Quote from: Scott_ATL on October 27, 2014, 07:13:25 PM
Is there a way to bypass the DCC board, without breaking off the decoder and hard soldering the connections as indicated in the instructions?  Or will the engine operate without the tender/board at all?  I ask, because I'm not even getting power to the light.

It's possible that it has been programmed to not run on analog. that is an option for DCC decoders so that when running on multi source layouts, the loco doesn't run away when it encounters DC power.

The standard fix for the problem on the Non-DCC version is to pull the boiler and check the connections where they clip onto the frame for electrical pickup.  Unfortunately, that shouldn't be the problem with the DCC version as the decoder is directly connected to the tender pickup and the motor so even if the loco was getting power through the frame, the tender is enough to power things. I have seen tenders that the pickups did not make contact, which could be an issue but less likely.

If it has sat for a long time, the brushes could be stuck or lube has wicked down them. Sometimes turning the motor over by hand can be enough to get it over the hump.

If it gets upgraded to the current standards, expect the price to be upgraded also. Figure retail in the $150-175 range would be my best guess. A lot more than the $93 retail they are now.

The slope back is what they come with now and it is not the right tender for a USRA 0-6-0. I'm sure somewhere, somebody stuck one on but they came equipped with a USRA short tender. Many railroads swapped them out for a clear-view tender to improve visibility in their intended service, a yard switcher. If anything, I would like to see a clear-view tender on them. There have been two loco made over the years with a clear-view tender, the old Atlas IHB 0-8-0 and the Walthers 0-8-0. Walthers never offered them as parts, the Atlas is very old tooling with half axle pickup getting harder and harder to find.

Considering the only two that are stand alone modules retail at $400 (Sierra) and $350 (Smokey Hollow) and they are out of stock at distributors, I think you should be happy to just find one. Everything else they make are add on modules for the Sierra layout and will not work without the Sierra module. Walthers shows only the Smoky Hollow Junct. available and it is on sale for $320. All others are out of stock with no expected arrival or being new models with TBD listed.

I think the high price ones you are seeing are HO versions that they are starting to sell or the High Sierra with additional modules included.

That said, you can build a better hollow core door layout for a lot less. Scratch and dent door $10-15, sheet of high density insulation foam $35, time and effort, FREE, and you are not stuck with a layout that relies on out-dated 9 3/4" radius or tighter curves, 4-6% grades and will be more substantial than a vacuformed sheet of plastic.

Hollow core doors are 7' x 24-36" wide. If the length is an issue, have the store rip it down to the length you need and just glue an end cap made from the cut off scraps on to maintain the integrity of the piece.

If it is the older version, I'm not sure I would put the effort into DCC. The current version (last 5-6 years) is DCC ready.

The older ones were notorious for axles cracking and parts are no longer an option. Even if it runs well now, it probably won't after some use.

Quote from: the Bach-man on October 23, 2014, 10:58:34 PM
Dear Skip and Peanuts,
We are looking into this.
I'll post an answer soon.
Thanks!
the Bach-man

Thanks for checking into this. It looks like there is another batch of loco's just arrived. One distributor that was completely out is showing stock again.

Good quality heat shrink tube works pretty well for replacement traction tires. Make sure you get the rubbery type, not the plastic stuff that Radio Shack sells. It may take a couple layers to get the correct thickness for some loco's but it wears well and is available in many sizes. Just be careful of how you shrink it down. Many drivers use celcon (?) plastic for the driver center that can deform with too much heat.

Quote from: PEANUTS on October 22, 2014, 03:33:34 AM
For the Bach Man;
At a recent model train show, my EM-1's tender wheels melted during a short circuit. I think I have repaired the molten plastic and replaced the 2 wheels and one axle, successfully.
Will Bachmann being bringing out spare parts for this new model?

So I'm not the only one.

I lost tenders trucks on two of them. I've been begging customer service for the past week with no luck. Mine are beyond repair. I have one good truck out of the four on the locos and I have considered making a resin cast of it to get them back on the tracks if Bachmann can't come through. This experience is really making me second guess the Berkshires I have on order. If I can't fix it, I'm not sure I want it. These loco's are too expensive to be disposable and without parts, that is what they are.

Any all-wheels live tender will work. The USRA short that Bachmann offered separate is what these locos came with when built but they got all kinds of tenders swapped on to them over the years.

To move the traction tire driver, yes, you need to pull the crank pin and re-install it in the TT driver when you re-arrange them. It's not difficult and this is a great loco to learn to tinker on.

The problem is Bachmann moved the traction tired driver to the middle driver on the loco. There are a lot of things you can do to this loco to improve it. Most have been mentioned here. Moving the traction tired axle to the rearmost (#3) position will do the most for the performance of the loco. A good spectrum style tender helps a lot as well as weight. Remove the pilot and trailing trucks as they don't belong on the loco to begin with and they are nothing but headaches. They don't track well and add drag to the loco.

I wish Bachmann would "spectrumize" this loco although we would probably loose a great cheap loco to tinker with in the process.

Bullfrog snot will cause you more problems than it solves if you don't put the spectrum tender on the back. The loco suffers from poor pickup out of the box and snotting additional drivers exacerbates the problem. Moving the TT driver to the back puts it at the CG of the loco and leaves 2 other sets of drivers for electrical pickup.

The loco below will pull 15 cars up a 2% grade without slipping. I have one with weight added that can pull close to 30 cars.

Here is what it can look like....

The dog bones / drive cups have nothing to do with it. They don't move with the trucks. The only thing that rotates with the truck is the gear that contacts the worm. It looks like pretty fine pitch from the parts listing. My guess is the mesh doesn't have enough play to allow for the misalignment when the truck rotates.  In the direction of bind, the worm is pinching the worm gear.

An easy solution, something that I found worked on the early Atlas VO-1000's that nobody liked was to bend up the pickup tabs slightly to help lift the frame off the truck a bit. This loosened up the mesh and made the loco 100% quieter. It may work in this situation.

IF it needs more than that, take a small file and remove some of the material where the truck clips in to allow it to fall a little farther away from the worm.

Which Zephyr do you have? If it is a Zephyr Xtra, you don't need a programing booster as this model has it built in.

Try programing on the main in paged mode.  Make sure you remove all other locos from the main or they will be programmed to the same address. If that doesn't work, then try the resistor across the rails on the program track. If you have a Zephyr Xtra, that should not be needed though.

Quote from: TJ on March 23, 2014, 11:20:07 AM

Quote from: skipgear on March 15, 2014, 08:54:45 PM
Bachmann doesn't make anything that takes drop in decoders so you are looking at something like a DZ125, DN135 from digirax or any of the other small solder in decoders from your brand of choice.

Wish they -BACHMANN-  would produce a loco which could take either a drop in Decoder or a hard wire, as they do now. However I prefer the drop in decoders better  mainly due to the ease of them!  

           TJ

The SD45 is from over 10 years ago. At the time just having DCC compatability was pretty nice. Now everything from Bachmann worth owning comes with DCC from the factory so they aren't really worried about others making decoders for their product.

Remove the existing decoder.

Yes, always use the capacitor if you have room for it.

I haven't used a Tsunami but I have done a Digitrax with good success. Tsunami doesn't have any decoders with a correct whistle sound for an EM-1.

Bachmann doesn't make anything that takes drop in decoders so you are looking at something like a DZ125, DN135 from digirax or any of the other small solder in decoders from your brand of choice.