Only a month and you are geting impatient?

I  purchased one with sound and DCC in December 06 and it arrived last week. I was told the sound ones are not available at Bachmann and I was sent one without sound or DCC.

Lots of luck.

Quote from: TOC 
Dang.
Obviously you do not read the R reviews nor the links provided.

What R reviews? Where? and Links?

Quote from: TOC 
Did you properly terminate the wires to the circuit board?

Ahh? WHAT?

Quote from: TOC 
Do you understand that running the loco on R-1 short-coupled can break u-joints (and parts not available)?

Seems Obvious, but then I don't have any R1 curves, so no worry.

Quote from: TOC 
I suppose now you'll complain because the tender shell and frame are not free to flop around on the truck, just because the video shows it.
I'll let you figure out how to modify the truck so it flops (and it's permanent) and then never be able to back a train.

Actually, I was wondering why, in the video,  the tender jerked and learched. I had decided it had to be on some very bad track or something. I'm glad to hear that my Shay won't be floping arround like in the video.

Thanks for the good news.

Quote from: TOC 

Now, based upon previous postings where you indicate you won't buy anything you have to remove from the track and turn over, I hesitate to say this:

Take loco off the track and turn it over.

Remove #2 truck.
Remove drawbar cover.
Reverse drawbar.
Re-assemble.

And, remember they did that drawbar that way on purpose.

OK, so then the only solution is to drill a new hole.  Assuming of course, that NOT using R1 is the only reason that one should NOT close couple. Again, everything is R5 or larger.  Any other NO NOs with close coupling?

I got two water pipes to go between the loco and tender. A long one and a short one. The long one fits.

The DVD shows connecting the tender closer to the loco in the second hole of the draw bar.

OK, so where is the second hole. Do I take the draw-bar out and turn it around? Are there two holes on the other end I can't see? Or is there an alternate one in the parts bag I'm overlooking?

B0B

My Shay came with Bachmann couplers installed, and inside the box is a pair of LGB style hook and loop couplers. I figured the easiest way to install Kadees for now, is to use the ones with the large offset. You know, the ones where you unbolt the hook and loop and bolt on the Kadee.

Later, I'll figure out which coupler I really need.

Well, I tried to figure out how to put the hook and loops on the Shay, and they don't fit the existing metal piece that extends out from the truck, the part the Bachmann knuckle attached to. I though maybe I have to turn that part over, but no, it has a pin and is keyed to go on only one way. I looked in the bags of extras, don't see anything there.

So, First question about couplers is, HOW DO YOU MOUNT THE HOOK AND LOOPS THAT BACHMANN PROVIDED?

B0B

Probably right.
Read my smoke post.
So I need 12 volts for the smoke.
and a resistor will do for the cab light.
So, the regulator is not needed.
Don't know what all those big capacitors are for, but without a regulator, well, they are potential land fill. I assume that when I disconnect the wires and plug to install the Tsunami, all that stuff is disconnected completely. (got to check that)

Diodes, What are all those for? Two would do for the directional lights. Four of them were to supply DC constant polarity the regulator. So, they are potential land fill.


The board stays, it has all those wires from the trucks and the plug to the tender. And besides, IT HAS SCREW TERMINALS for the track and motor. but, if they did this board like Aristo, it will be nude when I'm done with it.

OK, the smoke unit presented a challenge and I accepted it.

Took it out.
Connected it to variable supply and meter.
At 6.5 volts it does not even get warm enough to feel the heat when I touch the bare coil
Raised to 12 volts. A little more smoke now but the coil is not glowing and there is no percolation effect through the center tube. The smoke is still hardly visible. At 16 volts, still no more smoke and the coils is starting to glow.

Then I saw a problem.
The only smoke generated was coming from the outside of the tube where the surfave of the oil was touching the coil.
The center tube is smashed closed at the top. No smoke was coming out of the tube.


I used a thumb tack to try to open it up. Managed to get it opened a little but still no luck.

I pulled out the center tube and after fighting it for a while, I managed to get the inner rod out of the tube. (The inner rod looks to be an extra fine piece of mechanical pencil lead and is used to create the capillary action to lift the oil into the tube.)

I sanded away the collapsed part of the top of the tube and got a fine wire to pass through the tube.

I left just enough of the crip at the top of the tube so that the inner rod would not be blown out throught the top of the tube when the oil is percolating.

I inserted the rod into the bottom of the tube. Then, I inserted the tube through the clear insulator and nichrome coil into the white cup, pressing it firmly onto the sloted hole in the botton of the cup.

I Applied 7 volt, still no percolation up through the tube.
At 9 volts I got a little percolation and much more smoke , but still not as much as in the video.

I raised the voltage to 12 volts. Perfect, I now have as much as is seen in the video.

