DCC on Board - Not able to Program on NCE ProCab R

[River638]

I have several Bachmann DCC on Board locomotives (approx. 15 locomotives) that I either acquired through an auction (eBay) or were given. I am using a NCE ProCab R DCC Controller for my layout. I understand from the paperwork that came with the locomotive the default decoder address is "3". I programmed this in the NCE handset. I am unable to have the train respond to it, whether it is to move(forward or reverse) the locomotive or have the lights turn on. At his point I am very frustrated that I am unable to have the trains, regardless of which one I pick, function. Please.

[majord732]

Your not alone. I have the same problem with one of my engines. I did write to Bachmann to find out what type of board is on mine and if I need to send it in due to a bad board.

Dave

[Len]

One thing I learned when my repair shop was open is very often locos from eBay have already been reprogammed to some address other than 3 by the previous owner. If the new address isn't included in the box, a factory resent using CV8 is necessary to restore the default address of 3. I also found some Bachmann locos require a 1k Ohm resistor across the tracks to respond properly to an NCE PowerCab.

Len

[trainman203]

Reset the address on a programming track.  That ought to fix things.  The fact that none of your engines are factory-fresh is telling us that the addresses are not 3.  You have to have the engine open to the correct address, which you don't know right now and is not 3, to do the factory reset using CV8, that's why it's not working.

Now, some of your older engines may need a booster in line with the program track to get the engines to read on the programming track.  Soundtraxx, who manufactured these decoders, corrected that in the newer engines, but we don't know how old your engines are and a booster may be needed.

At the risk of discussing non-Bachmann products, Broadway Limited offered a few years ago a device called an address finder, one of which I have and works on all decoders, regardless of age.  It may still be available, and it may be worth you shelling out a few bucks to get one.  It's a lot easier to use than the program track.


But, if you go the program track route, here is what you do.  On your NCE pro cab, push the escape button until the read-out is program track, 4 or 5 You can put every engine on the program track and reprogram every one of them at once to an address of 3 and gain access to all at once.  Follow the prompts in the readouts and re-reset both the long and short addresses. The long address may need to be "0003" due to a peculiarity to DCC too long to explain here . Then, one by one, you can read re-address them to the address you want, typically the engine number on the cab.

Since you have NCE pro cab like I do, look on your command station and see the terminals to connect to the program track.  You should set that up if you can and use it.  Mine is a separate piece of track in a remote area next to my command station, not part of the layout .  Make your programming track good and long  and you can line all your engines up and readdress several at once as I outlined above.

I suffered through everything you are going through right now before I figured all this out. Try the points listed above and you ought to be able to get access to your engines.

Hope this helps.  Please report back and tell us how it went.

[trainman203]

🤦�♂️🤦�♂️🫨🫨

I was not awake yet.

Before any of the stuff I talked about above, You should try entering the number on the locomotive cab into the select loco Function on your Pro Cab throttle.

I'd put good money on most of your engines having the same DCC address as the cab number since they were preowned.

[majord732]

One question I have once we reset it back to Factory can I set the engine number to a 3 digit number like 714?

[trainman203]

The long address can take any number up to 9999.  The short address needs to be anything below 128 if I'm not mistaken, I don't pretend to be a guru with all this stuff, I've just had to do it enough over the years.  A short address of 3 has always always worked for me.

BUT!!!! Note to Major .   Before you reset anything, try entering 714 Into "select loco" while  the 714 is on the main, not On the programming track.  I will bet that the engine will jump to life.

Major,

[majord732]

You are correct and that is what I thought.

I tried your suggestion on resetting back to factory settings and My Power cab "can't read the CV value". If you have another suggestion that would be great. I am going to try it on my main track and I will make sure all the other engines are off the layout.


Just also some more information I tried on the main line an no results. This could be because I don't have power to the track even though my Power Cab shows it on.

[trainman203]

You appear to be attempting to, on the program track, program an older decoder that requires a programming track booster.  If these are older
Bachmann engines that came with on board DCC/sound this is almost certainly the issue.  The program track operates on a reduced voltage in which the older decoders can't work that low. Newer decoders have largely evolved away from that need but the older ones are going to be around for a very long time and still needing help.

You can buy and install a booster But if the issue is simply finding the addresses of all these engines, you might be better off buying the Broadway Limited address changer.

https://broadway-limited.com/products/bli-1020-address-changer-for-ho-n-z-on30-on3-and-more

They are working on a companion CV changer as well, which should be out soon and should help people that don't want to fool around with program tracks and boosters and all that stuff, like me.

[Fred Klein]

Majord732, you may not need to purchase a booster, you may just need to install a 1K-ohm resistor across the rails on the programming track. My Digitrax system had the same issue with recognizing some, not all, Bachmann decoders. Digitrax support told me that they frequently encounter this problem and that the solution is to install a 1K-ohm resistor (I used a 1/2 watt) across the rails on a discrete programming track. They emphasized the need for a completely separate track. Being a little skeptical, I tried it and it worked like a charm. They also said to remove the resistor for other makes of decoders as it could cause unpredictable results. What I did was to take a short alligator clip test cord, cut it in half and solder each half to the resistor, one at each end. This way, when I need to program a Bachmann engine, I just clip the resistor to the rails at one end of the programming track and then remove it when I'm done. Hope this helps.

[majord732]

Trainman203, To answer your question on if it is an older decoder I wouldn't know due to I just bought it back in July. I am looking into getting a booster for my main layout for starters.

Fred Klein I am running an NCE system will that work as well?

[jward]

I use DIgitrax also and find the !K ohm resistor necessary to program Bachmann factory decoders. I did the same thing as Fred, except that I bought some alligator clips without the test leads and soldered the resistor directly to them.

I have a friend with an NCE ProCAb and we can program decoders with that without the resistor.

[Fred Klein]

Majord732, unfortunately, I have no experience with the NCE PowerCAB system.

[Len]

My experience with the NCE PowerCab is with some Bachmann locos I have to use the 1k Ohm resistor trick, with others I don't. So I keep it handy when programming Bachmann locos.

Len