Hi all,

I received my Bachmann Heisler yesterday.  It's a great little model, and runs very nicely.  But I did notice a couple of interesting things:
- The on-board DCC decoder seemed to have some settings already set - I noticed that the model had inertia programmed in, and that both headlights came on, regardless of direction.  Has anyone else noticed this on theirs?

- The coupling rods on the two trucks weren't lined up with each other.  One truck had them rotated further forward than the other.  I've found prototype photos with the rods both synchronised and out-of-sync, and I was just wondering which is correct?

Cheers,
Danny

Richg,

Thanks for the advice.  I did end up hardwiring the decoder.  Matching the orange lead from the decoder to the orange lead from the plug meant the motor turns the correct way.

I was using the wood load, and had to hollow some of it out, slightly, to clear the decoder.  But it was worth it  .

Cheers,
tbdanny

Hi everyone,

I've got one of the On30 inside-frame 4-4-0 engines, and I'm trying to fit a TSU-1000 decoder into it.  I've already bought the decoder, so I'd like to use it.

I don't think I'm going to be able to use the original PCB, as it takes up too much space with the decoder on top of it.  So I have two questions:

1) There are two plugs.  Am I correct in thinking that the two-pin plug is loco power pickup, and the four-pin is for motor and lighting?
2) There are two resistors on the PCB - green with coloured bands.  I'm guessing that these are for the locomotive headlight, and need to be hooked into the decoder's light outputs?
3) Are the other components on the board (capacitors, etc.) strictly necessary?

Cheers,
Danny

John,

It would probably be a good idea if you asked Bachmann to send some replacement clips as well.  They did when I asked, and I did need them.

Cheers,
Danny in Australia

Hi all,

I've just noticed that my Shay, when viewed directly from the front, leans to the right when sitting still.  The model also rocks slightly when moving along flat and level track, on both straights and curves.  I was just wondering, has anyone else encountered this with the Shay, and if so, how can it be fixed?

Cheers,
tbdanny

Ah, that's what it is.  Thanks for that.  I might wait to see if the issue occurs before attempting a repair - I don't want to have to take apart a brand-new model needlessly.

Hi all,

I've just received my On30 Climax, and it looks great.  However, there is one question I have.  I'm aware of the gear cracking problems on the Climax and Shay, and I'm planning to put brass rings around the Climax gears, to prevent the issue occurring.



I suspect that it's the small gears turning the axles that are the ones in question.  Am I correct?  Also, they already appear to have some sort of metal ring around them - could this possibly be a part of a fix to the issue?

Regards,
tbdanny

Quote from: richg on March 30, 2012, 12:59:51 PM
Just remember, use a 1k resistor if you use a LED. If you like real light bulbs and some do, a Miniatronics 1.5 volt, 1.2mm bulb with a 470 ohm resistor. If the standard 12 volt bulb, use a 22 ohm resistor for longer light bulb life.
The Tsunami 750 works very well for this loco.

Rich,

Do you mean a 1k resistor works with the original Bachmann LEDs?

Tom,

This is actually being used with a conversion kit, to make it into an On30 tank engine.  With the saddle tank on the front and the light board removed, I've got enough space to mount a 0.5" speaker with baffle facing either directly forwards or directly backwards.

Quote from: Doneldon on March 29, 2012, 04:01:32 PM
tbd-

I'm not sure what you are trying to do and I'm not sure why you would want to
connect your sound board directly to the motor because it won't work that way.
Please add some information about your intention.
                                                                             -- D

The decoder in question is a soundtraxx tsunami. I'm not going to be using the light board after the conversion, as the decoder will only be controlling sound and motor. My plan is to connect the decoder's orange and grey wires directly to the motor, with the pickups coming directly from the wheels. I figure the space taken by the light board could be used for the speaker or keep-alive capacitor.

Hi all,

I've got a Bachmann HO scale DCC on-board 0-6-0T, which I'm using as the base for a conversion to an On30 tank engine.  I'm also going to be putting DCC & sound into it.  I've noticed that the motor is connected to the original lighting board by two resistors, and I was wondering what function exactly they serve, and whether it would be possible to disconnect them and connect the sound decoder directly to the motor?

Cheers,
tbdanny

Hi all,

I've just received one of Bachmann's shays. It runs smoothly, except that it seems to give just a single jerk when running. This is more pronounced in reverse than when going forwards. Is this something that will even out with running, or am I looking at cracked gears?

Cheers,
tbdanny

Hi all,

After dabbling in HOn3, I've decided to make the jump to On30 - specifically, a freelanced Pacific Northwest logging line.

I've got my eyes on the Bachmann Shay and Climax engines, but I'm aware that there have been gear issues with these particular models.  I was just wondering, do the latest runs (with Tsunami sound onboard) also have these issues, or have these been resolved?

Cheers,
tbdanny

Hi all,

I'm considering purchasing the E-Z track turntable, and I was just wondering how the indexing/track alignment is handled?  Is it possible to have this turntable 'skip' a track without having the turntable stop there?

Regards,
tbdanny