I turned out the lights, the coil was not glowing. Raised the voltage until the nichrome wire started to glow a little. (17 volts) This did not increase the smoke volume as the tube was probably too hot and the oil was just being blown through. It was splattering unused (un-burned) oil. I lowered the voltage to 12 and everything seems to be percolating at about the normal rate I've seen on other working smoke generators.

I emptied the white cup,waited till the smoke stopped and put 5 drops of oil in. I repeated this experiment at 1 volt increments between 10 and 16 volts. I decided that 12 to 13 volts provides a reasonable amount of smoke. 14 volts produces very little more but produces some oil splattering. 15 volts produces no more smoke than 14 but uses up the ten drops of oil in half the time.

Now all I need to do is connect it to a function output I can control the voltage on, and set the voltage at the generator to somewhere around 12 or 13 volts.

Problem solved. Thanks for the help.

That is great smoke!. 
I'm not even getting 1% of that.

One has to stare at mine for a while to see even a whiff.
On the good side. with the unit 1/4 full, it lasts a full day. And then some.

Earlier I said:

Quote from: bobgrosh on November 29, 2007, 10:54:05 PM
... Now, what is the "two terminal screw connector", J3 for?
Terminal J3-6 has a white wire in it , J3-5 has nothing in it. There is no indication as to what this does on either drawing. It is shown the same on both drawings and matches the loco. It looks like an "option jumper", move the white wire from  6 to 5 to accomplish something. But what?

Upon further investigation, I found that removing the white wire from J3-6 will remove the power from the smoke generator WITHOUT REMOVING POWER FROM THE CAB LIGHT!

Also, connecting the white wire to a decoder function output allows independent control of the smoke via a button on the handheld. The brown wire will control the cab light and the white wire will control the smoke. (Side note: I set a qualifier for the white wire function so it only comes on when the loco is moving so the generator will not run dry while sitting on a siding should I forget to turn it off via the front switch. This really means I no longer have to bother with the smokebox door at all. Just leave the switch on and forget it.)

Great job Bachmann, but why is this handy feature a secret?
Now, what does the screw terminal next to it (J3-5) do?

SMOKE!
Or lack of it.

From 9 to 22 volts DC on the rails I get about 6.5 volts on the two pink wires. With the smoke switch on, and the provided smoke fluid, I sometimes get a whiff of smoke out the short stack or the cabbage stack. I get no smoke from the big stack. Smoke does accumulate in the bottom third of the big stack but it never fills up the hollow stack and exits the top.

I've tried starting with just a few drops of Bachmann smoke fluid on the heating element and added a few drops at a time until the reservoir was nearly full. The amount of fluid makes no difference, nor does the track voltage once the voltage is above 10 volts DC. I made my observations with the motor switch in the center position so the lights and smoke were on with the loco stationary. Compared to other locos I'd say this one just does NOT smoke.

According to the connection diagram, the cab light and smoke generator are both supplied by a voltage regulator.

The cab light is so dim that one has to raise the cab roof hatch to see the actual bulb to tell if it is on. When on, the filament itself glows with an orange glow but does not produce enough light to illuminate the inside of the cab, even in a dark room.

With the track switch in the center position to disable the motor, the headlight, reverse light, and cab light come on. With the smoke switch OFF, I measured the current draw with 20 volts on the rails. I measured it again with the smoke switch ON. The difference was about 45 ma. I got the same difference when I repeated the measurements with 12 volts on the rails.
From the above I concluded that the smoke unit draws about 45 ma. Compared to other 5 volt regulated smoke units that I've measured this is very low. Most brands of smoke units draw from 100 to 250 ma.

There is a unused screw terminal on J3. It is not used at all for DC or DCC according to the connection diagrams. There is a white jumper from the board to the other terminal on J3, there is a three volt difference between the two terminals. Is it possible that this is a course adjustment for the voltage regulator. Will moving the jumper increase the voltage to the smoke unit and cab light? Just wondering, as there does not seem to be any other adjustment or option jumpers on the board.



Is there some easy way to increase the output voltage of the regulator to provide a little more smoke and light in the cab.

B0B

I connected an ohm meter to the two blue wires. I disconnected the drive shaft from the front truck so I could rotate the drive chain.

Obviously, the blue wires are not chuff triggers, because they only close three times per revolution. Chuff contacts would close 6 times per revolution. They may have someting to go with determining the speed of the loco with some cards but are totally useless for generating a chuff.

OK, Thanks TOC

So those have no voltage on them, just go to dry contacts. Great! I assume it creates six interuptions per revolution of the drive shaft?

Now, what is the "two terminal screw connector", J3 for?
Terminal J3-6 has a white wire in it , J3-5 has nothing in it. There is no indication as to what this does on either drawing. It is shown the same on both drawings and matches the loco. It looks like an "option jumper", move the white wire from  6 to 5 to accomplish something. But what?

