I recently purchased a Bachmann 2-8-4 which has in it their decoder. I am not too sure how reliable it is but it does seem to be a little limited. Has anyone replaced one of these - which is what I am thinking should be done at some time in the future.
There's never time to do it right, but always time to do it over.....
After I test-ran my Berkshire with the stock decoder to prove that it would run, I removed it and replaced it with an NCE D13SRP I had on hand. Now it runs more like my other locomotives.
Pretty much any decoder with an eight-pin NMRA-style plug will fit.
-Fritz Milhaupt, Publications Editor, Pere Marquette Historical Society, Inc.http://www.pmhistsoc.org
I haven't heard of any problems or failures of the default decoders. I believe that they are scaled down lenz decoders, which aren't too bad
Springfield PA
There is a good assortment of decoders available. Check the different decoder manufactures. Look at Tony's Trains. Make sure the decoder has BEMF, sometimes called, Back-EMF.
If you buy from ebay, be careful. You can sometimes get good buys but you have to know specs and prices.
I buy a lot of model railroad stuff off of ebay.
Do a Google search for the different dcc names. Store the sites in Favorites. Do some homework and usually you will not go wrong.
That way you can contribute to the model railroad community in the future.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
Couple of issues with the Bachmann non-sound decoders (and reliability doesn;t usually seem to be one of them). Mainly, they aren't 'silent running' or 'supersonic' and can be a bit 'buzzy'. This is probably done so they work with the capacitors and chokes Bachmann puts on their locos to reduce tv and radio interference. With a low frequency drive decoder they hardly get in the way, but with a good high frequency decoder or even a PWM DC control they do. Clipping the capacitors is sufficient, they are parallel to the motor so opening the leads won't block power to the motor. The chokes are in series with the motor, they'd have to be bypassed with jumper wires, not just clipped off. Just getting rid of the capacitors though seems to do the trick as it alters the resonant frequecy of the overall circuit such that typical motor drive frequencies don't get interfered with (this sentence for those interested in a slightly more technical explanation other than "cut them off").
The low end Bachmann decoders are also missing some features that you may or may not want when it comes to speed matching and motor control.
In short, clipping the capacitors and using a better quality decoder (and the NCE D13SR decoders usually cost LESS than what Bachmann sells their decoders for!) will result in noticeably improved performance. Move up to a BEMF decoder like a TCS T-1 and the slow speed creeping ability will amaze you.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.