this is the actual link for the manual http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/dwg/dwgs/16947.pdf

when i bought this mow vehicle (dcc ready), i thought i can just plug in my bachmann 44915 dcc decoder 8pins into the socket. but when i looked at the manual, i got so confused. diagram only shows a weird looking pin/clip which doesn't make sense to me at all. could someone shed some light on this?

thank you

Quote from: ACY on May 27, 2011, 12:38:47 AM
It doesn't appear that way to me. It appears that he is a victim of terrible luck. Bachmann's packaging isn't as good as it used to be. This seller actually packs things very well in my experience, and a lot better than most sellers who just whatever is cheapest. I have reviewed there feedback on a few occasions and have bought a lot of things from them and have never seen a legitimate case of some receiving a non-new item. The seller can only package the item well and beyond that they cannot control if it gets damaged or is defective. If you lived in the U.S. for about $6-8 you could send your loco to Bachmann and get a replacement and everything would then be fine. The seller cannot control postal costs or where you live or the manufacturer's warranty and policies. If I lived somewhere where postage to/from the U.S. was high I would probably avoid buying things from there because of the risk if something goes wrong. I would pursue local options which has less risk involved. For example say you buy a loco from the U.S. for $100 including shipping, if something goes wrong it may cost you $30-$40 to send it back, whereas you can buy one locally for maybe $120, and can possibly even test it to ensure it works.

so far i bought 5 new bachmann locomotives from the same seller and i would say only 4-8-4 have problem which seller should have done more after i complained to them. our observation on the wheels doesn't receive any reply at all from seller. it's not that i'm asking for compensation from them and as i said as long as it works i can live with that. but ignoring your customer complaint isn't a good sign.

meanwhile the new MOW ballast vehicle doesn't have anything to do with seller at all. fine, someone from bachmann looked at the pic and acknowledged it was broken during transit. i totally disagree because 1 of the peg/hinge doesn't fit with the other one, don't you think that's more like a defective item? if it was really broken during transit, i will just need to apply some superglue and both ends will stick nicely together but that wasn't the case. 

still bachmann refused to verify the tapes in my pics above!

totally agree with you. in the end of the day it's still a risk and i'm no longer interested taking those risk.

Quote from: NarrowMinded on May 27, 2011, 12:22:48 AM

QuoteThis time really hope someone from Bachmann will say something on their behalf.

It really appears that your the victim of a less then perfect seller, to exspect Bachmann to have control over this their items after they are in the hands of others is like calling Dryers icecream to complain 7-11 sold you melted icecream.

Just my two cents

NM

the only thing that i expect from bachmann at this moment is their verification on the tapes usage inside the clear case. is that common in their new release to have tapes? none of my previous bachmann locos have any tapes.

if the icecream does look something was wrong after i bought it from 7-11, don't you think the manufacturer should verify it?   

Quote from: poliss on May 26, 2011, 01:42:56 PM
Can't really see what you mean about the wheels on your 4-8-4. A tip when taking photos. If you take them from a little further away and then use the photo program on your PC to zoom in and then crop the photo you should get better results.

i wouldn't go into the wheels anymore and i did moved on with the 4-8-4. it's running perfectly on my layout at the moment. it doesn't change a thing by now but i would hope bachmann could clarify the tapes usage inside the clear case. well that's the risk if you are located so far away and no official bachmann distributor available on this side of the world. when things like this happened seller will denied any wrongdoings and same goes with manufacturer so that was why i kept saying nothing much i can do. life goes on.

fixed the broken wheels cover last night using plastic cement with some adjustment on the plastic hinge. as i said earlier 1 of the hinge doesn't fit into the frame so it was impossible and got broken during transit. i wouldn't pursue any further as i felt it's totally useless due to my location and our small number of customers that buying bachmann products. lastly, one more time life goes on. 

Quote from: the Bach-man on May 26, 2011, 12:17:29 AM
Dear Judge,
It looks as though they were damaged in transit, which is beyond our control.
As to whether they're new or not, you'll have to work that out with your dealer.
Thanks,
the Bach-man

fine fair enough.

but at least do clarify the tapes inside the clear case, is that normal for a steam locomotive to have tapes around the case? all my new bachmann dcc locomotives doesn't have any tapes in it.

like i said seller/dealer assured me all their locomotives are new from bachmann factory. so it's not too much to ask for clarification from bachmann on the tapes then.

