I am a super novice and bought a U33C Atlas on Ebay for a screaming deal--supposedly new and it appears it is. I do not have DCC and can't really handle the $160 to pick up a digitrax zephyr system--possibly for a while. Taking the engine shell off I can see the decoder wrapped in tape and plugged in with the 8 pin plug. My thought was I could unplug this 8-pin plug and run it on DC but I worry about breaking something and have tryed to unplug the 8-pin but it seems pretty permanent. I don't want to drop $160 to find out I have an engine that works or doesn't work and don't want to damage the very nice engine I have. Am I going down the right path---any suggestions?
Sauer_Power I am a super novice and bought a U33C Atlas on Ebay for a screaming deal--supposedly new and it appears it is. I do not have DCC and can't really handle the $160 to pick up a digitrax zephyr system--possibly for a while. Taking the engine shell off I can see the decoder wrapped in tape and plugged in with the 8 pin plug. My thought was I could unplug this 8-pin plug and run it on DC but I worry about breaking something and have tryed to unplug the 8-pin but it seems pretty permanent. I don't want to drop $160 to find out I have an engine that works or doesn't work and don't want to damage the very nice engine I have. Am I going down the right path---any suggestions?
That locomotive comes from the factory to just plop it down on your DC track and go. No need to take it apart or disconnect anything. Did you try to run it DC?
Is this an HO U33C? I didn't think that this originally came with a decoder. I thought it came with an 8-pin socket and a dummy plug. See http://www.atlasrr.com/pdf/PartsPDFs/HOU33C.pdf. If this is the case, you should be able to pop the decoder male plug out of the 8-pin socket. It might be tight, but you should be able to remove the plug by prying up on it from below (between the plug and the socket). If you do this, try to work your way around the plug a little at a time. Don't try to pop it loose by prying from only one point. You'll then need to get yourself a dummy plug to replace the decoder. It is item 850121 on Atlas' part drawing.
As far a running it on DC as it comes goes, some decoders will not mind that, but other decoders will get "confused".
I have DCC. I bought an Athearn DCC ready engine with an 8 pin DC jumper plug in it.
Unless you are assured it is a DCC equiped loco,That is probably what you have. You should not have to remove the DC jumper plug at all if you want to do is run it on DC.
On the other hand, I have had a big problem trying to remove the 8 pin DC jumper plug to plug in the 8 pin DCC decoder I bought for it {for fear of breaking something or strip a wire or two}, so getting the plug unpugged seems to be a problem. You, however, should have to do nothing but run it until/unless you want to convert it to DCC.
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
Thanks for your post. Yes, I tried it and got nothing and my old DC engine runs with no problems.....
The dummy plug is in the styrofoam so I have it. I will give it another whirl. The challenge is not to be a bull in a china shop. Thanks for your post, very insightful and much appreciated!!!
I don't think any of us posters know what the OP has, DCC ready or DCC installed or what he actually did when he took the shell off. There shouldn't be so much trouble especially with an Atlas. OP did you by chance read the instructions? There really shouldn't be any challenge!
The seller failed to include any instructions around the DCC so maybe an earlier post was correct that the DCC was added to the unit. I agree it seems simple but me the novice has to execute........I am in process of working on it.
Simply pry the decoder plug up out of the socket being careful not to bend pins for later use. Make sure the dummy plug goes into socket straight, watch all 8 pins as You install it,take Your time it's easier than You think.
Kudos to you all and Maxman especially!!! I had to call in the reinforcements and someone with better fingernails (my wife) and she got the pin out and the dummy pin in and it works on my DCC. Yes very simple in the end but execution called for better skills.........
Glad it worked out for you. Bet it felt good to see the engine run. As far as I know, that engine never came with a decoder. Take a look at the box it came in. If there was originally a decoder, the box should have a statement that the engine was so equipped. It probably just says that the engine is DCC ready or DCC plug equipped, or some other such words.
Regarding the decoder that came with the engine, some of the other posters stated that the engine should run on DC as well as DCC. This may or may not be the case. I have a couple engines with decoders that don't like DC at all. This probably is due to the fact that the DC layout where I tried to run them has some DC throttles that apparently have some sort of AC component to the DC power that confuses the decoders. The engines will not consistently run in the same direction, or will suddenly change direction if there is a momentary power interruption.
There are some decoders that apparently will run okay on DC. But you should know that most of these have a user adjustable setting (called a CV when you start looking into DCC) that allows you to determine if the decoder will run DC/DCC or DCC only. It's possible that the previous owner set the decoder to run DCC only. If this was the case, the engine would not run on DC and you would have no way of making a change until you got your own DCC system.
I suggest that while you're waiting for your fingernails to grow, or at least until your wife stops gloating, you take a look at the decoder and see who made it. Most of the decoder suppliers have copies of their instruction manuals on their websites that you can download. You'll probably want that someday, so might as well do it ahead of time. Alternately, you can try to contact the person that you bought the engine from and ask what decoder was used, or if he has the instructions. If you can get this information you'll be ahead of the game.
Regards
Sauer_PowerI am a super novice and bought a U33C Atlas on Ebay for a screaming deal--
EBAY ATLAS U33C Northern Pacific
EBAY_ATLAS-BURLINGTON-NORTHERN-GE-U33C
Texas ZepherJust curious...
And a big difference in selling price, also, one at $127.50 and the other at $49. Someone must have really wanted the NP unit.
It was a BN #5733 but also had the decoder. So a box with $89.95 on it plus what, $30 for a decoder? I got it for less the $56 which included the shipping. This engine was not a sliver or gold master series which maybe is what the NP unit was?
Sauer_PowerThis engine was not a sliver or gold master series which maybe is what the NP unit was?