Noisy Motor in my two Bachmann GP-38-2's & GP-40

[CREngineer]

As it says in the title. These motors make a buzzing noise from start through different speeds. These are what I think are the first DCC engines they produced. I thought about buying new motors and replacing them, but at present I'm attempting to correct the problem without replacing the motors. Anybody else have this issue and has anybody found a fix for it? Also on one motor I removed the capacitors and resisters, which made no difference whatsoever. This noise takes away from the enjoyment I usually enjoy with Bachmann engines. The engines are Conrail's 2273 & 2269 & a GP-40 3079.
Thanks. JT

[K487]

CREngineer:

As info I'm strictly all DC; no DCC.  My model RR is HO scale.

A couple of thoughts:

Have you lubed all of the drive train parts from the motor bearings out to the wheel bearings?  And as info, with Bachmann engines I need to lube the the motor bearings about every 40 hours of run time.

Second, in my experience often the Bachmann engines' drive train pieces are not lined up correctly.  That is, I've got some engines (less than 5 years old) where the parts were pressure-fitted crooked on the motor shafts.  And the little "drive rods" with "T"s (cross pieces) on the ends are different sizes in diameter - one is fatter than the other across from it.  Some sand paper, hobby knives, etc. helps that.  What happens is this drive-train-vibration works its way all the way thru the gear towers down to the rails, and I get a not-too-loud buzzing sound (which I admit irritates me.)   Sometimes running a 50+ car freight train covers most of this buzzing.

In my limited experience each new shipment of Bachmann's HO engines gets better and better regarding less and less noise.

All that said, based on my idea of price/value, at least 80% of all my HO locos (diesels and steam) are Bachmann.

K487

[Reinhard S]

Hi JT.

The fault is not in the drive system or the motor.  The motors found in Bachmann units sold over the past years are of very good quality and, when properly cared for, will last a long tome.  The fault is in the DCC decoder which is of the first generation.  These decoders produce a buzzing sound especially at low speeds.  Changing the decoder to one which has the latest DCC technology will yield a smooth running locomotive with a significant reduction in noise.

All the best.

Reinhard

[CREngineer]

Thanks for the replies. The decoder has crossed my mind. And in response to 487, I have went through the drive train and found it not at fault. Lube is good. I do agree with you on the quality of the Bachmann motor, it has gotten better.But what is frustrating is that I have an older non DCC that I converted to DCC and it is a perfect running motor with no noise. So my next step it to switch out the decoder and see what the results are. Hopefully this will solve the issue. It's to bad that Bachmann don't offer to correct the problem when reported to them. But there are decoder out there that are good or better. It just sucks that I have to spend more money on their engines to make them better.
JT

[richardl]

Thanks for the replies. The decoder has crossed my mind. And in response to 487, I have went through the drive train and found it not at fault. Lube is good. I do agree with you on the quality of the Bachmann motor, it has gotten better.But what is frustrating is that I have an older non DCC that I converted to DCC and it is a perfect running motor with no noise. So my next step it to switch out the decoder and see what the results are. Hopefully this will solve the issue. It's to bad that Bachmann don't offer to correct the problem when reported to them. But there are decoder out there that are good or better. It just sucks that I have to spend more money on their engines to make them better.
JT

That is all part of model railroading. Happens sometimes with other brands of locomotives.

Rich

[CREngineer]

That is all part of model railroading. Happens sometimes with other brands of locomotives.

Rich

Don't get me wrong, I think Bachmann has some great loco's and I'll defend that. I have many, but I have three that aren't so great It's no different then if you would buy a pair of shoes that don't fit or a car and the air bag or what ever don't work right and they have a recall. At least they recall them because it's not working as it should and it's their problem. Maybe it don't bother some people to have to lay out more money to make it right, but it does me. But because Bachmann won't make it right, it's up to me and I will continue to pursue the problem till it's right. It remains a problem that they never addressed and should have. It's my opinion and I'm sticking to it. Just sayin.

[CREngineer]

Hi JT.

The fault is not in the drive system or the motor.  The motors found in Bachmann units sold over the past years are of very good quality and, when properly cared for, will last a long tome.  The fault is in the DCC decoder which is of the first generation.  These decoders produce a buzzing sound especially at low speeds.  Changing the decoder to one which has the latest DCC technology will yield a smooth running locomotive with a significant reduction in noise.

All the best.

Reinhard

Putting an end to this thread. By following Reinhards advise did the trick, which was my next move, as opposed to a new motor, and that did the trick. Appreciate the help and solution to this problem.

Thanks

[jward]

Thanks for the replies. The decoder has crossed my mind. And in response to 487, I have went through the drive train and found it not at fault. Lube is good. I do agree with you on the quality of the Bachmann motor, it has gotten better.But what is frustrating is that I have an older non DCC that I converted to DCC and it is a perfect running motor with no noise. So my next step it to switch out the decoder and see what the results are. Hopefully this will solve the issue. JT

as was stated, the decoder is what is causing the noise in this situation. your conversion  that you did yourself probably used one of the "silent running" decoders, which some of the Bachmann;s were not.

[CREngineer]

Bachmann decoders defiantly were NOT silent. With the removal of theirs and an addition of an NCE D13SRJ Decoder, made a world of difference. I know that Bachmann uses some good motors, as I have others that run very well. These engines (I think) are from the 2005 area and their decoder really sucked.

As I stated earlier, the problem has been resolved. Currently they are running like the Bachmann that I have come to know. Not what these were.