My new Bachmann 4-8-4 New York Central (DCC onboard) won't run on DCC

[judgethe]

Sorry guys but I need some advice again.

Just received my 2 new steam locomotives from mail this morning. I bought Bachmann Spectrum 2-10-2 Chicago & Illinois and Bachmann 4-8-4 New York Central. Both locomotives are new.

Spectrum 2-10-2 works perfectly without any problems. But the other Bachmann 4-8-4 won't work on DCC at all. Tried 2 different controllers, Bachmann E-Z Command and Hornby Select and still same result, not responding. At first the front light lights up but it just won't go when I pressed address number 3. After a while the front/rear lights no longer working. Not only that I tried it on 2 separate programming tracks and still I can't get it to work on DCC. Checked the plugs and got them into correct position and I'm pretty sure I pushed them hard into the slot too. Then I tried to run that 4-8-4 using a normal DC analogue controller and it works perfectly.

Does this mean the 4-8-4 faulty? Could anyone please advice?

Thank you

[jonathan]

I am still a novice when it comes to DCC, but it sounds like your decoder is not set to address '3'.

The fact that your loco runs in DC tells me the locomotive is fine.  Also, you mentioned the lights come on in DCC mode, but the wheels won't turn.  In DCC the lights eventually cut off to prevent overload/burnout.  That has been my experience so far.

You can experiment by trading decoders with your 2-10-2.  My guess is the 4-8-4 will run with the other decoder.

Is the 4-8-4 brand new, meaning never opened by anyone but you?  Sounds like someone changed the address to something your controllers can't read. 

This is a big guess on my part.  My limited experience is what leads me to this conclusion.

Regards,

Jonathan

[judgethe]

the lights came on for a short while before totally went off. yes the 4-8-4 is a new locomotive so by default it should be on address 3.
i'm too exhausted to keep trying... been trying for the past 4 hrs. really hope my student allowance won't go down the drain with a faulty new 4-8-4
 

[jonathan]

A little experimenting won't cost a thing, but time.

The worst case scenario is that you'll have to get a new decoder.  That would probably be cheaper than boxing up the loco and shipping it to the Service Folks.

I think you have already isolated the problem, a big plus.

Regards,

Jonathan

[poliss]

Are you in the Uk and did you buy from a retailer based in the UK? Was the loco brand new? If so, contact the seller and tell them the problem to arrange for return and replacement. It is up to them to pay for all postage when an item is faulty.
Do not open the loco and attempt to repair it yourself as this will invalidate your guarantee.

[Jim Banner]

May I suggest that you try programming your 4-8-4 to address 03 before doing anything radical.  A new decoder is supposed to be set to address 03 but that is no guarantee that it actually is.  Use your E-Z Command and the instructions in your manual for programming a locomotive with an unknown address.

Another test you can perform without opening up anything is to attempt to run the locomotive on address 10 using your E-Z Command.  This is normally used for running locomotives that have no decoder installed and while it generates a dc voltage, it does so by stretching some of the DCC pulses.  The presence of DCC pulses will prevent a locomotive with a decoder from converting to dc operation so if your locomotive runs on address 10, it does not have a decoder installed.

I agree with not opening the locomotive to check out the decoder but only because the decoder is located in the tender.  Swapping decoders to change performance characteristics is so common that I would be very surprised if Bachmann would refuse to honour their warranty just because you opened the tender.  If you have any doubts about this, give the service department a ring  and ask.  (If you are in the UK, then by all means make use of the time difference - call late enough to get night rates but early enough to catch Bachmann still open.)

Jim

[judgethe]

Are you in the Uk and did you buy from a retailer based in the UK? Was the loco brand new? If so, contact the seller and tell them the problem to arrange for return and replacement. It is up to them to pay for all postage when an item is faulty.
Do not open the loco and attempt to repair it yourself as this will invalidate your guarantee.

i'm in new zealand and yes the loco is brand new. i bought them from a factory authorized dealer in ebay (thefavoritespot). in fact this is my third locomotive from them.

emailed them last night and still awaiting their reply. ok i won't try to swap decoder.

