Having looked at the TCS website photos, this seems pretty straight forward, but I wanted to check to see if there were any lurking issues with the Spectrum Russian Decapod (DCC Ready). This locomotive is currently equipped with a tender that does not have a working backup light (looks to be a standard Bachmann USRA medium tender, the same one that comes with the 2-8-0).
I plan to ditch the factory board and install either a NCE or TCS decoder (whichever is handy at the moment). Which wires are the headlight, which are motor, or should I just leave the factory board installed?
Leave the factory board. It has an 8 pin socket on it. Looking at the board in teh tender, it looks like a 12V bulb is installed for teh backup light. It would be easy to replace with an LED and resistor. See link. Joe
http://estore.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=popup_image&pID=908
Your ohm meter should be able to show the connections. It did for me.
I bought that tender some years ago.
The two pin connector is driver pickups. The four pin connector, two for motor and two for the headlight.
My tender was wired for loco light bulbs and a 120 ohm resistor to dim the headlight in reverse. I had to cut a little of the PC board trace. If yours is like mine, check the copper traces carefully if you want a tender light. They use the eight pin socket a little different, at least in mine. It is not apparent until you do some tracing.
I just modified my tender to suit me and used the original PC board.
The two wires for the motor should show under a hundred ohms. Been some years. A light bulb head light would show low resistance also.
I just looked at the Parts list for the Decapod and they show a 12 volt light bulb in the parts list.
If your loco has an LED, you will see max resistance. A nine volt battery and 1k resistor would light the LED. Observe polarity.
With the battery, you will see which way to wire for forward and reverse for the motor.
I will try to find my files. Someone might know here also.
Bachmann is known to change their tender wiring and do not use NMRA wire colors. I have seen that some years ago in the Bachmann HO forum.
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.
Looking through my Spectrum 2-8-0 links, I see three different PC boards for the 2-8-0. Bachmann does change canoes in the middle of the stream.
richg1998 Looking through my Spectrum 2-8-0 links, I see three different PC boards for the 2-8-0. Bachmann does change canoes in the middle of the stream. Rich
After getting some sleep, I realized that I needed to look at the installation from the tender side, not necessarily the locomotive side (maybe both), so I found the 2-8-0 tender:
http://www.tcsdcc.com/Customer_Content/Installation_Pictures/HO_Scale/Bachmann/2-8-0%20Consolidation/Consolidation_2-8-0.html
I should have mentioned, all my Bachmann locos had the PC boards labeled. I had to use the meter because I unsoldered the wires before labeling.
The TCS site says, one wire at a time.
I just sent a fellow a TCS link on the Bachmann forums about converting to 4-4-0 to sound. About the same procedure.