Quote from: Curmudgeon on November 23, 2007, 12:47:44 AM
...One other item that is very odd.
You said:
"I Purchased a 82699 Spectrum 55Ton 3-Truck Shay w/DCC & Sound, Unlettered. for the same price as West Side Lumber co #4. I paid $120.00 MORE for the shay than any of the other shays, which come without sound. My receipt shows the price and the part number and specifically says BACH 82699 Unlettered three truck Shay w/DCC & Sound. I could have gotten any of four other three truck shays from the same dealer for $120.00 less without sound or DCC. I did not want one of those."

Yet, the Product page on these very forums says:
"Scale, Category: Large Scale - Steam Locomotives
Item No.: 82699
Name: DCC Sound-Equipped 55 Ton Three-Truck Shay
Roadname: Painted Unlettered - Black with Red & White Trim "

Therefore, I would bet you are making a mountain out of a molehill.
I would guess the Shay you get will be on-board dcc/sound equippped.

So, instead of letting the sky fall, let's see what happens when it arrives.

The sky has fallen

IT GOT HERE TODAY

Yep. I ordered an 82699 WITH DCC and Sound
I got a 82499 NO DCC and sound.. NADA, NONE.

Opened it up and checked. no speaker, no sound card.

Now, going by the included drawings I can see tis is going to be a challenge.

First question... What are the two long blue wires coming up out of the floor of the fuel bunker. They are not connected to anything, they are about a foot long, have no connector, have not been tinned or striped. There is no mention of them on either the DCC or DC Wiring Connection drawing. (G824X-IS007 or

Quote from: Curmudgeon on November 23, 2007, 01:49:27 AM
Well, if you want to talk Kays, look n the product pages on this website.
You will see they have now list.....THE K-27, #464:

Scale, Category: Large Scale - Steam Locomotives
Item No.: 83094
Name: K-27 Steam Locomotive
Roadname: Rio GrandeTM #464


and no others.
So, what does that mean?

Hmmm.

Well, with my luck, it probably means the one I ordered:

BAC83098 Spectrum 2-8-2 K-27 (1:20.3 Scale), Black with Green Boiler Unlettered

will come with a red boiler and flashing LED's down the side and arrive December 25th 2020.

Quote from: Snoq. Pass RR on November 23, 2007, 12:56:47 AM
If you have the receipt, then go back to the dealer and tell them you want the correct locomotive.

That conversation is over. the DCC sound locos are not available. it was this one or none at all.

And, I suspect you are right, the third choice is the most likely, however, if it was Bachmann that sent the wrong locos to the dealer, I figure I should at least call Bachmann and give them an opportunity to correct the problem if they can.  Maybe they can direct me to someone who has one with sound and wants to swap if I pay the difference. I guess that could wait until the loco actually arrives. In the mean time, I may as well order another 2K2. If I don't need it for the Shay, I can always use it in the K27. I just hope I'm not still on this forum a year from now trying to find out where my Kay is.

Quote from: Curmudgeon on November 22, 2007, 11:26:27 PM
Let me get this straight.
The thread is titled: "How to add DCC and sound to the three truck shay."
And, I feel your pain.
However, if you PAID for a Quasinami, then the issue is with your dealer.
However, if you simply paid a hundred bucks MORE for the non-sound unit, well, PT Barnum must be smiling.

To keep the record straight.

I Purchased a 82699 Spectrum 55Ton 3-Truck Shay w/DCC & Sound, Unlettered. for the same price as West Side Lumber co #4. I paid $120.00 MORE for the shay than any of the other shays, which come without sound. My receipt shows the price and the part number and specifically says BACH 82699 Unlettered three truck Shay w/DCC & Sound. I could have gotten any of four other three truck shays from the same dealer for $120.00 less without sound or DCC. I did not want one of those.

As to who's fault it is, that is not important to me. The dealer claims they got the wrong shays and that the shay I ordered is not available. That is good enough for me.

One of three things will happen.
(1) Bachmann will say they may have sent the wrong shays to the dealer and find a sound card  and send it to me at no charge. Possibly, they may, as you say have a DCC equipped shay and swap it with mine, that way they would have a salable loco.

(2) Bachmann will say they are not responsible and that the dealer made a mistake and find a card and sell it to me.

(3) Bachmann  will say one or the other but, as you say, they do not have a replacement card or replacement loco so can't help me at all. In which case, I will need to buy some other sound card and decoder. SUCH IS LIFE.

Regardless, I will, as the subject of this post states, need to know if the wiring is in place, and how to do the job. The three truck Shay WILL have DCC and sound one way or the other. It's not like there aren't plenty of other choices out there for decoders and sound cards. As long as I don't have to tear the whole thing apart and re wire the trucks, fabricate parts, drill all sorts of holes, and then try to reassemble the darn thing, I'm happy. Sometimes you discover you paid more than you could have had you only known... but that is something you chalk up to experience.
As long as I get a Shay that runs good, looks good and sounds good, I'm happy, even if it cost me a little more than I COULD have paid if this was a perfect world.