Spectrum 4-6-0's tender swaps

[Pacific Northern]

Has anyone swapped tenders for these engines? Is the wiring the same for both the low boiler and high boiler models?

No one has swapped tenders on these models?

[Atlantic Central]

This might help - I have posted this a number of times:

Tender Swap – Bachmann medium Vanderbilt oil tender (Item #89905) with 63" driver 10 wheeler (Item #82307)

Initial test using jumpers provided with the tender – dead short, no operation.

Original plan – move 10 wheeler circuit board into new tender. This proved unworkable for several reasons, 10 wheeler circuit board too large and wires too short to fit into Vanderbilt tender without major modifications to both the tender and the circuit board.

New plan – can existing circuit board from Vanderbilt tender be rewired to work with 10 wheeler. A simple examination of both circuit boards revealed that while different, they both have the same basic connections, so the problem must lie in pin assignments in the connectors.

Tracing wires and a few simple checks revealed that the two wire connector simply brings the loco pickups to the circuit board. Reversing the wires on one end of the two wire jumper corrected this. Now the loco runs but in the wrong direction.

Two of the wires on the four wire plug are the motor leads. Reversing them gave us correct operational direction.

This only left the front headlight. The circuit board in the Vanderbilt tender is for the 2-8-0 which has 12 volt lamps for lighting. The 10 wheeler uses LED's, this is the main reason the circuit board is different. Rather than trying to modify the circuit, I simply replaced the loco headlight LED with a 12 volt lamp.

Additionally I added weight to the Vanderbilt tender bringing it weight to about 5 oz. and replaced all couplers with genuine Kadee #148 on both the loco front and tender.

Result – loco now converted, runs well with original 10 wheeler draw bar and looks great. 

This issue seems to be tied to what tender cam with what loco in the first place. I do not have all of the Bachmann spectrum locos, but from what I have seen, read and experienced, the following may be a good beginning of a compatibility chart:

Light Mountain & Consolidation will work with all of the "medium" tenders.

Heavy Mountain and 2-6-6-2 will work with the long coal tender, hicken tender and long vandy tender

Russian shares same tender with some 10 wheelers, so I am guessing they share the same circuit board.

The 10 wheeler is really a wild card here because it comes with three different tenders, depending on roadname. Some have the low, small "pre 1900" looking tender, some have the small tender from the Russian and one has the same tender as the consolidation, but obviously with a different circuit board.

But again, I think most of these differences are just the pin assignments and the type of headlight.

Sheldon

[rogertra]

I swap tenders all the time as some members of this board already know.  It's almost a hobby within a hobby for me   .

The trick is to keep the circuit board with the locomotive and not try to keep the circuit board with the tender.

Sometimes, this may require some minor surgery to the new tender but nothing that the average modeller can't do with a brand new Exacto blade or a jeweller's saw and a little patience.

[Pacific Northern]

So no one has both the low and high boiler versions of this engine? If you do have you ever swapped tenders between the two?

[Atlantic Central]

So no one has both the low and high boiler versions of this engine? If you do have you ever swapped tenders between the two?

All 4-6-0 tenders are wired the same so a tender that was supplied with a large driver version will work with a small driver version, and so on.

As to tender swaps with other Bachmann tenders. I understand the view of those who just say "switch the circuit board" But, as noted in my post above, for my desired swap unsing the medium vandy tender, the orginal 4-6-0 circuit board would have been a difficuilt fit, no matter how you cut things up.

Personally, I would rather rewire and have a "factory" look/feel to the work I do, even if it is not seen. I can't help it, I was trained into professional neatness at a young age.

Sheldon

[Pacific Northern]

Atlantic Central

Thanks for the information.

I thought the tenders from the 4-6-0 would interchange, just wanted to verify it.

The small tender for the low boiler is the same tender as the 4-4-0. I would assume then that the 4-4-0 and 4-6-0 tenders would be interchangeable as well.

[Atlantic Central]

Just to be clear, they must be tenders that came with the 4-6-0.

One version of the 4-6-0 came with a tender that is the same as the 2-8-0, BUT it is not the same electricaly. It contains a different circuit board to match the 4-6-0.

So a medium tender, purchased seperately, will not work with the 4-6-0 without making the modifications I explained.

Sheldon

[Pacific Northern]

Just to be clear, they must be tenders that came with the 4-6-0.

One version of the 4-6-0 came with a tender that is the same as the 2-8-0, BUT it is not the same electricaly. It contains a different circuit board to match the 4-6-0.

So a medium tender, purchased seperately, will not work with the 4-6-0 without making the modifications I explained.

Sheldon

Both of the tenders will be from a high and a low boiler 4-6-0.