Tender repair instructions

[EdFesler]

My father left me his "Radio Control Big Hauler" set and I planned on running it on my G-scale layout on August 28th  in remembrance of his birthday. The remote was easy, I replaced the broken 9 volt connector.   The engine runs continously  (in ON mode); however, the remote has no impact on engine speed.  The lid to the tender's 9 volt space has fallen into the tender and the 9 volt connector is not visible.
1.  I need guidance / instructions on how to open the tender.
2.  It would also be helpful to have the set's operating instructions.


Thanks,
    Ed

[the Bach-man]

Dear Ed,
There are four screws, one in each corner, that release the tender shell.
For instructions, check the second sticky on this forum.
Have fun!
the Bach-man

[Hunt]

Click Here for a little information about the Bachmann Radio Control Big Hauler.

The set instructions available online are not for the R/C but for the electrical power from the track Big Haulers versions produced after the R/C version.

[EdFesler]

Thanks for the instructions.
The four tender screws came out easily, but took some effort to get back in.  Turns out the tender has no wiring other than for the internal speaker.
Still having issues with the remote control - the engine does not respond to it.  Sound doesn't work either (with the tender connected).
With the engine in "continuous run" mode it does stutter while flipping the controller to "off."  I successfully recreated this response several times.
I could never get the engine to react to the "sliding to off" trick with the engine in non "continuous run" mode.
My fear is the sound and radio control portions of the engine are damaged.
I'll have my electrically inclined brother look at it.

Thanks for your help!
   Ed

[g-guage_trains]

Hi, I cannot remember, remote on first and power or power first and remote. Try both ways.
alanrr

[EdFesler]

My brother opened the engine and discovered a disconnected wire with no obvious connection point.
Where can we find a wiring diagram for that remote control engine?
Or pictures of the wiring of a working unit?

Thanks,
Ed

[Chuck N]

Could that wire be the antenna, in which case it would only be connected at one end?

Chuck

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Ed,

I have never seen a wiring diagram for your radio controlled locomotive.  Your locomotive was made in 1988 or 1999 and has been long out of production.  It was made for the toy market and was not meant to be long lasting.  I do know that the radio control receiver has two wires going from the battery compartment to the radio control receiver, two to the headlight and two from the receiver to the motor.  There is also the antenna wire mentioned by chuck which has one end attached to the receiver.  One of the wires from the battery to the receiver has the on/off switch in it. It is fairly straight forward once you get it opened up.   As for the antenna wire if you break it the receiver will not work at all.

At one point I had the instructions, but now can't find them.  It is important as to the sequence of what you turn on first, but I can't remember which is correct. Try Allan's suggestion and turn on the locomotive first then the remote, if that doesn't work do it the other way. 

In the past I think Wade Colyer posted the correct way to do it, but I couldn't find that either.   

The loco also came with an plug in adapter for a rechargable NMIH battery pack, so you m ight find it and wonder what it is.  In most cases it was easily lost or misplaced.

The tender sound circuit operates only when the locomotive is moving and is triggered by the chuff sensor mounted on one of the axles on the locomotive. Be sure the plug between the locomotive and tender is firmly attached and that the polarity on the battery is correct.  The sound will n ot work if the battery is reversed in the tender hatch.

Can't think of anything else right now.

Good luck getting it going!  I understand your sentimental attachment.

Loco Bill

[SophieB]

Day late and a dollar short (story of my life) but here goes -

Turn on the controller first and THEN the train. Without a signal from the controller (it's off or the train goes out of range) the locomotive goes right into full tilt boogie mode.

Our locomotive runs fine, but the controller has some issues. The wiper for the speed control doesn't make good contact.

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Do a saved search on Ebay with an email alert. Controllers show up from time to time, just be sure to get one  with the same frequency.

Bill