Well, I'm most pleased to report that Bachmann DCC on board consolidation #1 has been successfully converted to sound! The other (belt throwing) one has gone back for replacement.
I've learned alot from this journey. I had only done a (motor/lights) DCC conversion before of a Kato RS-2 where I simply replaced the 8-pin jumpers with a TCS plug in decoder that required no modifications.
For this DCC on board 2-8-0 I had ordered a Tsunami light steam and a "hi bass" 28mm enclosed speaker from Tony's. One learning here is, when new to this game, get advice on what to install in a given loco from someone who knows what will work or work better. I had pretty much decided on the light steam, but the fellow at Tony's advised that the high bass enclosed speaker would give better results than the Soundtraxx standard companion to the light steam decoder (and that it would fit in the tender with reasonable modifications). I removed the existing decoder and light board to make more room and to simplify the wiring. Of course I had to learn the wire tracing routine and the color coding aspects. And I got to verify the LED headlight wiring using a 9v battery and 1k resistor as described above. I wish I had alternate resistors on hand to optimize the light intensity (it is a tad dim). I was glad the newer tenders have the speaker space and holes in the bottom; I just had to Dremel the area flat for the square speaker enclosure.
I did struggle a bit with stripping the very fine wires but settled on the combo Xacto knife start and fingernail finish as my wire strippers only go to 26 AWG. I'll get a better stripper. I had to do some tender cutting under the coal load to handle the combined height of the speaker enclosure and decoder atop. A significant issue was the amount of decoder wire to remove. I was concerned that I might have to swing the decoder 180 degrees for the height issues so I left the wires pretty long. All were tinned, soldered and covered with heat shrink. But there was so much wire up front in the tender that I had a bit of a problem shoving it in, aligning the bottom screw receiver with the hole and getting the tender cover on. If I do the second 2-8-0 similarly, I will shorten the decoder wires considerably and add some small (do they make teeny ones) tie wraps to neaten things up.
On the performance front, all went smoothly. It answered questions on the program track, so I changed the address and it runs nicely. The whistle and bell sounds, a bit of a concern since I don't love my Genesis Tsunami GP9 horn, sounds better than the Bachmann 2-6-0 Sound on Board stripped down Tsunami, so I'm guessing the sound quality is more attributable the high bass speaker than the light steam decoder sound being better than the GP9s(?). I have not yet played with motor performance but will get to that with Decoder Pro so I can optimize the slow speeds and speed match it and the 2-6-0.
Lastly, many, many thanks to those who have patiently provided critical guidance to me during this part of my learning curve. I'm excited about the outcome.
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
Yeah, that does cause issues with some. Diodes can be checked with an ohm meter but not a Light Emitting Diode.
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.
I stated this wrong about the LED and ohmmeter readings. The resistance both ways was near infinite; I think the digital meter shows a zero unless it sees a measureable resistance. Anyway, thanks for the tips on how to check this out.
I talked to Bachmann this AM and they said to send in the problem loco which I will do today.
On the other loco, I found it balking at turns but when playing with the plugs I noticed that some (significant) extra push causes them to snap further in, making them secure. It than ran well, only needed a tweak to the front truck spring to keep it from derailing. So I can convert it to sound with the Tsunami and speaker on hand and utilize all yesterday's homework (wiring diagram).
When the faulty one comes back I'll have to decide whether to spend the $ to add sound or just (DCC motor only) run it consisted with the converted 2-8-0 or the Sound Value 2-6-0 I have.
peahrens One step forward, two steps back. I traced all the wiring. One question there...how can I verify the plus/minus to the LED. My ohmmeter shows zero either way. The Bachmann light board shows a plus and minus on the wires to the LED but blue is plus and the yellow is minus so I don't trust that. I want to wire the LED right the first time and not have to change after I install the decoder and resistor. Can I use a 1.5v battery (after I clip the wires for soldering) to see which direction works (will the LED light?) so I can wire it right. The bigger problem...I reassembled the loco and ran it with the tender going forward at a good speed and it seemed to do well for 5 minutes. Then ran it backwards at very moderate speed and it quickly threw or broke the belt. I'm now officially frustrated as it takes awhile to pull apart and reassemble. I presume I should send it back or ask them to send me a belt and do it myself. No point in simply disassembling and putting the belt back on.
One step forward, two steps back. I traced all the wiring. One question there...how can I verify the plus/minus to the LED. My ohmmeter shows zero either way. The Bachmann light board shows a plus and minus on the wires to the LED but blue is plus and the yellow is minus so I don't trust that. I want to wire the LED right the first time and not have to change after I install the decoder and resistor. Can I use a 1.5v battery (after I clip the wires for soldering) to see which direction works (will the LED light?) so I can wire it right.
The bigger problem...I reassembled the loco and ran it with the tender going forward at a good speed and it seemed to do well for 5 minutes. Then ran it backwards at very moderate speed and it quickly threw or broke the belt. I'm now officially frustrated as it takes awhile to pull apart and reassemble. I presume I should send it back or ask them to send me a belt and do it myself. No point in simply disassembling and putting the belt back on.
Zero either way is a short. A light bulb will show under a hundred ohms. Don't remember the actual resistance but not zero ohms.
