Quote from: Greg Elmassian on February 13, 2023, 01:08:15 PMI do believe that the OEM soundtraxx board did not have a chuff input either, but I could be in error.

Greg

Greg

There are three different soundtraxx boards Bachmann has used in its LS locomotives.  I was for Thomas, another was for the 3 truck shay.  Neither of these has the pins for the socket.

The one sold in the newer Climax is equipped with the pins, plugs into the socket, can control the various locomotive functions, and uses the optical chuff that is inside the the locomotive.

Note I would definitely not use this board in the new Dash9 as it has 4 motors and I do not believe this board was designed for that load.

Same comment goes for the Phoenix board.  Good for smaller locomotives but I do not believe it was designed for 4 motor locomotives.

Stan

Ted

There are four DCC boards that are truly plug and play.  I define this as being able to simply plug into the socket and all functions are of the locomotive can function with no wiring.

Zimo has one that is currently in the market MX697V and MV697S
Phoenix has one  SM18 but they list it as currently out of stock
Bachmann used one in its Climax that can be found in the parts department.  It is a Soundtraxx OEM board
QSI had one but it is no longer in the market.

With the release of the Dash 9 Several manufacturers have indicated plans to introduce a DCC or RC version but as of February 2023 non have been officially anounced.

Partial plug in play

Revolution Train Engineer has one that plugs in and supports the motor.  It has sound but no chuff control that i am aware of.  The functions on the J2 side and the smoke can be controllded by soldering into the solder connections on the Bachmann Main board and plugging them into the revolution board.

Screw terminal boards.

All Bachmann locomotives that have the socket also come with a plug in play board with wires.  The only criteria is that the item you are plugging into the socket has both a + and a ground connection.  You simply attach the wires on the Bachmann plug in board with the screw terminals on the board you wish to use.

Hope that helps.

Stan

Nev

The new 4-6-0 locomotive has an optical chuff that is on the first axle.



The optical sensor is interupted each time one of the twangs on the axle passes through.  This provided a chuff that in square.

At the socket the chuff pin goes to ground  for each chuff.

Hope that helps

Stan

Stan

Sorry I have been busy lately.  Surprised no one else answered your question. While new to the big hauler line this coupler type has been used in every LS Spectrum locomotive for almost 15 years.

Each  of the latest 4-6-0 locomotives sold new has the coupler installed and the high one in a parts bag.   The Spectrum line has the high one installed and the low one in a parts bag. The shafts on the 4-6-0 are the same only the head is different and the head simply screws on.  The couplers on any previous version of the 4-6-0 are truck mounted rather then body mounted so they will not work on the new 4-6-0 version


The Kadee replacement is the #916.  However to me the #916 tends to be a little low.

A head from any of the sprectrum rolling stock will also work.  Bachmann used to sell these but I could not find them  on the site so they must be out.

I have not converted mine yet but on many of the bachmann locomotives I replace the bachmann ones with a #906.  A little more work but I tend to like the slack provided by the 906 line.


Hope that helps

Stan

Sorry I have been busy lately.  Surprised no one else answered your question. While new to the big hauler line this coupler type has been used in every LS Spectrum locomotive for almost 15 years.

Each  of the latest 4-6-0 locomotives sold new has the coupler installed and the high one in a parts bag.   The Spectrum line has the high one installed and the low one in a parts bag. The shafts on the 4-6-0 are the same only the head is different and the head simply screws on.  The couplers on any previous version of the 4-6-0 are truck mounted rather then body mounted so they will not work on the new 4-6-0 version


The Kadee replacement is the #916.  However to me the #916 tends to be a little low.

A head from any of the sprectrum rolling stock will also work.  Bachmann used to sell these but I could not find them  on the site so they must be out.

I have not converted mine yet but on many of the bachmann locomotives I replace the bachmann ones with a #906.  A little more work but I tend to like the slack provided by the 906 line.


Hope that helps

Stan

The web site for the NELSTS is now live.

https://www.nelsts.org/

They also have a video of the new Dash-9 at

https://www.nelsts.org/latest-news.php

The show is a friday saturday show.  On Sunday several large scale layouts in the NE will also be open.


Stan

If you are refering to DCC plus sound then Zimo and Phoenix are the only current out of the box plug and play production boards.

