Faulty Decoder?

[Rocky1266]

Hey All,

     I have a blue box DCC Equipped Chessie GP40 and for some odd reason when I put it on a DCC track the first time, it will not run. When I put it on a DC track, runs like a bat out of heck. When I put it back on the DCC track after running it for a while on DC, it works. Any suggestions?

[full maxx]

does it do this every time you turn the power off then back on

[Rocky1266]

do you mean turning the power off and on with the DCC system? If so, I usually don't restart teh DCC system, I am sure it's worth a try... I was just seeing if anyone else had a similar issue and how they resolved it before I would have to ship it off for repairs...

[ABC]

Rock, your talking about a Bachmann loco with factory DCC right. Usually when I hear blue box, I think of the old Athearn kits. Anyways make sure there is not wrong with the system first before trying to fix a loco that may not even be broke. Does your system have issues with any other DCC locos? If so, there may be a problem with you system...

[Jim Banner]

Assuming only this one locomotive behaves like this, then off the top of my head I would guess that the motor is either drawing too much current or the decoder thinks it is.  After you run the locomotive on dc for a while, the motor warms up and does not draw as much current because of the increased resistance of its windings.  Alternately, the locomotive may be shy on lubrication.  Running for a while on dc may be redistributing what lubrication is available, lowering the motor draw enough to run via the decoder.

Or it could be a bad decoder, possibly an electrical fault, possibly misprogrammed, or possibly a problem with your DCC system.  Knowing how other DCC locomotives run using your DCC system would be a great help.

Failing all else, try lubricating it with the proper, plastic compatible lubricants and give it half an hour break in before deciding to send it back to Bachmann.  Some locomotives do just fine right out of the box.  Others seem to need that break in.  The difference may be as simple as how they were shipped and stored before they ever got to your dealer.

Jim

[Rocky1266]

Hey ABC and Jim, thanks for the replies...

To answer your question ABC, it is the blue box Bachmann DCC Equipped versions, the low end versions Bachmann came out with before they upgraded them. The system I am running on is the Digitrax system which is actually at my local train club. All of my other Bachmanns run perfect on their system except the Chessie.

To answer your question Jim, my other locos run just fine, it's just that one being the bad egg I guess you could say, but I will try your solution and see if that will prevail. I will post my findings after I head over to the train club again tomorrow! Thank you all for the replies!