Bachmann F40PH doesn't want to run in DCC

[mr. mick]

A friend had me over to look at the layout he and his son are building.  Track is down, and they have just purchased an MRC Express DCC system.  They have a Bachmann F40PH which runs fine on DC, and they tell me that it can also run on DCC. They initially had hooked both system up at the same time, but they kept getting the dc controller to overload, and the engines would not run.  I had them hook up their DC controller (MRC 260) and the F40PH ran fine on DC.  They then removed the DC and hooked in the DCC, and the loco, does not work.  He showed me what looks like an Bachman decoder installed with an 8 pin plug.

Is there something else that we should do to get the loco to run on DCC? Or, is the decoder probably fried?.

My experience with DCC is limited.  I have an MRC Express  system and I have installed some Digitrax decoders and they work for me. I have no Bachmann experience, but it appears I need to gain some so I can help them out. I am used to programming in the loco address, and then just runnning it, I was not of much help.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Mr. Mick
York, Maine

[ACY]

Either the loco does not have a decoder, but just a jumper plug or you damaged the decoder.
Here is a jumper plug:

Here is a decoder with an 8 pin plug:

[mr. mick]

I fear for the health of the decoder, which is installed (plugged into the receptacle) ( the son looked up the number printed n the decoder) online and it came out as a Bachmann DCC decoder.

IS the locomotive such that allhe has to do is replace the decoder, and then it can run on either DC or DCC without any other adjustmens, etc.? The locomotive sense the control system and reacts accordingy?

If his LHS had decoders (but not Bachmann) can he buy one and use that without fear of cooking the decoder, or should he order and use only a Bachmann of the same type that is installed , and apparently fried?

Mr.Mick

[ACY]

If other DCC locos work, check to make sure the loco has no shorts or wires touching things they aren't supposed to touch. You can replace the decoder with any NMRA approved decoder (with an 8-pin plug, if you want less work).

[jward]

i suggest you get a dummy plug for the 8 pin receptacle (be aware there are 9 pin plugs, you don't want those) and plug it in to test your loco on dc BEFORE you attempt toplug in another decoder. if there is a problem with the wiring in the loco, it will be apparent when trying to run it on dc with the dummy plug. if it works well on dc, then try installing another decoder. any brand with the 8 pin connector should work.

[mr. mick]

Two other questions for anyone who has one of these locomotives: when the loco is run on DC, it has two blinking lights; do these lights also blink on DCC, and are they controlled by a function (CV)? (It does not appear that they are controlled when the loco is operating on DC; i.e., they are always blinking)

My plan is to attempt to read the different values for the CV's using my own  DCC system, in the chance that my buddy did not address it correctly, etc. so it doesn't respond to commands.

if they can't be read back, and a different DCC loco runs OK, and this one doesn't respond, then i will recommend he replace the decoder, assuming the earlier incorrect wiring toasted the decoder.

Thanks to all who contributed to solutions to this problem.

regards,

Mr. Mick
York Maine

[mr. mick]

When we read the CV's we found that the address of the locomotive was  different address than my friend had been using.  Once the correct address was used, the loco responded as expected, and ran very well.  He then successfully reprogrammed the decoder, and

           All is Well !

Thanks for the suggestions to this post,

Mr. Mick