Quote from: SteamGene on June 03, 2007, 06:15:04 PM
The USRA light Mallet was a road engine.  Compare it to the size of the Mantua and you will find it is larger.  Granted the light Mallet got assigned to branch lines as heavier power came available, but it was a road engine. 
IIRC, the Mantua's prototype was a three foot gauge engine that they modeled in standard gauge. 
Gene

"Light" is a relative term when referring to the 2-6-6-2's. I believe that the Bachmann Spectrum is modelled after the C&O Class H6, of which the last 10 were built in 1949.   They weighed about 449,000 lbs and had a tractive effort of 77,900 in compound and 98,300 lbs in simple. From MR/Linn Wescott's Cyclopedia Vol 1 Steam Locomotives I understand that the H6's, whether 1920's or 1949's, were not a USRA design, unlike the C&O H5's. Can anyone comment?

Quote from: glsummers on June 04, 2007, 02:53:08 PM
Right now I am running on DC and I did lube the gears and moving parts on the side. Thanks

Probably not your problem, but here is the post that I made on the MR forum in response to another Shay owner's problem:

"Are you talking about a low top speed? Shays had a top speed of about 15 mile per hour (about 15 ft. a minute in HO). Do not run this loco at more than a fast crawl, particularly until it has been run-in for a few hours.

If you suspect mechanical problems, carefully inspect the three drive shaft connections to enure that the three rectangular connecting rods are located inside the 5/8 in. long rectangular connecting boxes. It's easy for the rods to drop out of the boxes when handling the loco. Also make sure that the three piston rods are properly seated on the crank shaft cranks. Take care not to force any of these parts so as to cause distortion. "

Quote from: GN.2-6-8-0 on May 01, 2007, 08:10:21 PM
Think the title says it all.
Might some owners/operators of the Spectrum h.o USRA 2-6-6-2 give us a honest review of this engine.
Those who added decoders and or sound.....speak up.
Inquiring minds want to know

My first HO 2-6-6-2 arrived from Micro-Mark last week (one of the last in stock). After a very short check using address 00 on DCC confirmed that it ran smoothly, I installed a Digitrax DH123PS decoder, a quick plug in. The printed circuit board in the tender is secured with only one small screw and no locating pins, so the mounting  is a bit loose and seems  improvised, however I decided it was not likely to be a problem in future. I then ran the loco for about 30 minutes on the club layout, at scale speeds from perhaps 1 mph to 35 mph, again very smooth running. The valve and rod motion on the two engines is a joy to watch, the overall detail is very good, the flying pumps make for an interesting front end.
After lettering the loco will join the Grizzly Northern (GNRy) as Number 8002 and will be known as the "Monashee" type, after the mountain range through which the Grizzly Northern runs. I will also add weights to the tender as recommended by another member of this forum.

Quote from: the Bach-man on March 28, 2007, 01:40:10 PM
Dear Isambard,
By all means give service a call. They will be able to give you an ETA, and let you know if the issue is awaiting parts from China, which is likely in this case...
Thanks!
the Bach-man

I received a replacement "Russian" last week that had short circuiting due to contact between the phosphor bronze strips and the driver axles.
After removing oil from the bronze strips, I used a flat toothpick to work CA under the bowed section of each bronze strip and applying pressure from the centre outwards to the end of the strip using another toothpick, bonded the strip to the plastic bottom plate. This divided each "bow wave" in half and moved the halves to the ends with only slight distortion of the end wiper positions.

Since there was now adequate clearance between the strips and the raised edges of the bottom plate I decided that insulating strips were not necessary, although I did CA a small tab of camera film over the solder blobs where the wires are attached to the strips, to ensure no contact with the rear axle.

After buttoning up the loco, using a multimeter I verified that there was no longer any short circuit between the left and right hand sets of drivers before applying track power and putting this latest acquisition into Grizzly Northern service.

Hunt:
We've a read back problem with the club DCS200 and sound equipped locos (posted on Digitrax site). When we've sorted it out I'll let you know what CV08 reads.

Quote from: Hunt on April 30, 2007, 02:31:40 PM

Quote from: Isambard on April 30, 2007, 11:58:24 AM
... we need a means of looking at the quality of the power and signal at various points on the layout. Any recommendations would be welcomed.
Thank you!

Usually all that is needed is a good quality true RMS multimeter to find power issues and disabling the decoder’s Power Source Conversion.

Consider something like The DCC Pocket Tester made by Pricom http://www.pricom.com/Trains/DCCTester.shtml if your club has someone with the knowledge to understand and use the information the tester provides.

We've concluded that the Pricom unit would provide too much information for what we need and will probably go with a RampMeter from Tony's Trains.

I disabled the power source conversion CV on the new 2-8-0 and that appears to have solved most of the problems with intermittent/unpredictable behavior - those remaining appear to be related to unpowered frogs and three way switches.
 

Thanks Hunt:
The Pricom unit looks interesting. Our computer guru will be having a look at it.

Hunt:
You raise an interesting point. Our club module layout configuration, including power distribution haven't changed much since we went DCC only January '06. Apart from some start up glitches the system has been working with minimum problems, mainly connected with shorting frogs (with blind drivers particularly).
We have some sixty plus locos that run from time to time, quite a few with sound, without significant problems, except that one of our computer savvy members does have a sound equipped loco that frequently acts up at the club but not on his home layout. Given the problems with my latest 2-8-0 we've concluded that we need a means of looking at the quality of the power and signal at various points on the layout. Any recommendations would be welcomed.
Thank you!