Using the dummy plug with wires almost all the DCC+ sound boards can be wired up so that they also are plug and play.

If you are refering to RC plus sound I believe there are a few others in the market that simply plug in.

Hope that helps

Stan

Bill

The new 4-6-0 has an entirely dirrerent chassis so should be labeler as a version 7 rather then a 6A.  There is a whole new gear box, a pittman motor and the front axle has a new chuff sensor.

Stan

Let me try.

Are you sure that the other Shay is not a Climax?  Sprectrum locomotives produced post the K27 had a socket installed and this socket has the 4 switches you mention.  The switches for the Climax are behind the sand boxes at thre rear of the fuel bunker.

The 3 truck shay was I believe the first Bachmann large scale locomotive that came with DCC and Sound from the factory and this was proiduced pre the socket and only has the two switches behind the smokwbox door.  I do not believe the 2 truck shays ever came with DCC and sound but I may be mistaken. 

Hope that helps

Stan

Quote from: Greg Elmassian on March 20, 2021, 10:33:22 PM
Stan, did you read the thread?...

I already posted the manual, and how does a German manual for a Lenz decoder help a guy with a Bachmann?

Page 3 has wiring for the Lenz 230 decoder, nothing Bachmann.

Greg   

The Bachmann wiring instructions show the DCC wiring configuration Bachmann outside frame 2-8-0 when using the board.  However unfortunately it uses a Lenz 230 decoder and shows what 2-8-0 wire goes into which LE230 screw terminal.  However it does not say what these wires are for.  Yes you can figure it out but it is not obvious.  The diagram in the lenz manual shows the purpose of each wire which makes it easier to determine track motor and function wires.

Stan

The DCC suggested wiring in contained on page 5 of the followinf link.

https://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/dwg/dwgs/81294.pdf

I have always kept the bachmann board in because it controls the smoke unit and the firebox flickr.

The instructions are a little hard to understand because they refer to a specific lenz decoder rather then identify what each wire is for.

If you have problems understanding the diagram just ask

There is a diagram of the specific wiring for this decoder on page 3 of this german manual which might help understand the bachmann DCC wiring suggestion

https://www.lenz-elektronik.de/src/pdf/b_10230.pdf

Hope that helps

Stan

For the drive shaft issue.  If the shaft is a solit piece, you can unscrew the part going into the rear truck and grind down the gear so that only the front truck is driving the mechanism.

The other tips on Georges site are excellent.

Stan

Nymark

Bachmann has made great strides in the overall quality of its locomotives over the years.

The origional 2-8-0 is an outside frame locomotive which means you see the counterweights.  It was manufacturered in the 2000s.

The most common problem is the axle gear which failed frequently.  A few years ago Bachmann produced an axle with a brass gear which solves this issue.

The motor in this locomotive is also rather small for such a large locomotive.  There are instructions included for DCC conversion and it is not difficult but is does require a little work.

The C-19 is a much more recient production and is perhaps the best locomotive produced by any manufacturer.  It has a powerful large Pittman motor and brass gears.

The locomotive has great pulling power and also has a plug and play board in it for easy DCC or RC conversion.

We have both in use on our railway,  The ourside frame 2-8-0s are for the most part yard locomotives while the C-19s are road locomotives.

Hope that helps

Stan

The product numbers for the 2nd generation climax were 85093 to 85098 for the non sound version and 86091 to 86098 for the version with the DCC sound decoder installed.

The current and old catalogs can be found here

https://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/catalogs_brochures.php

For example, if you look in the 2006 catalog you will see the Gen 1 Climax locomotives.  The 2015 catalog has the 2nd gen models.

Hope that helps

Stan

The 81180 is a first gen Climax.  If can be converted to DCC but it is a lot more work then the 2nd gen Climax which has a plug and play socket.

The first gen also had several other issues.

http://www.girr.org/girr/tips/tips5/climax_tips.html

The above URL has a good description of the various issues and work arounds for the 1st gen Climax  all of these were fixed in the second release.

The 2nd gen is a much better locomotive.

Its easy to tell them apart.  Look at the coal bunker.  The 2nd gen has a much taller coal bunker to provide room for the DCC sound decoder (if so equipped)

Hope that helps

Stan