A LED with show maximum resistance. An ohm meter cannot be used to check and LED. Resistance is too high to read with an ohm meter. As was said, use a nine volt battery and 1 k resistor.
9V battery and a 1K resistor will work fine. I'd start off using the markings on the board, most of them are probbaly assembled correctly by the factory in China, but a few might slip through backwards. The + and - markings on the board are probably correct though, especially if the headlight lit up running on DC.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
peahrensThe Bachmann light board shows a plus and minus on the wires to the LED but blue is plus and the yellow is minus so I don't trust that.
That is the proper color coding. From the decoder blue is positive and yellow is the negative lead. The forward voltage for a white led is more than 1.5 volts so two 1.5 volt batteries in series plus a resistor should work as a polarity tester.
Joe
It's brand new (a warranty replacement). I'll call them tomorrow.
There's definitely something mechanically wrong with that locomotive if it keeps throwing a belt -- I'd send it back to Bachmann and get a replacement under their life time warranty program.
Contact Bachmann and explain the problem, and they'll probably ask you to send it in. There's a service charge if the locomotive is not new.
I used a small pair of scissors that have long thin blades to cut off the plastic tube covering the wires.
If the loco has light bulbs, use a 22 ohm resistor. The 22 ohm protects the bulb from the current surge when the light is truned on. Longer bulb life also.
If LED's, a 1k resistor.
Thanks, Mike
peahrens The headlight wiring has no resistors so I presume I must add one (1K?) in the wire from the new decoder. Most importantly, I'm inclined to shorten the excess loco harness wires and even bypass the problematic plug by simply hard wiring (soldering) from the new tender mounted decoder to the loco, pushing any excess wire into the tender. That won't allow fully separating the loco and tender, of course. Or should I add plugs in new wiring in the tender? I really want to avoid the old plugs.
Defeinitely add the resistor, maybe more than 1k if you want a more old-timey look.
Yes, skip the plugs in the wiring between loco and tender. They are bulky, prone to failure and not worth the trouble in cases of smaller locos that are relatively easy to handle as a unit IMO.
Rather than shoving the excess wire into the tender, consider shortening them so that there's enough, but not too much.
A good tip to handle the passage of the wires between the loco and tender is to splt the wires in half; take the half that starts on the left side on the tender and cross over to attach/pass through the right side of the loco and vice versa. Leave a little slack. It'll look like an X of wiring. This way the forces on the wiring are evened out and things work better as the loco goes around curves, etc.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
It must have been the impact or the sudden stopping of the wheels against the track with the motor still trying to turn. It had stalled on one end of the layout and I nudged it and when it started up with the speed step set pretty high it continued around pretty quickly on what I thought was a clear loop but someone(??) had a turnout set wrong and it ran into a siding and smacked into the parked GP9. It then just spun the motor and when opened revealed the belt had slipped off the back of the cog gear.
Further on the wiring issues, I think I'll take a look at whether I can keep more or the excessive wire length in the loco frame area, even if I have to tie it into more knots. Then I might have an issue with one loose plug, which might benefit from slightly bending the 4 prongs, like sometimes is needed with a 110v plug. Thoughts on this versus simply shortening, hardwiring the loco/tender and bypassing the potentially troublesome plugs?
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In March I asked a bunch of questions about Bachmann consolidations conversion to sound. I had aquired a used Spectrum (with an old Lenz decoder) in not so hot shape that I could not get going properly (mechanically) and also a new DCC on board that would not run right (loose plug and a probable quartering issue). Anyway, back from vacation I found two new DCC on Board #51315 in the mail stuff. The Spectrum cost me $45 to replace, the 2nd one was a warranty replacement. This is just background.
So, now I want to (finally) convert them both to sound (as planned). I have a Tsunami light steam and a "high bass" speaker from Tony's to install, and need to order a second set. But first some inquiries for comments please.
I can not yet get the two new DCCs to run easily, mainly because the 4 plus 2 wire bundles to the tender are so long it's really hard to get them arranged so they do not either drag on the track or interfere with the drawbar. And at least one of the locos seems to have poor (loose) connection at the 4-pin plug, similar to the new one I sent back. Both have LED #10084 headlights, no backup lights and no circuit boards in the loco. The tender has holes in the floor to accommodate a speaker. It may take some filing to match the particular speaker flush to the floor.
I intend to remove the supplied tender circuit board and decoder and start over. I'm confident I can sort out the wiring scheme and not be distracted by any random wire colors. The headlight wiring has no resistors so I presume I must add one (1K?) in the wire from the new decoder. Most importantly, I'm inclined to shorten the excess loco harness wires and even bypass the problematic plug by simply hard wiring (soldering) from the new tender mounted decoder to the loco, pushing any excess wire into the tender. That won't allow fully separating the loco and tender, of course. Or should I add plugs in new wiring in the tender? I really want to avoid the old plugs.
On a side note, I managed to make the drive belt jump off its gear on one loco when trying it out (with two grandkids helping) and, paying poor attention rammed it into a parked GP9. I've got it apart and it's "just" a matter of successfully reassembling it, so I think I can get back to the electrical work.
I've considered getting discouraged, but decided to be persistent instead.