Quote from: ChrisS on May 25, 2011, 09:54:45 PM
So your new 4-8-4 wasn't "new"

i told that to seller previously about the box and tapes but they replied and assured me their locos all are new from bachmann factory. as for the wheels they didn't get back to me at all. same goes with bachmann customer service no reply from them too about the wheels conditions. sent them all the pics and need them to verify but no response.

i'm not in the position to say it wasn't new but i am still hoping bachmann personnel could provide some explanation in this topic. i only can provide pics and if none of them willing to response there's nothing much i can do. 

Quote from: Doneldon on May 25, 2011, 09:41:31 PM
judge-

Your diagnosis of dirty track is almost certainly correct. I was already thinking of that before you mentioned it.

The other deal with the defective truck is verry hard to figure. I don't have one of those items so I can't help much with that. I do hope that Bachmann gives you some help.
                                                                            -- D

no worries at all, i'm just way too frustrated this morning. perhaps this weekend i should grab a lotto powerball ticket who knows i might have better luck with powerball

will try contact bachmann but i doubt they will be helpful enough as i too far away across the globe!

Dear Bachmann,

This time really hope someone from Bachmann will say something on their behalf. It's not looking good or should I say maybe I'm just being so unlucky twice in 2 weeks with 2 new locomotives?

First it was the new 4-8-4 that came in "special conditions" box.





By default it should be on address number 3 but it wasn't. Fixed it by reprogrammed it from an unknown address to a new address. Not only that we found something very disturbing on the wheels upon further observation.

I only have my old Iphone so I can't zoom into the wheels.

Anyway it's working and running well on my layout at the moment so okay I can live with it.

Then, this morning received 2 new Bachmann Spectrum MOW train ballast vehicles. This time I did checked the box inches by inches and happy both boxes in pristine condition with factory sealed tapes. Took out the first MOW vehicle and all good test run and works well.

Unfortunately when I removed the second MOV vehicle from the box, 1 wheel cover immediately fell off!

Gosh! Spectrum product with a broken wheel cover? Am I been cursed? Fine, told myself probably the box took some impact during shipping and it broke the cover. Test run it on my track, it doesn't really go. Power doesn't went smoothly into the MOV vehicle and I need to push it slightly on many occasions before it started to work. Whenever the power is turned on and it doesn't go, I need to push it gently before it works again... yeah something that I don't expect from Bachmann Spectrum! *** Little update here, it only don't go at 1 same spot so it means that spot need some cleaning ***

Re-looked at the broken wheel cover again, thought probably some super glue will fix it. If I contact the seller again, I pretty sure I'll get a similar response, send it back for refund or get in touch with Bachmann for warranty purposes. I don't mind fixing it by myself using super glue BUT the problem is 1 of the broken hinge doesn't match with the wheels frame! 1 hinge went in nicely and the other hinge doesn't so could it be broken during shipping? I'm absolutely sure this time both boxes doesn't have any "special conditions" and pretty absolutely sure they came in factory sealed conditions too. Well, I'll let you to decide as I'm just too annoyed and frustrated!

Interesting huh? Seriously Bachmann please someone... please say something!

*** i wouldn't pursue any further as i felt it's totally useless due to my location and our small number of customers over here that buying bachmann products online. so life goes on ***

will try get some pics up soon but i don't have a good camera that could zoom into the locomotive wheels. i'm trying my best not to create any misunderstanding on the wheels since it was our observation and we could be wrong too. perhaps after seller got back to me then i'll update everyone the outcome on the wheels.

for the time being send me a message and i'll explain the wheels condition through message.

*** i've updated everything in my new thread/topic so i'm going to lock this one ***

just got back from from my friend's place. good news and bad news.

good news:
we fixed the 4-8-4. we reprogrammed the 4-8-4 from an unknown address to a new address using steps available in bachmann e-z command manual. so it's working perfectly now.

bad news:
previously i did tried pressing address number 1-10 on my e-z command but the 4-8-4 just didn't response. so there could be a possibility the 4-8-4 might have a different address than 1-10. or it could be a faulty decoder perhaps? but upon further observation on the locomotive wheels we discovered something very disturbing. well i think the seller himself wasn't really aware with the 4-8-4 conditions at all and all these beyond his control.

maybe someone from bachmann could provide some kind of explanation on this matter. unfortunately there still no response from bachmann.

i emailed the seller and told him the same thing about the unknown address and our discovery on the wheels. like what i told him, i'm not a fussy guy but as long as the 4-8-4 is working and running perfectly then it's fine with me and it's working perfectly at the moment.

so just another unlucky day for me

thankz everyone for your inputs. my friend will pick me up later and he will help me to program the 4-8-4 from "unknown" to another new address. if that still won't work then we'll try to swap with another dcc decoder which i have an extra one at the moment.

will keep you guys posted.

