DCC Equipped Sante Fe GP40

[TomKat]

Hello All, I recently purchased a DCC equipped GP40 to run with my EZ Command. The engine runs good, but growls really hard on start or on very slow operation. Track has just been cleaned and still growls. Any clues?~TomKat

[Jim Banner]

Because they are designed to meet worldwide requirements, Bachmann locomotives have radio frequency interference suppression capacitors across their motors.  And because they have these capacitors, Bachmann uses non-silent decoders which, as you have observed, are noisy under certain conditions.  There are two solutions - either remove the capacitors and replace the built in decoder with a silent one or learn to ignore the noise.  Personally, I do not find the noise all that objectionable - real diesels tend to make noise, lots of noise, particularly when starting up a heavy train.

[Yampa Bob]

The more I run my GP40s, the quieter they become.   When I get a new one, I run it for about an hour, forward and backward, varying the speeds at intervals.

Bob

[TomKat]

Thanks gentlemen, I appreciate the input.~TomKat

[hgcHO]

TomKat,  An old friend just gave me an SO40-2 that had been sitting around in a closet for 20 some years.  Talk about "but growls really hard on start or on very slow operation" as yours did.   This one sure does - suspect some light oil and running it for a while will help. 

[TomKat]

If it growls like my wife, it must really be loud!~TomKat

[hgcHO]

It can be heard in the next room.  And is slow in operation.  Nothing a little oil and and time on the track will not fix.