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Bachmann 1F poor low speed


MarkK
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Hi

 

I have a Bachmann 1F from New.  It had a few hours of running in on DC prior to fitting a Lenz silver mini.  At low speed in the forward direction I noticed it hesitated once per wheel revolution which was noticeable at low speed and less so at greater speed.  I was hoping a combination of more running in and the decoder compensating for it would make running better.  However, the problem persists.  Then,  last night i noticed that if the loco pushed or pulled a  sizeable load the low speed running was near perfect.  But once running light engine the problem is evident.

 

Any ideas?

 

 

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Simplest is to call Bachmann service and ask for help. You will have to remove the decoder if they ask you to send it in to be fixed.

 

The symptoms you describe say 'tight spot' somewhere on the wheelsets, including the axle gear. At low speed and little load motor power is insufficient to overcome this, when the motor is putting out more power it can.

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I'd say take the chip out and try it on DC again. Such stiffness cause sounds mechanical to me and is not uncommon on Bachmann locos in my experience.

 

It sounds ridiculously simple, but just placing a drop of oil on each crank-pin and axle has transformed locos I would have returned for replacement had one been available.

 

Factory-applied lubrication used to be, if anything, excessive on older Bachmann locos but, since the introduction of transparent inner packaging, it seems to have been cut back to a bare minimum. Nowadays, many therefore tend to require servicing after relatively little use.   

 

I now do it as soon as I have completed initial running-in on my rolling road.

 

John

Edited by Dunsignalling
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I'd say take the chip out and try it on DC again. Such stiffness cause sounds mechanical to me and is not uncommon on Bachmann locos in my experience.

 

It sounds ridiculously simple, but just placing a drop of oil on each crank-pin and axle has transformed locos I would have returned for replacement had one been available.

 

Factory-applied lubrication used to be, if anything, excessive on older Bachmann locos but, since the introduction of transparent inner packaging, it seems to have been cut back to a bare minimum. Nowadays, many therefore tend to require servicing after relatively little use.   

 

I now do it as soon as I have completed initial running-in on my rolling road.

 

John

Hi John,

 

Only last week I removed the body of a new Bachmann 4MT to fit a decoder only to find the gearbox minus of any grease whatsoever !

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Surely, if the loco ran OK on DC but showed the problem after fitting a DCC decoder then, unless the decoder is faulty, it must be down to the need to tweak CVs.  I am used to Loksound decoders rather than Lenz items which have different settings from each other, but reading the user manual about the settings for motor control might help towards a resolution.  There may be other issues but CV settings are where I woould look first.

 

Harold.

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Hi

 

I have a Bachmann 1F from New.  It had a few hours of running in on DC prior to fitting a Lenz silver mini.  At low speed in the forward direction I noticed it hesitated once per wheel revolution which was noticeable at low speed and less so at greater speed.  I was hoping a combination of more running in and the decoder compensating for it would make running better.  However, the problem persists.  Then,  last night i noticed that if the loco pushed or pulled a  sizeable load the low speed running was near perfect.  But once running light engine the problem is evident.

 

Any ideas?

If the problem still occurs after 30 minutes of running in each direction on DC it is obviously a mechanical problem. 

Either a broken gear wheel or an uncorrectly adjusted 90 degrees offset of the wheels.

Send the loco back.

This is a warranty issue due mechanical failure - definitely.

 

Wolf

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If the problem still occurs after 30 minutes of running in each direction on DC it is obviously a mechanical problem. 

Either a broken gear wheel or an uncorrectly adjusted 90 degrees offset of the wheels.

Send the loco back.

This is a warranty issue due mechanical failure - definitely.

 

Wolf

Agreed

I have 2 both with Lenz Silver Mini and no tweaks whatsoever and they work just fine.

 

I have found surplus plastic on the odd Bachmann gear wheel which as a result binds in certain positions. This could be a posibility.

 

Keith

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Agreed

I have 2 both with Lenz Silver Mini and no tweaks whatsoever and they work just fine.

 

I have found surplus plastic on the odd Bachmann gear wheel which as a result binds in certain positions. This could be a posibility.

 

Keith

Keith,

 

I also run it with the Lenz silver mini.  What CV settings do you have for CV's 9, and 50 ?   If 4 or 5 in CV 50 what do you set CV's 113 and 114?

 

 

Thanks

 

Mark

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If the problem still occurs after 30 minutes of running in each direction on DC it is obviously a mechanical problem. 

Either a broken gear wheel or an uncorrectly adjusted 90 degrees offset of the wheels.

Send the loco back.

This is a warranty issue due mechanical failure - definitely.

 

Wolf

Wolf,

 

I'd say its mechanical.  It happens once every wheel revolution, so i'd say its final drive, although I just can't see anything !

 

Under load on DCC it vanishes ????  Presumably the decoder has a greater power output due to the load and this overcomes the tight spot.  

 

One thing i did notice, the outer most part of the wheel flange rides very close to the body!

 

 

Mark

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Keith,

 

I also run it with the Lenz silver mini.  What CV settings do you have for CV's 9, and 50 ?   If 4 or 5 in CV 50 what do you set CV's 113 and 114?

 

 

Thanks

 

Mark

As I said. No tweaks, straight out of the box, whatever they are defaulted to.

Later I set top and middle speed to suit it's use and set the acceleration and deceleration to 0

 

Keith

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As I said. No tweaks, straight out of the box, whatever they are defaulted to.

Later I set top and middle speed to suit it's use and set the acceleration and deceleration to 0

 

Keith

Shame this one isn't because its a lovely little engine. 

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i can add to this because i had exactly the same issues with a Bachmann 1f and lenz silver decoder , no matter what i tried it was rubbish on dcc but fine on dc with blanking plug in  , put a gaugemaster decoder in instead of lenz and its fine , problem solved.

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