Quote from: Hunt on April 29, 2007, 05:55:09 PM

Quote from: Isambard on April 29, 2007, 03:08:28 PM
Hunt:
Referring to your last paragraph, the User's Guide supplied with the loco is captioned "Tsunami^r Digital Sound Decoder" and the Overview reads "Congratulations on the purchase of your SoundTraxx^r Tsunami^r Digital Sound Decoder^TM"
Isambard

Isambard,
Your locomotive may have a full featured SoundTraxx Tsunami decoder but check the decimal value of  CV 8, Manufacturer's ID.
If value is 101 it is a Bachmann OEM version as I stated.
If value is 141 the decoder is made by SoundTraxx.

What is the Manufacturer's ID of the decoder in your locomotive?

Bach-man what information (not marketing wording) do you have about this "is it or is not" a true full featured SoundTraxx Tsunami decoder installed in the Bachmann HO Spectrum locomotives?

I'll check the decimal value of CV8 later this week at the club, providing those ominous sounds from the loco (not the tender) yesterday don't indicate a serious problem. I didn't mention before that we're a DCC only club so the loco has not seen DC power., also that no other locos, with or without sound, were on the layout.

It'll be interesting to hear what Mr. Bachmann has to say.

Hunt:
Referring to your last paragraph, the User's Guide supplied with the loco is captioned "Tsunami^r Digital Sound Decoder" and the Overview reads "Congratulations on the purchase of your SoundTraxx^r Tsunami^r Digital Sound Decoder^TM"
Isambard

I received a Tsunami-eqipped Spectrum 2-8-0 from MicroMark in mid-March but have run it only about two hours total in trying to sort out intermittent behavior.

The sound characteristics are great, however the loco would run smoothly for a few minutes but then start speeding up and slowing down or stopping, at the same time making a variety of sounds on its own e.g. bell, whistle, brakes etc. At first the behavior seemed to occur on modules in a power district that is furthest from the Digitax command station/booster, but then became more general and appeared to increase awith running time . Logging off and then back on seemed to temporarily cure the problem. Resetting CV 008 to 008, cleaning the track and drivers and changing from N to HO voltage made no difference.

In looking for loose connections I first found that the loco/decoder functioned with either the loco drivers or the front tender truck alone on the rails, but not with only the rear tender truck on the rails. Removing the tender body and examining the internal wiring, including under the decoder board, and gently probing with a multimeter for continuity from the axle pickups to the decoder input terminals, all appeared to be normal. However on reconnecting the loco and tender I found that the decoder would now work only if the loco was on the rails i.e. the front tender truck connection was gone.  I then ran the loco for a few minutes - it ran normally, broke into intermittent behavior and then stalled, emitting the now familiar variety of sounds but more ominously a groaning/humming sound from the loco itself. Powering off and then back on (for a very brief time) had no effect.

At this point, it would appear my only recourse is to send the unit to Bachmann but before I do so I'm curious to know what has been the experience of others with the new sound-equipped Spectrum series? I have a no-sound Spectrum 2-10-0 Russian, also recently purchased from MicroMark, that has been with Bachmann since 22 Feb for repair.

Quote from: morrisf on March 23, 2007, 12:55:11 PM
In my decapod, the short was caused by the pick-up wiper system on the locomotive. The solder joints and contact strips inside the retainer plate are touching the axles, thereby shorting the electrical system. Fixing the problem takes about 10 minutes, but it is a delicate operation...

1. Place the locomotive upside-down in a foam cradle.

2. Remove the two tiny screws and the retainer plate that runs across the bottom of the loco frame. Be real careful when doing this, because the fragile pickup wipers are attached to the retainer plate. Note that the two tabs on the rear of the retainer fit into slots in the frame.

3. Use a pencil-tip soldering iron. Unsolder the red lead wire and place a 1/4" long piece of 1/8" diameter heat shrink tubing on this wire. Resolder the connection. Slide the heat shrink tubing over the solder joint. Use a heat gun to shrink the tubing. Be careful not to warp the retainer plate with the heat.

4. Do the same as (3) above with the black lead.

5. Here's the tricky part...GENTLY bow the retainer plate length-wise in an upward direction so that the two narrow bronze strips that run along each edge bow upward as well. Use a tweezer to put a tiny vertical kink in each strip so that they become, in effect, shorter. When you release bow in the retainer, the bronze strips will now be in tension, and will not flop around and touch the axles.

6. Replace the retainer plate on the locomotive. This is a very delicate operation, as the contact wipers need to be relocated in their exact original position and not snag the driver spokes. Be sure to insert the tabs on the back of the retainer plate into the slots in the frame. Just snug down the retainer plate screws...do not overtighten them.

7. Reassemble the engine and tender and enjoy the fine operation of your decapod.


Regards,
Morris

I had a similar shorting with a 2-10-0 received from MicroMark in December (my fourth "Russian"), due to bowing of the phosphor bronze strips. I tried to  insert a plastic insulator (narrow rectangular camera film strip with cutout for gear wheel) between the bronze strips and the axles, without success - ended up binding on the gear wheel or dragging on the axles too much. I managed to "shorten" the bronze strips a bit by bending upwards away from the axles and re-assembled.

This appeared to work, however then while attempting to unplug  the loco to tender connectors for the first time to do some further work, one of the wires on the main connector broke off right at the connector. The connector fit seemed unusually tight. Not having the parts, tools or skills to repair I sent the loco and tender back to Bachmann on 29 January.

I'm waiting to hear from them. Several recent emails asking Customer Support for confirmation of receipt of the loco have not been answered - guess a phone call is needed. It's interesting how businesses set up E mail contact systems but don't seem to staff them adequately, whereas phoning (not always convenient) seems to get a response.