Spectrum 4-6-0 DCC/Sound Equiped Problems.

[trainnman1912]

Greetings to everyone. I just bought a brand new out of the box Spectrum 4-6-0 from Charles Ro Supply here in Boston. I had them test it at the store and it seemed to work ok straight out of the box. A little sluggish on DCC to start but I figured it just needed lubing and breaking in. I got it home tried it out on my DC layout where it should have worked fine. I lubed it and started it up. The Sound worked great. The engine started chuffing but it would not move. Only after ramping up the throttle to over 60 did the engine start to move. I believe it may have something to do with the running gear. Something seems out of whack and keeping the wheels from turning properly. I looked at it but I don't really think I can fix it. I just mailed in the warranty card on Friday when I bought it. Is it too soon to mail it to the factory? Do I need to pay for shipment back to me or what? Any help is much appreciated. Its such a nice engine and I was told it was brand new. I am just not sure what could have gone wrong to a brand new engine. Any help is much appreciated.
Most Respectfully,
Joshua Andersen

[uncbob]

Did it come with jumper plugs to bypass the DCC
Since you are running DC I would install them  and see what happens

[jerryl]

Greetings to everyone. I just bought a brand new out of the box Spectrum 4-6-0 from Charles Ro Supply here in Boston. I had them test it at the store and it seemed to work ok straight out of the box. A little sluggish on DCC to start but I figured it just needed lubing and breaking in. I got it home tried it out on my DC layout where it should have worked fine. I lubed it and started it up. The Sound worked great. The engine started chuffing but it would not move. Only after ramping up the throttle to over 60 did the engine start to move. I believe it may have something to do with the running gear. Something seems out of whack and keeping the wheels from turning properly. I looked at it but I don't really think I can fix it. I just mailed in the warranty card on Friday when I bought it. Is it too soon to mail it to the factory? Do I need to pay for shipment back to me or what? Any help is much appreciated. Its such a nice engine and I was told it was brand new. I am just not sure what could have gone wrong to a brand new engine. Any help is much appreciated.
Most Respectfully,
Joshua Andersen

Did it run OK after you passed the 60% on your controller?   Sound equiped locos draw more current than non sound equiped ones. As long as it performes with the higher settings, it should be OK.   Jerry

[rustyrails]

Dual mode decoders typically require a lot of juice to get going on DC because you still have to power up the electronics.  6 or 7 volts doesn't seem excessive.  Bit 2 in configuration varialble 29 controls this dual mode "feature" and conventional wisdom says to turn it off.  Maybe ChasRo would let you trade for a non-decoder equipped loco.  Good luck.
Rusty

[trainnman1912]

Well I put in the jumper plugs and the engine didn't move at all. I noticed that one of the main rods near the pistons is not where it should be and appears to me to be bent. I have not messed with this engine at all to do this. I think this is a problem that only the factory could fix I get the feeling.

[rustyrails]

I just checked the CharlesRo web site and they have a customer service number.  I think I might call them first and see if they would offer a replacement loco.   If you don't get anywhere with them, then call Bachmann.  Their Service Dept. phone number is here on the Service Department tab.  Good Luck.
Rusty