fall off during transport to shows.

Would be a nice thing to be able to get.

DavidB.

Since the 2-6-6-2 already has an 8 pin DCC plug with the Bachmann decoder plugged the easiest method would be to unplug the Bachmann decoder and plug in a sound decoder. The factory decoder and plug is in the tender.  I would use a  Soundtraxx Tsunami TSU-1000, either the Heavy or Medium steam version along with a plug connector such as the Digitrax "DHWHP" which is a 9 pin to 8 pin connector. You unplug the wire harness from the decoder and plug in the 9 pin to 8 pin harness and plug the decoder in where the factory decoder was plugged in.

The tender has speaker holes in the bottom but you should get or build a speaker enclosure/baffle for the back of the speaker for better sound.

You will have to do some soldering to attach the speaker to the speaker wires as well as the capacitor as noted in the instructions. Soundtraxx has documentation on their web site as do the other sound decoder manufacturers. Following their instructions for installation is highly recommended.

I have done several Bachmann On30 locos this way and it takes longer to describe it than it does to install it.

One can also get blank 8 pin plugs and solder the existing harness wires in to the plug which is tedious but can be done. This will save the cost of the extra 9 pin to 8 pin wire harness, however it all depends on ones skills with a soldering iron. I have done it this way but I have a low frustration threshold in tasks like this so I prefer the slightly more expensive method of just swapping the wire harness.

Hope this helps.

David

Yes the instructions are on the thin side as in none...
The model is 12 volt DC. The PC board in the bunker has an 8 pin DCC connector on it.
If you take the coal load off it's right there on top.
There should be some sort of plug(s) already there to make run on DC.
You take the plug(s) out insert the DCC decoder.

David

Actually there is plenty of room for the larger Tsunami decoder in the 4-4-0 tender. I have installed one. I even left the Bachmann PC board in so I could just plug the decoder in. I swapped out the Tsunami wire harness for a Digitrax, the "DHWHP" Digitrax 9 pin to DCC medium plug long harness (1"),  8 pin plug harness.


It is a little crowded but it's not a difficult install.  The tender shell also seals reasonably well so it sounds good also. The Micro-Tsunami would be even easier to fit in the tender.

David

I used a Loksound Micro decoder in one of mine. I cut out the front plastic grill and used a piece of fine brass wire mesh as front grill and put the Loksound speaker in the nose of the Davenport. The small oval speaker fits in neatly right in the front of the Davenport.

David

I used a Tsunami small steam decoder in one of my 2-8-0s. I used two speakers and set them up similar the picture posted.

One thing is that you do not need to mess around with soldering an 8 pin plug connector on to the wires on the decoder.

The Soundtraxx decoders use a standard inline connector on the decoder. You
can peel back the purple shrink wrap a bit. Unplug the wire harness and plug
in a Digitrax DHWHPS (1 inch long) or a DHWHP (3 inch long) wire harness.
The new harness only goes in one way so you cannot mess it up.

Unplug the harness it comes with and plug in the DHWHP or DHWHPS harness and
it's now a plug n'play decoder.  So much easier to install and you
only have to solder the speakers to hook them up. I use plugs for those as
well just to make it easier to install them.

There is a separate plug for the speaker connections so you don't have to
worry about them. It takes longer to describe how to do than it takes to
install the new harness.

I also discovered that older Soundtrax decoders use the same connector set
up. Never again will I solder up an 8 pin DCC plug.

David