[judgethe]

May I suggest that you try programming your 4-8-4 to address 03 before doing anything radical.  A new decoder is supposed to be set to address 03 but that is no guarantee that it actually is.  Use your E-Z Command and the instructions in your manual for programming a locomotive with an unknown address.

Another test you can perform without opening up anything is to attempt to run the locomotive on address 10 using your E-Z Command.  This is normally used for running locomotives that have no decoder installed and while it generates a dc voltage, it does so by stretching some of the DCC pulses.  The presence of DCC pulses will prevent a locomotive with a decoder from converting to dc operation so if your locomotive runs on address 10, it does not have a decoder installed.

I agree with not opening the locomotive to check out the decoder but only because the decoder is located in the tender.  Swapping decoders to change performance characteristics is so common that I would be very surprised if Bachmann would refuse to honour their warranty just because you opened the tender.  If you have any doubts about this, give the service department a ring  and ask.  (If you are in the UK, then by all means make use of the time difference - call late enough to get night rates but early enough to catch Bachmann still open.)

Jim

hi jim,

i'm located at auckland, new zealand and i think we don't have a bachmann representative here. i'm not going to do anything yet and will not try to swap the decoder and still awaiting reply from thefavoritespot. i'm surprise as they still didn't reply to me back. normally when i asked for an invoice for combine shipping they replied back within 30mins!

[judgethe]

just received reply from the seller and i was given only 2 options. send it back to bachmann USA for warranty or return it back for refund. sending it back all the way from nz to USA will cost me almost nearly the price i paid for the steam locomotive. i did contact bachmann USA for their technical advise through their online form but so far still nothing from bachmann.

i would appreciate if someone from bachmann USA perhaps could provide some kind of assistance help me to solve this problem.

[ACY]

Because you live in New Zealand, you put yourself in a bad spot buying from anywhere outside of New Zealand. The seller cannot do anything about it because, it is not their fault and they cannot prevent a loco from being defective, so they should not have to cover shipping becuase they did not make an error. It is not their fault you live in NZ and shipping costs so much, you were the one that chose to buy from them. If you still have your receipt, your best option is to send it in to Bachmann service with the receipt and Bachmann can repair or replace it. I am not sure how return shipping works though, I know within the US and Canada they cover it, but I am not sure about everywhere else. Call them tomorrow, as you will get a quicker response that way as opposed to contacting them online.

[judgethe]

Because you live in New Zealand, you put yourself in a bad spot buying from anywhere outside of New Zealand. The seller cannot do anything about it because, it is not their fault and they cannot prevent a loco from being defective, so they should not have to cover shipping becuase they did not make an error. It is not their fault you live in NZ and shipping costs so much, you were the one that chose to buy from them. If you still have your receipt, your best option is to send it in to Bachmann service with the receipt and Bachmann can repair or replace it. I am not sure how return shipping works though, I know within the US and Canada they cover it, but I am not sure about everywhere else. Call them tomorrow, as you will get a quicker response that way as opposed to contacting them online.

true the main problem is i'm located in new zealand and it's always a risk buying from abroad when something like this happened. it's so complicated. will give them a call tomorrow.

[Doneldon]

judge-

No! The problem is not that you live in New Zealand or that you purchased something from outside of your country. You have exactly the same right as anyone else stateside has to get a correctly operating locomotive for your money. It's not like your seller gave you half off because you were buying merchandise which might be defective. You paid what you paid and you paid your expensive shipping to New Zealand in good faith. You should have received properly functioning merchandise. But you didn't. I believe that either Bachmann or the Favorite Spot should make things right for you. Unless you were explicitly warned in advance that you might receive defective merchandise which they would not stand behind, it is up to those two firms to stand behind the product they manufactured and sold.

I, myself, am personally offended that neither firm is willing to correct this situation. I am offended, too, that someone on this Board would have the temerity to blame you for your misfortune.

I call on Bachmann and The Favorite Place to replace your model at no cost to you and I call on ACY to personally apologize to you for his intemperate and blaming commentary.

