Bachmann Class 55 Deltic Help! DCC Sound Model - No Cab Lights on DC, Slow Running

[southernelectric]

I've recently acquired a Bachmann Deltic 55001 'St Paddy' with DCC and DCC Sound onboard, catalogue number 32-530DS. I will be getting this loco renamed and renumbered by TMC but wanted to check all is well with it first before sending away.

 

The model is brand new and earlier this evening I went to test on a Rolling Rails rolling road, and - hooked up to a Gaugemaster Model D Controller - I discovered that the cab lights are not working.

 

The directional lights do work though.

 

The other thing I noticed is the power draw. With my Gaugemaster Model D turned up almost full power, it wasn't moving very much. 

 

I then put the loco on a straight piece of track, also connected to the Gaugemaster Model D, just to check if the rolling road was the problem and got the same result - in other words, cab lights didn't work and the loco was very slow.

 

Is this expected behaviour? Do I need to hook up a DCC controller to get the cab lights on? Looks like its F8 in the instructions.

 

Is the slow speed of a DCC sound loco on DCC to be expected?

 

I have another Bachmann Deltic 9005 'The Prince of Wales's Regiment of Yorkshire' 32-531DCC, which has DCC onboard (but with no sound decoder fitted) and that loco - I tested again on both rolling road and straight section of track this evening - has working cab lights on DC and also doesn't seem short of power!

 

Do I need to reset the decoder or something?

 

I was hoping to avoid having to get my Hornby Select out of the VSOE train set box it's still shrink-wrapped in (I was hoping to sell it on a well known auction site because I intend to use Railmaster/e-Link in the future). Should i try it with the Select Controller and see what happens? 

 

Any suggestions anyone?

 

Please don't suggest I take it apart! it will go back to retailer/Bachmann as it's brand new if this is definitely a dud.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Don't bother with the Select. It has problems all of its own and is likely to muddy the water, and there is very little you can do with it to adjust CV settings in any case as it is a very limited device.

 

The cab lights first of all. These get power by sprung contacts on the chassis contacting pads on the body. Very easy for these not to be making contact, also easy to fix if that's what you want to do. But these failing to work on a DC supply is reason enough for a return.

 

The slowness. Sound decoders are typically programmed for significant delay in response to controller input, to give time for the sound replay sequence to be delivered. At very least the delay programmed into CV3 (acceleration rate) still takes effect on DC control. Put the loco on the full 12VDC output of a DC controller and it will not take off like scalded cat as a straight DC loco would. Instead it will build up to full speed at a rate proportional to what is programmed in CV3. Since the Deltic has a fairly extended and characteristic sound sequence when starting, first one engine being brought up to full chat, and then the second engine, it may be that the programmed CV3 value is quite large to allow all this to be replayed.

 

What happens if you put the loco on the rollers, give it 12V and wait for a literal minute or two? You may find that given time it gets up to the speed your DCC fitted Deltic achieves.

[southernelectric]

Thanks. I'll pass on using the Select controller to test the loco on DCC!

 

I will test out what you suggest on the rolling road and let it run for a few minutes on full power.

 

I contacted the retailer a little earlier this evening and got them to test the other model they have in stock. They don't a DCC test track so could only test on analogue. They saw slow running and no cab lights coming on, same behaviour that I have seen.

 

Next step will be to contact Bachmann to establish if the cab lights not working on DC is to be expected. I guess it's possible that they need to be switched on using DCC control?

[MrB]

The loco should be supplied with a DCC blanking plug, if you remove the body shell and carefully replace DCC sound chip with the blanking plug to see if the lights work on DC and if the performance improves? The DCC chip will use some of the DC power reducing the top speeds.

 

Regards

 

Roy

[southernelectric]

The loco should be supplied with a DCC blanking plug, if you remove the body shell and carefully replace DCC sound chip with the blanking plug to see if the lights work on DC and if the performance improves? The DCC chip will use some of the DC power reducing the top speeds.

 

Regards

 

Roy

 

Thanks Roy but - as per opening post - I'm not going to take it apart! It's a brand new (and blinkin' expensive) model and being a novice at all this the chances of me damaging something are pretty high. I've emailed the Bachmann service team and given them all the details. I'll see what they come back with.

 

I'll also test again on the rolling road and see if the speed gets up.

[southernelectric]

OK...so I have now received a reply from Bachmann Service Department. They have confirmed that this particular model requires DCC to operate the cab lights - they will not work on DC. The slow running is also usual behaviour on DC for this loco...as per '34's reply to my initial post. The shop also noticed very slow running on DC. It would appear that the loco is behaving as expected, according to Bachmann. They made it so I have to believe that what they are telling me is accurate!

 

I'd still like to test it out on DCC somehow before sending away to TMC for renaming/renumbering though. It then occurred to me I do of course have the Hornby e-link but not a suitable/spare laptop to run Railmaster on (the plan is to buy a dedicated laptop for that at some point). I guess I could use the trial version on an old laptop I've got and test it on DCC that way....