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Bachmann DCC and NCE ProCab throttle

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  • Member since
    September 2003
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Posted by mlehman on Friday, June 26, 2015 1:26 PM

Good to hearThumbs Up

DCC can be complex and frustrating. It's often something simple that's the problem, though. I've seen some basic DCC troubleshooting flow charts somewhere before, but where escapes me now. Anyone recall, as those would be handy for reference in cases like this?

Mike Lehman

Urbana, IL

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Posted by erosebud on Friday, June 26, 2015 12:29 PM

Mike, you're a genius!  The reset did obviously put the address back to 3.  I'm up and running again.  Thanks for the help.

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Posted by mlehman on Friday, June 26, 2015 11:24 AM

What address do you have programmed into the loco now?

If you did a reset, it may be at the default address, 3.

Mike Lehman

Urbana, IL

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Posted by erosebud on Friday, June 26, 2015 11:18 AM

Well, ten days and $65 (Bachmann's fee and postage) later, I opened the box, set the loco on the track, and it behaved exactly as before; i.e., it sits and responds to no other commands from my NCE ProCab.  I tried programming CV8 to 8 on the program track and got "Cannot read CV" and trying it on the main got no response at all. (Yes, now that you've told me how, I recycle power in between all these attemmpts.)  I'll call Bachmann, of course, but if you have further ideas or instructions, I'd be happy to hear them.  The maddening thing is that it worked fine for months.

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Posted by RR Baron on Thursday, June 25, 2015 3:05 PM

erosebud

Uhh, does "recycle power" mean anything other than "turn everything off and then back on"?

 

You can cycle the power to the decoder by tilting locomotive and tender far enough to lift all wheels from same rail for 10 seconds (or long enough to drain capacitors) then return to rail.

 

 

  • Member since
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  • From: Dearborn Station
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Posted by richhotrain on Thursday, June 25, 2015 2:23 PM

cacole

Your problem has nothing to do with the NCE system, but is related directly to a messed up CV setting in the decoder.  If this happens again, try a decoder factory reset, for which you do not need a programming track. My guess is that Bachmann performed a factory reset before they tried anything else.

Agreed.  I have an NCE ProCab and several Tsunami decoders, no problem.
 
All Tsunami decoders can be reset to factory defaults either by CV8=8 or CV30=2.
 
But do it on the programming track, not POM.

Rich

Alton Junction

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Posted by erosebud on Thursday, June 25, 2015 2:03 PM

Uhh, does "recycle power" mean anything other than "turn everything off and then back on"?

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  • From: Western, MA
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Posted by richg1998 on Monday, June 22, 2015 4:16 PM

I have the Bachmann with on board sound and Tsunami sound I have installed myself. CV8, enter 8, recycle power, works with my NCE Power Cab and the clubs NCE 5 amp Power Pro.

Bachmann website has the CV list for their on board non sound and Tsunamji decoders. A Bachmann rep in the forums has told users more than once, CV 8, enter 8.

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.

  • Member since
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Posted by RR Baron on Monday, June 22, 2015 3:08 PM

erosebud

....

 The problem, they say, develops when you start to mess with speed controls on an NCE system. 

 ....

 

It is unfortunate Bachmann Service has misled you but you are not the only one as it seems to be commonplace for Bachmann Service to do just that.

 

Hopeful what Bachmann Service was trying to inform is -- You are not likely to obtain expected results if you program incompatible value in a CV , particularly where two or more related CVs are involved. In other words, you can screw things up.  When you do that use the decoder factory reset procedure. Use the decoder manufacturer's instructions for resetting the decoder CVs to their factory default value. Do not use the NCE Recovery Programming option in the NCE manual.
 
 
The decoder factory installed in the Bachmann 4-4-0 is manufactured by SoundTraxx to Bachmann specifications. Not all of Bachmann specs for the decoder are documented. Not all of the documentation from SoundTraxx is applicable to their Bachmann 4-4-0 OEM decoder.

 

  • Member since
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  • From: Ludington, MI
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Posted by Water Level Route on Monday, June 22, 2015 11:11 AM

erosebud
The problem, they say, develops when you start to mess with speed controls on an NCE system.

Not true.  I too have an NCE system and adjusted my Bachmann 2-6-0s speed settings and it works just fine.  Try programming again when you get it back and see what you get.

Mike

  • Member since
    February 2008
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Posted by maxman on Monday, June 22, 2015 10:47 AM

You may not have recycled the power after resetting.  See page 12 of http://www.soundtraxx.com/manuals/usersguide_diesel.pdf for the resetting procedure.

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Posted by erosebud on Monday, June 22, 2015 10:34 AM

Thanks for the fix.  Can you be more specific about how to do the factory reset?  The NCE manual says to set CV8 to 8 for Tsunami decoders (which Spectrum uses), but when I tried it before, there was no response.

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  • From: Sierra Vista, Arizona
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Posted by cacole on Monday, June 22, 2015 8:49 AM

Your problem has nothing to do with the NCE system, but is related directly to a messed up CV setting in the decoder.  If this happens again, try a decoder factory reset, for which you do not need a programming track. My guess is that Bachmann performed a factory reset before they tried anything else.

 

  • Member since
    July 2009
  • 178 posts
Bachmann DCC and NCE ProCab throttle
Posted by erosebud on Monday, June 22, 2015 8:33 AM

The first DCC loco I bought was Bachmann's Spectrum 4-4-0.  It ran fine with my new NCE system as I started work on a layout.  I acquired a Walthers Proto 0-8-0 and a BLI Decapod and they worked fine, too.  Finally I got up the nerve to try tweaking a few CVs, and suddenly the 4-4-0 wouldn't run--wouldn't do anything, in fact, except "pant," and I couldn't even reset it.  (I have yet to hook up DecoderPro.)

I sent in the engine to Bachmann.  They just called and nicely explained that it runs fine with their house brand DCC system and they're sending it back to me. The problem, they say, develops when you start to mess with speed controls on an NCE system.  So I'm looking for a service bulletin or the like on how to deal with this.  A Google search hasn't turned up much, so I'm asking here:  is there a fix or a workaround for this, or should I just limit myself to factory settings on this loco from now on?  I'm asking NCE, too, but sometimes this is faster.

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