Hey guys,
firstly, I’d like to say hello as I’ve just joined here. Ok, down to business. I have 4 Bachmann spectrum heavyweight passenger cars that are lighted and i would like to know how to wire them so they can be used on DCC. The last thing i want is for the roofs to melt or the bulbs to go boom (I’ve had these cars for over 12 years.) So, if anyone could give me a hand, I’d like to hear from ya.
Mike
My club had a member who had a full set of those that he kept in our staging yard on the rails. They sat there powered every time we operated the layout for about five years, and never had a problem. In other words, there shouldn’t be any modification necessary. [:)]
so, it should handle the voltage on a DCC system without a resister?
Personally, I would open them up and replace the bulbs with LEDs and 600ohm resistors. That way you know you will never melt anything .
David B
What are the bulbs rated at and what is the output of your DCC system? Our club’s Lenz was set at factory default to 17.5V and we were having problems melting caboose roofs. We lowered it to 14.5V. At home I set mine even lower to 13.5V. So if the bulbs are rated at 18V there shouldn’t be any issues. If they are lower you need to add a resistor.
DCC is only for locomotives. DCC sends something like morse code electricity pulses through the rails. The locomotive that is supposed to receive the command then listens closely. The following pulses after the identification pulse tell the locomotive what to do, such as ring the bell or go faster. DCC is only a device used to control many locomotives on the same track, but the entire time, electricity is flowing, so the passenger cars get the electricity they need without any modification.
I can’t say with 100% certainty weather your totally correct or not in that the voltage/signal only effects the locomotive or not but what I can say for a fact is that I have four of those same Bachmann heavy weights and they sit in staging or are used on the new and old layout without an issues what so ever. I have a about 18 other IHC and early AHM Riviarossi passenger cars all with DC light kits that If I place them on the track and turn on the DCC system the circuit breaker immediately trips. I have never investigated what type of bulb Bachmann uses or if they have a resistor or not. I go by the general rule if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. As for the ones with the DC light kits I am presently attempting to sell them and replace them with Rapido cars. I have 10 Ripido cars and love em. I am not crazy about the little battery deal but I can live with that.
Well, that shouldn’t happen. Does each car trip the breaker by itself, or only when you’ve got a bunch of them on the tracks? DC cars with incandescent bulbs and constant lighting circuits can draw a lot of power. The bulbs are actually low-voltage, 1.5 or 3 volts, and the circuit limits what goes to them. Some of the circuits, though, essentially dump the extra available power into a resistive heat sink. When you’re running DCC, the cars are getting full power all the time, so they can be real power hogs.
Thanks Mr. B I am going to have to now check them all. At first I figured it was just a bad light kit or installation, then I tried a few more cars and had the same issue. With the IHC cars you can’t run both a light and an interior kit at least with he one’s I have you can’t One day this week I’ll have to bring them intot he shop and put them on the test track an see what happens