The don't work like your old Lionel equipment. You should not be able to turn the drive wheels except by running the motor because most modern engines have worm gears on the motor shafts.
Yeah a couple of nights here i ran it for a few hours each night to break them in and it looks like it's getting better although after the first hour or so picked up a squeek in the push rods on the wheels a dab of lube should fix that but waiting till i get the Bachmann stuff when i go to the hobby store rather then using something like WD-40. The wheels still are tight on it they can't be turned unless it's under it's own power so prob alot more breaking in is goin to be needed but it is getting better slowly. Originally figured i was goin to be goin DC because of the money i had to spend and what you get in that price range. Thanks to a few of the guys on here i got this set in that price range and it happened to have DCC on board. Oringinally i had the idea of upgrading everything with the set over time and using stuff like this power supply to power other trains and accessories for the layout. Since i have DCC in this train prob will jump right to a DCC controller when i upgrade but also might will some of the other DC power supplies so i can run accessories and trains that aren't DCC .
Every Spectrum locomotive I own required a break in period. With one of my Decapod's it would only start off in reverse and then if you changed direction it would go forward. This cured it self after about an hour or so of break in running. I would first give that a try and if that fails to cure your problem look in to buying a better power supply. The one's that come in train sets are generally junk, so if you want to stay with DC you can buy a much better one fore not a heck of a lot of money.
A little basic electricity is in order here. You have a locomotive that has a motor in it, that's an electrical load. You have 3 passenger cars, each of them have lights in them, that's 3 more loads. Each load will add to the amount of current (Amps) required to run the train. First, remove the cars and run the loco by itself. Then put one of the cars on the track without the loco and see how the lights react to increasing the speed control on your power pack. Now put the loco on with one passenger car and see how it runs. If the loco and 1 car run slower, or require a noticably higher setting to run than the loco by itself, your power pack isn't putting out enough current (Amps) to run your train. As stated above, the power packs that come with starter sets are usually low end cheap-as-they-can-get things that only work marginally, at best. There should be a rating on the power pack that tells you the output in Volts and Amps. Some use the term Volt-Amps, which is the same as Watts, both are a rating of the current the unit will give you to run the trains.
The voltmeter advise is good if you know how to use one. To get an accurate reading of the voltage output of your power pack, you need to take the reading while the train is running, it needs a load to be accurate.
Yeah i was looking on the box,info that came with it and online and didn't see the info i needed to tell what the power pack should be putting out if running fine. Mine is a Spectrum train and beginning to think it's more it's part of the breaking in of it. When i run it over the rerailer on track when setting it the drive wheels slide across and don't even move. Ran it for an hour today even though i only ran the engine and tender the weight of the 3 passanger cars wasn't much and they usually glide anyhow. After about 20 mins it only took turning the dial to 31-34 to get it to move. Oh i agree fwright with learning to trouble shoot and fix it in house my only problem at this time is i'm alone here in that i have no family or friends that have train sets other then my dad's Lionel set which i spent the last two months asking questions on in the other boards on here to get working. Before that it hadn't been ran in 25+ years and i was too young to remember what it looked and acted like when it was working at 100%. Same goes for HO for me never seen one working other then in store displays or clips on TV or internet so don't know how they should look and act when running correctly fixing myself has never been the problem like i said it just didn't see right that it took till 60 on the dial originally to get it to start moving.
locoi1sa If you have a volt meter you can take a reading of the transformers output. Starter sets are known to be not the highest quality and reliability. As for the lighting in the cars that is normal. Bulbs work in certain voltage range and current. The more bulbs on the track the dimmer they will be due to the limited output of the transformer. Pete
If you have a volt meter you can take a reading of the transformers output. Starter sets are known to be not the highest quality and reliability.
As for the lighting in the cars that is normal. Bulbs work in certain voltage range and current. The more bulbs on the track the dimmer they will be due to the limited output of the transformer.
Pete
Unfortunately, taking a voltage reading of the output does little good unless you know what you are looking for or what it means. And depending on the internal design of the power pack, a voltage reading with the train on the track (load) may be very different than with the train off the track (no load) - and still be quite normal.
I agree with David B, the problem is most likely a stiff gearbox from too much grease or oil. This is not unheard of for the factory that produces Bachmann model trains. Their production of the Blackstone HOn3 K-27s had many examples of over-oiling as delivered from the factory - Blackstone had to advise how to "burn" out the excess oil that gotten into the motor and was causing thermal shutdown (overload) of the Tsunami decoder.
