Quote from: bapguy on August 21, 2014, 09:42:20 AM
Try a decoder reset: a value of 8 in CV8. You need to recycle the power to the loco after you program it: either turn the power off to the track or lift the loco to one side so all 4 wheels are off the track. Wait 10 seconds or so and put the loco back on the track. If the reset took, the head lights should blink several times. CV29 can be changed by itself. Go to Tony's Train Exchange web site and in the middle towards the bottom is a list for CV29.  Hope this helps.  Joe

Thanks a lot. The engines are running fine now. It is a hardware incompatibility between the Intellibox II and the Tsumani decoders that result in some unpredictable side effects. I learned to change CV1 best not on the programming track but on the main track.

Quote from: bapguy on August 20, 2014, 05:01:47 PM
When changing the address, did the loco jerk a little? If not the command to the decoder did not take. What DCC system do you use? Tsunamis can be tricky to change the address on. Try a test: does the loco move on the new address?  If no it didn't take. You have to have the loco address on the throttle to work the functions for that loco.  Joe

The loco jerk fine. Just as I am used to it. In some cases only one little step sometimes 4 or 5 steps over 2". That looks as usual to me. It did also take the new address in each case. Just some other CVs might have been effected too.
CV1 = 5 changes "something" I could not find but the lights are off. CV1 = 1 resets the low order bit of CV 29. That is easy to find :-)
I assume the Uhlenbrock Intellibox II (a German product) is not designed to work with Tsunami decoders. It is pure luck I can read and write most CVs without problems.

Thanks a lot for restoring the original posting.

Further testing shows side effects when changing CV1.
CV1 = 1 clears the low order bit of CV29 (reverse direction).

That might be a problem between the decoder and my DCC controller (Intellibox II)
or
Tsunami has some special CV1 rules unknown to me. I could not find information in that area in the tech. reference and users guide.

btw. CV 49 and 50 are preset with values of 142 and 141. I would have expected 130 or 131 (LED + Rule17 (+ on/off)).

I have got my first Bachmann Value Sound engine today (GP7 B&M). It is a great running engine but it has one very unusual DCC problem.
The front and rear lights (CV 33,34) are simply not functioning at all if the address is not 3 (CV 1).

I can not imagine any logical relation between the F0 output controls and the decoder address.

Further testing shows even more strange results. Changing CV1 changes some other CVs too. e.g. the low bit in CV 29. May be my Intellibox II is not fully compatible to Tsunami programming specs?

How about some marking only visible under ultraviolet light. Expensive oriental rugs get marked that way at the underside.

It is helpful to reduce the rattle of the shell. I did glue the weight inside the top of the long hood and glued extra lead under the roof. I did also glue the cab and the hood together into one pice.

Another topic are the trucks. You should completely disassemble them, put some light grease on the axle of the tooth wheels and assemble them very carefully. The plastic is very soft and you should not turn the screws to tight.

However, do not expect to get another Bachmann drive like they are found in the 45ton switcher....

Ich have a bunch of them because I planned to model the Modesto and Empire but gave up due to the extreme noisy 70ton switcher.

First step is to replace the DCC decoder with a better one (I used Zimo MX630 from Austria). The best you can reach is about the level of noisy of a bad performing old Athearn blue box drive. The is no way to get up to the level of P2K or Kato or even Atlas.
The way how the drive is constructed prohibits a precise and quiet interaction of the components. The worm gear must have far to much play by design.
I did search the internet intense to find possible solutions or circumventions by replacing parts or the entire drive but had absolute no success. You will find a lot of complains about the noise but no technical solution.
Sorry for the unsatisfactory answer....

Working on it and waiting for CN bells, CN ditch light, CN marker lights, CN decals ....

You are both so very right and I do not object at all. In fact I am very pleased with the model. The drive is at the given price superb and the RR specific details of the shell are not to be expected. I love the Bachmann models with their excellent price performance.

It is just the separate installed dynamic break roof part. I am very sure Bachmann has a roof with and without dynamic breaks for the generic GP38-2 shell. They did just clip the wrong one on the CN painted one.

And non, I do take it really personally. I may have missed one smily 

My two CN GP38-2 #4723 arrived today. The models are very smooth runner
I did start to think about the changes necessary for the CN specific details. Things like bell, front light in the hood etc. until I had a look at the roof! Bachmann put the roof section with dynamic breaks on the model!

Why did you do that to me Couldn't you have a short look at the prototype and snap the other roof without dynamic breaks on that very model? It is a lot of sanding to get the breaks of the roof and the surface will never be a perfect match

After all the tries and frustration last night I did think again what is the difference between the 44ton (a noisy drive) and the 70ton drive (an awful noisy drive)? It is  that the 44ton truck can swing and turn while the 70ton truck can also slip forward and backward and to some degree up and downward.
An Evergreen strip #104 (0.010 * 0.080) stopped the for- and backward move and reduced the noise by some degree. The 70ton noise is now down to the 44ton noise level.

I had a look at the trucks and the drive of the 44 ton switcher. the design is identical to the 70 ton switcher. However, the trucks are much more fixed. They have no horizontal or vertical mash. They can only rotate and swing. The top gear is not damaged at all by the worm.
I checked the measure of both trucks (44 and 70 ton) and the bodies but could not find remarkable differences. At a last try I installed the 44 ton trucks in the 70 ton switcher. That works fine but the noise is not reduced even they have a tighter fit at least does the metal worm not slip and destroy in the gear.
The 70 ton trucks with the damaged gear got installed in the 44 ton switcher. The 44 ton switcher runs as it does before. Not quiet but with acceptable noise.
May be I should consider it a helpless situation and my four 70 ton switcher noisy toys not useful for a model layout
Bachmann has made great progress with the drives in the new GP7/9 units. I hope they will rework the 70 (and possibly 44) tons drives some time too.

Like so many of us did I spend another evening with my little friends and tried to teach them to stop screaming on the layout.

I think it can not be stopped because the worm drive is designed in a way that the gear wheel and the worm do not have a fixed defined engagement. The truck is semi free swinging in all three dimensions. I can see severe damage at the top plastic gear wheel caused by the metal worm when the distance becomes to great. You can force that situation if you put only one truck on the rails and let the motor run. The free truck will fall down and partially disengage from the worm. Some of my engines disengage completely in that case. The top gear wheel is close to completely damaged in that engines.

Two and a half years later I am stuck with the same problem. I need to remove the handrails but all gently methods failed so far.
Is there a proven method how to remove very solid glued handrails on three GE 70 ton switchers?

I could not resist and kept my Bachmann GP9 / Corman GP9 roster growing I will spend the next time adding details.
The first impression of the smooth drive is also true for the new machines. They are smooth runners too. An excellent job of drive construction and manufacturing at affordable cost!