Bachman Spectrum 2-8-0 DCC Equipped

Model Railroader Electronics and DCC
1

Hey guys,

I’m a complete newbie to the DCC stuff. Can a Bachman Spectrum 2-8-0 DCC Equipped unit run on conventional DC out of the box?If not, can I purchase a plug or adapter to convert it to DC because I’m not ready to run DCC yet!

P.S. Their is a dummy thing/plug included in the box but the directions are not clear.

Thanks

2

The current Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0 has a Soundtraxx Tsnami sound decoder installed in the tender. It should run on DC right out of the box. The decoder can sense DC vs DCC and handle it. The ‘dummy’ plug replaces the sound decoder. If you pull the decoder and insert the plug - NO sound!

Some older Bachmann Spectrum steamers has a very old Soundtraxx sound decoder that only worked on DCC - Running it on DC will damage the decoder. Their should be warning labels on the box and in the enclosed documentation if you got one of these old(5 years ago?) engines.

Jim Bernier

3

Jim, looking at his post there are 3 possibilities, one of which you touched on.

  1. The OP is confused between DCC Ready and DCC equipped. He mentions the 8 pin plug with lead me to believe this is a possibility.

  2. The OP has a DCC Installed loco, in which case it is a low-end Lenz decoder.

  3. The OP does infact have a tsunami light installed into the tender.

In every case, the loco will run just fine on DC.

David B

4
  1. The OP is confused between DCC Ready and DCC equipped. He mentions the 8 pin plug with lead me to believe this is a possibility.

The box states that it’s DCC Equipped.

  1. The OP has a DCC Installed loco, in which case it is a low-end Lenz decoder.

I did not install the decoder and I’m not sure if one was factory installed .

  1. The OP does infact have a tsunami light installed into the tender.

Not sure. How can I find out?

5

Some older Bachmann Spectrum steamers has a very old Soundtraxx sound decoder that only worked on DCC - Running it on DC will damage the decoder. Their should be warning labels on the box and in the enclosed documentation if you got one of these old(5 years ago?) engines.

The box was sealed and it did not have any warnign labels on the box or with the enclosed documentation.

6

What you have then is a Bachmann steamer with a DCC lenz decoder. It will run just fine under DC.

David B

7

Any ideas why it may not run under a DC system? I purchased it over the weekend and the box was seal and the loco does not light up or move at all.

Thanks!

Paul

8

Here is a link to the Bachmann forums where someone had a similar issue.http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,5144.0.html

I know sometimes the instructions are under the foam in the box. Some people miss that. Also, Bachmann is rather poor for instructions I have noticed over the years that paper documentation for a lot of products is hit or miss.

Rich

9

Rich,

Thanks for the link. I tried looking for the Bachmann forum for info such as that last night and could find it.

Paul

10

Cherrypik–

This is HO, right?

I have one of these Bachmann DCC equipped 2-8-0s, and it has the Lenz budget decoder. Turn the tender over. There is a small phillips screw in the middle of the tender, and that screw holds the tender shell to the base. Take it out, and carefully lift the tender shell off, minding the two latching tabs near the back of the shell.

It should look like this inside the tender:Bachmann Tender

(from Tony’s Train Exchange, http://www.tonystrains.com/tonystips/2005/101105.htm)

The black thing with a wiring harness is the decoder. If you unplug it from the circuit board, you should be able to plug the dummy plug in.

This budget decoder should work on DC, though, but you can try removing it and putting the dummy in to eliminate the decoder as the source of you problems. If you go DCC, though, you can use it, but it’s not a very good decoder. I replaced mine with a TCS T1, and am now installing a Tsunami sound decoder.

11

Could you advise what sounds can be heard on DC if it is a Tsunami decoder??

Thanks

Tanked

12

Gary,

Thanks for your informative instructions. I used the dummy plugs after all. It works perfect under DC.

I may switch to DCC but it sounds like I have to do a lot of research before the conversion and I didn’t realize how many different decoders are out there.

13

Tanked,

Normally if you run a sound decoder equipped engine on DC, you only have the factory selected sound options available. You need a way to ‘program’ the decoder to change bell/whistle/chuff types and volumes most of the time. Many times all that is available is the ‘chuff’. Several companies have add-on sound controllers that are wired in between your power pack and the track.

A lot of manufacturers state that their engines/sound decoders will work on DC, but do not really mention the limitations when running on DC.

Jim Bernier