In this case, the power pack is functioning - maybe not well, but it is functioning. The most useful electrical measurement would be the current while the train (engine alone, no passenger casrs) is running. Most multimeters are capable of taking this measurement (DC current of 250 to 800 milliamps), but you have the insert the meter into the wiring with correct polarity (throw the direction switch if you guess wrong on the polarity). A high current would show the engine is not free-running enough, leading to the likely gearbox issues. A low current reading - 400ma or less - would indicate the engine is in good shape.
A series of no load voltage readings of the power pack output while moving the throttle through its range would be instructive in determining the internal design. If there is almost no change in the output voltage with no load regardless of throttle setting, then the power pack has a rheostat inside. Starting point (when the locomotive starts to move) is going to vary with the current drawn, and slow speed control will be poor, especially with a low current locomotive. It is likely that the power pack is rheostat-based.
OTOH, a transistor-based power pack will vary the output voltage reasonably smoothly regardless of load (MRC Tech series are transistor-based).
Since it is a new train set, returning for exchange or refund is a reasonable option. The open question is whether an exchange is going to run any better. Learning to trouble-shoot and fix the problem yourself is a life-long useful skill - but you are letting the manufacturer off the hook for poor quality control and/or cheap design. The third option is to return for a refund, and buy an MRC Tech power pack and a Spectrum series or similar quality engine - both of which are much more likely to operate well out of the box.
my thoughts, your choices
Fred W
My Atlas N GP9 does this too, but under slightly different circumstances, but the story still may help. It's a year since I bought it, still don't an actual layout, but I do have a power pack and some test track. Every now and then I hook up the pack to the track and run it a bit, not that going up and down a 2 foot long piece of flex is really running. It takes noticably more juice to get going, is jerky, but once it's been used a while it smooths out and evens out on the power requirements. Just another thought.
At the same point it's no tin the best condition. It's sort of been relegated to a testing train. It came as a MILW GP9TT passenger version and I started taking parts off in anticipation of making a regular ol' freight hauling 9er, and, well, some parts are missing, the tank isn't glued on, the lights were backwards 9I fixed that one right away), the front couple is broke, the body fits loose, one of the mount tabs on the cab is broke, and hand rails across the rear of the engine have recently been bent in enough that they didn't spring back to original location. Not sur how that one happened. if anything though it's been a learning engine, teaching me to watch what I'm doing, being more careful, and what NOT to do (the lights, which I messed up by taking everything apart to see how it works). Some day though I will have a layout, and she will be running on it. She's my first N scale, first engine, and first model train item that I have bought AND is one of my all time favorite railroads, so she has a lot of sentimental value.
Thanks for the help guys, Yeah i just got it in the mail on Wed so if i got to send it back i don't want to wait too long. Once it gets going it look like it runs well just that it takes till it gets to 60 on the dial for anything to happen. First time i hooked it all up took me about 30 mins to get it running because i kept thinking i hooked it up wrong since i got to half throttle and nothing was still happening. Didn't get to work on it today but will tomorrow.
I would begin by disconnecting the transformer and testing the voltage it is putting out.
If possible, run the engine on someone else's layout before you start taking it apart.
If either the new engine or the new transformer is not working properly, I would not try to fix it, I would return it and have THEM fix it or replace it.
But that's just me. LOL.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
I pray every day I break even, Cause I can really use the money!
I started with nothing and still have most of it left!
Bought a Bachmann Starter set hooked it up the other day. It's my 1st HO set and everything looks fine for the most part but have one question about it. The standard Bachmann's dial goes from 0 - 100 and i know more weight the train pulls higher the dial needs to be to pull the load at a certain speed. All i'm pulling is the 3 passanger cars that came with the set but the lights don't come on in the passanger cars and the engine or the train starts to move till i get to 60 on the dial. Again it's my first HO set so have to ask if that's normal? 60% power needed to get anything to happen doesn't seem right and you don't get much of a speed difference with that last 40% plus don't know if it was the lighting in the room but the lights in the passenger cars didn't look that bright either. The track was hooked up correctly no gaps and the wires were tight also. Is this normal, something wrong with it or is this something that will get better and is part of the break-in period with the engine?