I agree, a manufacturer (or an individual person for that matter) will never be successful if they don't know about their errors to have the opportunity to fix them. Everybody is entitled to a little screw up once in a while, it's how you respond to your error that defines you as a person or a company. I would hope that as  Bob says the comments on this forum are seen by the Bach Man and acted upon so they can improve their product. Or else people may vote with their feet ('their cash') and just buy from someone else. How about a comment from the Bach Man himself as to what happened and what has/is being done in the case of the Decapods?

Dan

The following link is to a thread from when I recently bought a decapod that was DOA. There was a short in the metal strip contacting the wheels. Fairly easy fix and from what I hear a common problem in this loco.

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,8245.msg68117.html#msg68117

Hope this helps.

Dan

Found an interesting thread from 2007 on this issue. search 'the spectrum decapods'

Hmm, yes, one has to think if the problem was that widespread some sort of quality control would have picked it up. Well, it's not stopping my enjoyment of the thing, in fact I'm kind of proud I figured it out having never taken a loco apart before.

Just thought I'd share my experience with my new Decapod. When I tried to run it for the first time nothing happened, lights would not come on and it wouldn't move so I immediatly suspected a short somewhere.

To cut a 45 minute investigation short what I found was the copper strips inside the body that make contact with the wheels to pick up the current were maybe 1/2 mm too long (in horizontal length) and were therefore raised up bridge like and making contact with the metal weighted base in the loco. To solve I just cut a couple of strips of paper and stuck them over the offending contacts to insulate from the rest of the loco, with a space to allow the gear to fit in it's dip. Screwed it back together and it worked a charm.

Hopefully this will help someone else who may experience the same. I may have a loco with paper inside now (actually strips of an Acme supermarket kid sticker that my son graciously volunteered for the task), but saved on sending the thing back!

Dan

Hi

I am still on DC. My 2-8-4 Berkshire also has DCC and starts at ~ 40%. I also have an older IHC 2-6-0 Mogul which starts easily at ~ 25% power. Could it be my power pack is a little lacking? Maybe also the size matters? The J class and the Berkshire are significantly heavier so I would assume need more power to start moving?

I really appreciate all the advice here by the way. Going to buy a 4x8 board this weekend and start putting something up a little more permanent.

Dan

Was there Saturday. The thing was so popular police had to close the exit on Rt 422 was backed up for ~ 6 miles! Well worth the time spent sitting in traffic, some excellent deals on some of the stands.

Dan

Ok, I lubricated the parts you pointed out, and as if by magic the thing started up by itself straight away at just ~40% power. Bingo. Feeling happy now, thanks everyone.

Dan

Thanks everybody for the advice. By the end of yesterday it was beginning to start moving by itself without the need for a push and was able to keep running, albeit very jerky down at ~60% power so we're making progress.

What lubricant do you recommend? Do I need a specialist lubricant like the stuff Bachmann market or is something like WD-40 ok?

By the way I love this loco (and will even more when it works right) and my wife thinks I'm nuts. We went to the 'Worlds Greatest Hobby on tour' show this weekend and my wife wanted to know if the free to get in under 16 counted for those who thought they were under 16!

Dan

Thanks John II. That's what I was hoping to hear. I bought a 'regular' Bachmann 'Berkshire 2-8-4' recently that worked well out of the box and I'd heard you should test a locomotive in the store before buying which I didn't do with this one so I was a little worried. Track seems ok as other locos are running fine so I'll persist with the breaking in. It was only the set with the #613 loco that I found reference to it being discontinued. Other numbers appeared to be readily available. If anyone knows what happeded to the 613 I'd be interested to know.

Hi

I'm new to the hobby (well, new if you ignore the years as a child playing with my grandad's trains). I've just bought a Spectrum 'Cavalier' set with the J Class loco #613. The lights light with no problem, but the locomotive seems 'sticky'. When the power is turned on the motor hums, but it does not move unless the power is turned to 100% and I give it a push. It then runs ok, but seems to be a little jerky. My internet searching turned up that this particular set may be discontinued, so I'm wondering if it has been stored for a while and just needs some lubrication/running in (it ran for ~ 1 hour yesterday and seemed to ease a little, but still won't start by itself and doesn't move at all under ~ 60-70% power. Otherwise should I send it back to Bachmann, I don't feel like I'm capable of any major surgery on it. Thanks for any help.