Quote from: Jim Banner on May 19, 2011, 02:44:52 PM
May I suggest that you try programming your 4-8-4 to address 03 before doing anything radical.  A new decoder is supposed to be set to address 03 but that is no guarantee that it actually is.  Use your E-Z Command and the instructions in your manual for programming a locomotive with an unknown address.

Another test you can perform without opening up anything is to attempt to run the locomotive on address 10 using your E-Z Command.  This is normally used for running locomotives that have no decoder installed and while it generates a dc voltage, it does so by stretching some of the DCC pulses.  The presence of DCC pulses will prevent a locomotive with a decoder from converting to dc operation so if your locomotive runs on address 10, it does not have a decoder installed.

I agree with not opening the locomotive to check out the decoder but only because the decoder is located in the tender.  Swapping decoders to change performance characteristics is so common that I would be very surprised if Bachmann would refuse to honour their warranty just because you opened the tender.  If you have any doubts about this, give the service department a ring  and ask.  (If you are in the UK, then by all means make use of the time difference - call late enough to get night rates but early enough to catch Bachmann still open.)

Jim

hi jim,

pressed address number 10 on my e-z command and the 4-8-4 wasn't responding at all so like you said earlier, it does equipped with a dcc decoder then. i'm still awaiting bachmann response before trying to swap with my extra bachmann 44915 dcc locomotive decoder. trying not to void any warranty issue yet so hopefully someone from bachmann will get back to me.

thank you.

Quote from: Doneldon on May 19, 2011, 11:09:48 PM
judge-

No! The problem is not that you live in New Zealand or that you purchased something from outside of your country. You have exactly the same right as anyone else stateside has to get a correctly operating locomotive for your money. It's not like your seller gave you half off because you were buying merchandise which might be defective. You paid what you paid and you paid your expensive shipping to New Zealand in good faith. You should have received properly functioning merchandise. But you didn't. I believe that either Bachmann or the Favorite Spot should make things right for you. Unless you were explicitly warned in advance that you might receive defective merchandise which they would not stand behind, it is up to those two firms to stand behind the product they manufactured and sold.

I, myself, am personally offended that neither firm is willing to correct this situation. I am offended, too, that someone on this Board would have the temerity to blame you for your misfortune.

I call on Bachmann and The Favorite Place to replace your model at no cost to you and I call on ACY to personally apologize to you for his intemperate and blaming commentary.

I will send a copy of this post to the Favorite Place, to ACY and as a separate posting to the Bachmann.
                                                                                                                                                     -- D

hi everyone,

it's not my intention to create a havoc in here. the first time i joined this forum it was when i can't get my new bachmann turntable to work and folks around here were really helpful. in the end we found out (ACY was the one suspected my hornby controller since the beginning of the ordeal) it was my hornby digital select controller that refused to work with the new turntable. without everyone's input i won't be able to solve it by myself and you know what i've been proud to showcase my bachmann dcc turntable to my friends.

well i'm just so unlucky this time with a new non-working dcc onboard 4-8-4. maybe i got too emotional as it was my student allowance which i spent on getting 2 steam locomotives and 1 is still not working at all.

thefavoritespot replied back to me and he explained the options that i have. but it will be much more better if someone from bachmann could provide some advise so that i could decide the next course of action.

again, my apology if i'm making things complicated in here.

Quote from: ACY on May 19, 2011, 08:59:41 PM
Because you live in New Zealand, you put yourself in a bad spot buying from anywhere outside of New Zealand. The seller cannot do anything about it because, it is not their fault and they cannot prevent a loco from being defective, so they should not have to cover shipping becuase they did not make an error. It is not their fault you live in NZ and shipping costs so much, you were the one that chose to buy from them. If you still have your receipt, your best option is to send it in to Bachmann service with the receipt and Bachmann can repair or replace it. I am not sure how return shipping works though, I know within the US and Canada they cover it, but I am not sure about everywhere else. Call them tomorrow, as you will get a quicker response that way as opposed to contacting them online.

true the main problem is i'm located in new zealand and it's always a risk buying from abroad when something like this happened. it's so complicated. will give them a call tomorrow.

just received reply from the seller and i was given only 2 options. send it back to bachmann USA for warranty or return it back for refund. sending it back all the way from nz to USA will cost me almost nearly the price i paid for the steam locomotive. i did contact bachmann USA for their technical advise through their online form but so far still nothing from bachmann.

i would appreciate if someone from bachmann USA perhaps could provide some kind of assistance help me to solve this problem.