I just purchased a Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0 with DCC and Sound. the problem with it is that it makes a strange sound at times. The sound is not real loud and it sounds similar to the noise of a piece of cellophane wrap being crumpled in your hand. Kind of a crackly noise. Also make me think of an elecrical arcing noise but I cannot see any sign of a spark. It tends to do it more often in reverse and it will do it repeatedly when going over particular areas of the track. All of the wheels fit fine in the NMRA standards gage. It is not a loud sound but enough to make me worry that something is going wrong. It sounds like it is coming from the front area of the locomotive, and not the tender. If anyone has any helpful ideas I would appreciate any help I can get.
Yes the noise is there when the sound is muted. I first noticed the noise when going in reverse thru the diverging route of a turnout. Everytime I went thru in reverse I would hear the noise but when I went back thru in forward there would be no noise. Then I noticed the noise when reversing around a section of curved track. I kept going back and forth and whenever I was in reverse I would get the noise in the same place on the track every time, but never in forward. I intend to spend some more time trying to pinpoint the noise. I have 6 other steam locos and none of them have problems on my track that I am aware of.
You might want to check the metal wipers on the bottom assembly. I have one where the wipers prevent “free rolling” of the driving wheels when disassembled from the drive mechanism. Perhaps too much tension causing too much friction. The metal on the driving wheels is not super smooth and there is a “scratching” sound that I hear on mine. Solutions? I have not fixed mine - I dropped one of the worm bearings and yet to find it. But, a couple of thoughts about fixing the free rolling issue - which is the first issue I want to solve. 1.) Wipers - maybe there are too many and if used with capacitors there might not be a need to have so many; 2.) wiper friction - maybe reshape the wipers with a rounded edge (fillet) so there is more “rubbing” verse “scrapping”; 3.) polish the wheel backs to make them more smooth. Perhaps a combo of 2 & 3 would enable the free rolling and reduce the noise. The model is fairly easy to disassemble - just becareful about parts dropping on the floor.
BTW - one of my Bachmann 2-8-0 models had a fractured belt gear on the motor shaft. Bachmann parts department doesn’t provide this gear - they want you to purchase either a complete motor or purchase the complete drive/chassis assembly. So I drew a replacement in Solidworks and have a STL file if anyone wants/needs to print their own replacement.
OP here. Latest upate is that I am pretty sure that the crick, crick, crick sound is coming from the front pair of drivers. The cricking noise has a beat that matches the turn of the drivers. It ends to do it more often in reverse and more often on a curve or going thru a turnout. After reading t.long’s response it seems to make sense that it is the sound of the wipers on the front drivers. I have to say that I do not look forward to taking apart this locomotive to work on that problem but I do appreciate the link provided by Rich that gives detailed information and great photos of what to expect when I start to futz around in there.
As for sending it back to Bachmann, I just bought this off of EBAY. It is what I guess you would call new, old stock. It was listed as new, unopened. And it arrived still sealed in the cellophane. When I opened it, it appears to be brand new but also looks to have been setting awhile from the looks of the papers inside. So even though it is less than two weeks old, I don’t know how Bachman would see it, since I bought it from an individual on EBAY and not from a retailer. I guess this wiper problem is something that I should tackle myself or does my learned audience think I should send it to Bachmann?
I have to say again that I really appreciate this site. I would be totally lost without the help of all the people out there.
I’ve had a similar issue with my 2 bachmann 2-8-0s. The wipers on my models werent really in line, and were slightly bent, scratching the backs of the wheels when moving. I took apart the wipers and wheels and straightened the wipers. It worked fine after that.
If you can tackle the wiper problem yourself, take care not to damage anything loose or fragile on the locomotive. If I were you, I would take the Locomotive to a LHS and see if the owners can help you.
OP back again. I have tried adjusting the pickups and thought I had improved the situation but now the front pair of drivers seems to get stuck on ocassion, which I believe is due to the messing I did with the pickups. I am going to go at it again, but I am just wondering, there are a total of eight pickups under the loco and I would assume they are redundant in that they all do the same thing. So I would think that if one or two of them were not making contact all the time, the others would be doing the job that they are there for? Right? Thanks. I wish Bachmann had actual wiring diagrams available for their locos.
The more wipers that are working, the better, especially with DCC.
It sounds as if one of the wipers is actually bent, and perhaps rubbing against the spokes of the driver, which would explain the sound. It would be very unusual that the wiper would have too much pressure on the back of the driver’s tire, as the wipers are rather flimsy.
With the loco upside down, you can partially remove the bottom coverplate, allowing limited access to the wipers. Use tweezers or small pliers to straighten the bent wiper, re-bending it as necessary using the unbent ones as an example. When replacing the coverplate, be very careful to ensure that all wipers are in their proper positions so that you’re not correcting one problem and creating another similar one.