I will send a copy of this post to the Favorite Place, to ACY and as a separate posting to the Bachmann.
                                                                                                                                                     -- D

[ACY]

The Favorite Spot stated  "Please read the following prior to bidding." (in big bold letters):
12.  Warranties for repair, replacement and service are issued by and are the responsibility of the manufacturer.  Please contact the manufacturer for any warranty issues. We do not test brand new items before sending them. We cannot guarantee that your locomotive will not be defective.
13.  If you purchased an item from us and you want to return it please request written permission and the proper address for the return prior to sending it back.  If an item is returned a refund will be sent but it will not cover the cost of any shipping or handling charges.
Also they state that:
1.  The item in this auction is brand new in the manufacturer's original packaging. It has never been used in any manner. We are a factory authorized dealer for every item that we sell.
Also the third line of the auction at the top of the page they state their return policy:
14 day money back, buyer pays return shipping including for defective items

Judge is entitled to return the merchandise per the seller's return policy, which is 14 days money back less the return shipping. It is not the seller's fault that the return shipping would cost almost as much as the locomotive. Hopefully, Bachmann will service the loco for him without any return shipping charges.

[judgethe]

judge-

No! The problem is not that you live in New Zealand or that you purchased something from outside of your country. You have exactly the same right as anyone else stateside has to get a correctly operating locomotive for your money. It's not like your seller gave you half off because you were buying merchandise which might be defective. You paid what you paid and you paid your expensive shipping to New Zealand in good faith. You should have received properly functioning merchandise. But you didn't. I believe that either Bachmann or the Favorite Spot should make things right for you. Unless you were explicitly warned in advance that you might receive defective merchandise which they would not stand behind, it is up to those two firms to stand behind the product they manufactured and sold.

I, myself, am personally offended that neither firm is willing to correct this situation. I am offended, too, that someone on this Board would have the temerity to blame you for your misfortune.

I call on Bachmann and The Favorite Place to replace your model at no cost to you and I call on ACY to personally apologize to you for his intemperate and blaming commentary.

I will send a copy of this post to the Favorite Place, to ACY and as a separate posting to the Bachmann.
                                                                                                                                                     -- D

hi everyone,

it's not my intention to create a havoc in here. the first time i joined this forum it was when i can't get my new bachmann turntable to work and folks around here were really helpful. in the end we found out (ACY was the one suspected my hornby controller since the beginning of the ordeal) it was my hornby digital select controller that refused to work with the new turntable. without everyone's input i won't be able to solve it by myself and you know what i've been proud to showcase my bachmann dcc turntable to my friends.

well i'm just so unlucky this time with a new non-working dcc onboard 4-8-4. maybe i got too emotional as it was my student allowance which i spent on getting 2 steam locomotives and 1 is still not working at all.

thefavoritespot replied back to me and he explained the options that i have. but it will be much more better if someone from bachmann could provide some advise so that i could decide the next course of action.

again, my apology if i'm making things complicated in here.

[judgethe]

May I suggest that you try programming your 4-8-4 to address 03 before doing anything radical.  A new decoder is supposed to be set to address 03 but that is no guarantee that it actually is.  Use your E-Z Command and the instructions in your manual for programming a locomotive with an unknown address.

Another test you can perform without opening up anything is to attempt to run the locomotive on address 10 using your E-Z Command.  This is normally used for running locomotives that have no decoder installed and while it generates a dc voltage, it does so by stretching some of the DCC pulses.  The presence of DCC pulses will prevent a locomotive with a decoder from converting to dc operation so if your locomotive runs on address 10, it does not have a decoder installed.

I agree with not opening the locomotive to check out the decoder but only because the decoder is located in the tender.  Swapping decoders to change performance characteristics is so common that I would be very surprised if Bachmann would refuse to honour their warranty just because you opened the tender.  If you have any doubts about this, give the service department a ring  and ask.  (If you are in the UK, then by all means make use of the time difference - call late enough to get night rates but early enough to catch Bachmann still open.)

Jim

hi jim,

pressed address number 10 on my e-z command and the 4-8-4 wasn't responding at all so like you said earlier, it does equipped with a dcc decoder then. i'm still awaiting bachmann response before trying to swap with my extra bachmann 44915 dcc locomotive decoder. trying not to void any warranty issue yet so hopefully someone from bachmann will get back to me.

thank you.