reconfigure DCC locomotive to run on standard DC track

[pcoronado]

Hello,
Does anyone know how to make a DCC equiped loco (I have the Southern Pacific Daylight) run a a regular DC track?

thanks for the help.
Patrick

[Yampa Bob]

Bachmann (and most other) DCC equipped locos are DC compatible right out of the box. Just place it on your DC powered track and start having fun.

[pcoronado]

Thank you for the reply.  I was afraid of that, since now I don't know what could be wrong; maybe i'll try another controller.

Patrick

[Jim Banner]

What Bob says is true, but there are two things to add.

The first is a couple of questions - is your locomotive brand new or was it bought used?  If new, did it come out of a sealed box or could someone else have tried it out before you bought it?

Secondly is your power pack a simple power pack or does it have pulse output?  If the latter, it may not suitable for operating a locomotive with a decoder.  If you don't know whether your power pack is pulse or not, what brand is it?  I guess that was a couple more questions.

[Yampa Bob]

I have a 12 volt wall wart battery trickle charger, 12 VDC 500 mA.  I use it to charge small hobby batteries, but works as a quick check to see if the problem is loco or controller.

I also have a drawer full of left over device battery chargers ranging from 1.5, 3, 6 and 9 volts, 25 mA to 100 mA.  Very handy for testing lights and stuff. 

Can you believe some people actually throw these things away? We just got new cell phones, and sure enough the old chargers were the wrong voltage and had the wrong plug.  I think they plan it that way.

[steve turner]

First elementary thing todo is to ensure if it has the 8 pin socket for a decoder that according to the manual the male pin or pins are in the socket correctly or in to start with. This is the original factory install if it didnt come dcc instaled. If decoder installed and used your going to have to get a DCC system to return it to analog mode . i believe addres 0. If the decoder is programmed you have to get it out of that mode!Again if new and no decoder there should be jumper pins in the 8 pin sockect allowing it to run on DC........removal of the jumper pin or pins breaks circuitry so nothing happens. Circuit again complete once decoder in place and a decoder runs analog on a dcc system on addres 0. If programed and your only DC and its a built in decoder your stuck!

[Running Bear]

If the decoder is set to DCC only (some people do this to avoid 'runaway train syndrome') take the loco to someone who has a DCC system that can read/write CV's and have that CV reset DCC/analog or just have the decoder reset to factory default.

[lirrman]

My new GS4 American Freedom loco was supposed to run on DC right out of the box, according to Bachmann customer service.  It didn't.  The engine would hesitate and the headlight would blink on and off.  On a second call to Bachmann customer service I got a rep. who actually knew what to do. The fisrt rep. didn't.  I had to remove the small PC board and replace it with a "dummy clip" that came with the engine.  It's in the instructions in a small circle at the bottom but it's not very informative and locating the correct holes is a challenge.  Once the "dummy clip" was installed it ran fine.  The locomotive box said "DCC On Board" which is apparently a lot different than "DCC ready".
LIRRMAN

[Spawn of Chaos]

My new GS4 American Freedom loco was supposed to run on DC right out of the box, according to Bachmann customer service.  It didn't.  The engine would hesitate and the headlight would blink on and off.  On a second call to Bachmann customer service I got a rep. who actually knew what to do. The fisrt rep. didn't.  I had to remove the small PC board and replace it with a "dummy clip" that came with the engine.  It's in the instructions in a small circle at the bottom but it's not very informative and locating the correct holes is a challenge.  Once the "dummy clip" was installed it ran fine.  The locomotive box said "DCC On Board" which is apparently a lot different than "DCC ready".
LIRRMAN

That's weird.  I got the same loco (albiet in SP 4449 Daylight paint) and it ran both perfectly without me having to change anything.  To also reply to what someone else said earlier, I used a powerpack that is old enough to have pulse power actually on a switch (lol).  I've run it on both with no trouble.  The loco box was saying the right thing.  The decoder was installed, therefore making it on board instead of "ready."