I recently purchsed a Bachmann S4 on that popular auction site. The seller said he “thought the unit had been tested.” It arrived still in the original packaging and it appears to be in perfect cosmetic condition. I placed it on the track and the engine sound started normally and went to “idle” as it should, but the locomotive would not move forward or back and the lights, horn, and bell would not respond. I double checked the address was 3, no change. Reset the address to the cab number, no response. I reset the decoder by entering 8 in F8 and still nothing. I know my system is working as I ran other locomotives on the same track. So now what?
I assume you mean that you set CV8 = 8. It is not an address issue. I see reference to older Bachmann’s having Lenz decoders, in which case CV 8 should be set to 33, but current production is not Lenz
“Thought it had been tested” is a mealy mouth description. Either it has and it should run or the seller has no idea.
I don’t know if Bachmann would repair it for free, if not I would ask for a refund from the seller.
PROG → OPS → Add “00” → CV 8 = 8, CV 30 = 2 → (enter) Power Down
…and by powering down, remove the loco from the tracks for a few minutes. If successful, it should respond to address 03. Remove all other locos from the tracks, it will reset them also.
If the loco has a NCE, it’s an after market install. Based on his description, sounds like it could be a eco-tsunami. Someone could have locked it up trying to program CV’s. Maybe that’s why the guy was selling it
I picked up that formula here from another member. I have Tsunami’s and it’s never failed to recover a non-responsive loco.
Yeah, if you dial in that decoder. That’s the problem, this decoder doesn’t know it’s name. Hard to program something that’s not responding to commands (forward, reverse, lights, horn, bell).
Take any other locos off before doing the above! Programming to address 00 in Ops Mode on the main is a broadcast and programs EVERY loco. If the system allows it.
If the loco has factory sound, then it’s Bachmann’s Sound Value special Soundtraxx decoder. Do any sounds work, even though the loco doesn’t move? Horn and bell whould work. If you advance the throttle, does the engine sound rev up?
Could be in a consist, or have a ridiculous amount of momentum. Set CV19=0, and also set CV3 and CV4 to 0, or 1.
Well, I tried the formula above and no change. The only sound that works is the prime mover at idle. It does not increase when the throttle is turned up and the horn and bell also do not respond.
And, does the Bachmann S4 edition support “shut down mode”, where the unit is placed in “shut down” mode by double pressing F* key whichever, and back to “normal” mode by double pressing F* key whichever?
Also, as was mentioned, Momentum is a possibility, but if the horn & bell are not working at all, most likely this is not an issue, but consist might be it. Has that been cleared?
They don;t have the shutdown stuff like QSI, for sure. A full Tsunami doesn;t have that and the Sound Value is a very much feature-stripped decoder, providing just the basics.
When you reset the decoder, after power is restored, after about 6 seconds, the lights should flash 16 times. This indicates the reset took. If not do a reset again. CV8=8 OR CV32=2. You may have a wire not having a good connection on the decoder. I solder the wires and get rid of the plastic clips. To remove the shell, remove the front and rear couplers. The shell should lift off. You may have to hold the fuel tank as you pull up on the shell. Joe
What you are doing is telling the system to broadcast the following instruction(s) to all addresses because they’ll all respond to the universal address of “00”. So, it’s the decoder, not the CV, that we’re dealing with.
It’s just like Paged Mode or Broadcast Mode where every decoder, no matter what address it’s currently set to, will adopt the CV changes you impart via the keypad if they are currently on the rails and getting power. It’s why many learn the lesson eventually that they must remove all but the affected locomotives from the rails if they’re going to use Paged Mode or the Address “00”. If they forget, and leave that one Rivarossi Heisler up on the industrial spur, in the corner out of my eyesight, like I did last week [:S], they’ll have to re-programme that one as well.
After reset, the loco will be at short address 3. Make sure you select that correctly, because NCE allows you to use both short address 3 and long address 3. They are NOT the same. Do the lights work? If the horn and bell don’t work, I doubt the lights work - there is no communications to the decoder. Either is is using an address different than that you have selected, or it has failed.
FOrget the program on main, use the program track (which is the same track unless you have the Auto-Switch). Try setting CV19=0, then repeat the CV8=8 and CV30=2, then take the loco off the track. Exit program mode, put the loco back, and select address 3.
In the interest of a follow up. I got a call today from Bachmann’s Service Department. The loco had a bad circuit card. They replaced the card and it runs fine now. They also cleaned it, lubed it, boxed it up and it’s on its way home.
