Hamltnblue You should still check the motor of the one with no caps. They might be there.
You should still check the motor of the one with no caps. They might be there.
Might be but all the Spectrums steamers I have seen so far have the resistors in the tender PC board.
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.
The black rectangles with numbers on them, like 471, are resistors. 471 is 470 ohm, probably for the LED headlight and reverse light.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Springfield PA
Rich,
The K4 is very new, it is a replacement loco direct from Bachmann that I got about 2months ago. I love their customer service. I had a K4 I got in an auction from Ebay and knew it had a problem (paid $35 for two engines). . Bachmann swapped it for a new one for $25.00.
Thanks again for the photo, it was exactly what I needed. I never would have taken those little rectangles for capacitors. SMD; surface mounted device; who would have known???????????????
That's what I love about this forum, I learn something every day, just by reading other posts responses.
-Bob
Life is what happens while you are making other plans!
farrellaa i finally got around to the capacitors today and you guys are right about not looking like the more common wafer type. I did find one wafer cap on the 2-8-0 and it runs 100% better now at low speed. I even went back and reduced the acceleration delay. My other 2-8-0 (newer model) has the new type of capacitor, you called them SMD's.. I tried to 'cut' them but they are so small the centers just crumbled and I just brushed the pieces away. It also runs a whole lot better at slow speeds. My new K4 doesn't have them, at least I couldn't find any. The pcb has C1 thru C5 marked but there isn't anything attached to those spots, just a solder blob. It runs very good at slow speed so I don't know what the story is there. Anyhow, thanks for all the help with this. As ususal you guys always come through. -Bob
i finally got around to the capacitors today and you guys are right about not looking like the more common wafer type. I did find one wafer cap on the 2-8-0 and it runs 100% better now at low speed. I even went back and reduced the acceleration delay. My other 2-8-0 (newer model) has the new type of capacitor, you called them SMD's.. I tried to 'cut' them but they are so small the centers just crumbled and I just brushed the pieces away. It also runs a whole lot better at slow speeds. My new K4 doesn't have them, at least I couldn't find any. The pcb has C1 thru C5 marked but there isn't anything attached to those spots, just a solder blob. It runs very good at slow speed so I don't know what the story is there. Anyhow, thanks for all the help with this. As ususal you guys always come through.
Glad to hear of good results.
That is why I included a photo. Worth a thousand words. Many here try to describe stuff without a photo and it sometimes takes a long time for a person to figure out what they should see.
With digital cameras so cheap and a hosting service like Photo Bucket, very easy to do.
That is the first time I have heard of no caps. Possibly Bachmann has them left of the USA versions but that is a guess. Or someone removed them if not from a LHS.
I have seen digital circuits of other types and all there is where a SMD component would be is a solder blob. Many companies that produce digital devices use the same basic circuit board with component variations.
This K4 must be very new?
For surface mount devices, instead of cutters try needle-nose pliers, grasp the center of the body of the part and give a sharp twist. It should pop right off in one piece and leave just the two solder spots on the circuit board.
That could do it. Rail nippers are good to use for the job. They get good and close to the terminal.
jdobo I had a DCC on-board GP30 and it had 4 on the motor, I snipped them all and smoked the decoder, but don't understand why as that was all I did, I didn't even take the bodyshell of faccess was via the fuel tank.
I had a DCC on-board GP30 and it had 4 on the motor, I snipped them all and smoked the decoder, but don't understand why as that was all I did, I didn't even take the bodyshell of faccess was via the fuel tank.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
richg1998 So far, the only loco that I have seen with the capacitors on the motor was the Spectrum 70 ton. Three yellow capacitors.
So far, the only loco that I have seen with the capacitors on the motor was the Spectrum 70 ton. Three yellow capacitors.
Hamltnblue My Acela trains also had them on the motor.
My Acela trains also had them on the motor.
Thanks, good to know. What usually throws some users is the fact them may have not seen SMD capacitors before or go on what they last heard from, They Say and I Heard. More manufactures are switching over to SMD parts. Electronic components are shrinking.
I just ordered a digital camera the size of a cigarette lighter or USB Thumb drive with the removable Media flash drive. This thing will fit on a N scale flatcar or gondola. I have seen the videos and heard the audio.
So far, the only loco that I have seen with the capacitors on the motor was the Spectrum 70 ton. Three yellow capacitors. My two 44 tonners have two capacitors on the PC board. To my knowledge, All the steamers have the capacitors on the PC board.
Also sometimes you'll find them on the motor. They'll be yellow wiht wires on them.
It sounds like you might have the same Bachmann PC board. I used my ohm meter and saw continuity between the inductors and the two capacitors called out in the photo. There was no continuity between the inductors and the three other caps. I do not know what they are used for. I did cut out all five caps anyway.
Let me know if the PC boards in yours look the same. I know people will be interested in this info.
Bachmann up to recently had different style PC boards in their locos. Some for LED's and some for light bulbs
Thanks Rich, I wlll attempt to cut C3 and C4. I have some small cutters, hope they are small enough!
Below is a PC board for my Spectrum 4-6-0.
The labels show up very easily and I wear trifocals.
I assume you have not looked closely at the PC board.
I didn't see anything to clip, everything seems to be small almost flat components. Do you have any photos that would show them?
Look at the PC board. Caps will have a C prefix. Diodes, a D, Inductors a L. Resistors, a R. Some have one cap, some two caps. Some three caps. My Spectrum 4-6-0 with Tsunami has five SMD caps but only two are for the motor filter.
Yours may have SMD caps. I clip them off with a smal pair of wire cutters. I have some small cutters that are aout 4 inches long and easy enough to clip caps with leads or SMD components.
I have been trying to disable the capacitors on a couple of my Bachmann DCC HO steam locos but don't see the typical yellow/orange disc that all the references show. My locos, a new K4 and a 2-8-0 both have the same light pc board, and there isn't a capacitor on them. unless it is a different type. Does anyone know what they look like and how to disable them? Both are factory DCC equipped.
Thanks,