Bachmann HO DCC trouble

I had a very similar problem with an O scale locomotive. It responded to sound commands (whistle and bell) but it wouldn't move. It turned out that one of the wires going from the decoder to the motor was disconnected.  I would open it up and check the wiring. I have never worked on a Bachman HO locomotive so I don't know how hard or easy that might be.

Most DCC decoders send a quick pulse to the motor when you change one of the programming parameters (CVs) such as the address. If the pulse doesn't go through to the motor it won't allow the change to the CV. On my locomotive I wasn't able to change the address. I don't know if the Bachman DCC decoders do this but I would try to change one of the CVs just to see if you can change it. You can always change back whatever you changed. If you can't change the CV it might mean that the motor is not electrically connected or even possibly that the motor has an open in it meaning the motor is no longer any good. Good luck and post your results here.

Hi Paul,

 I have some Bachmann HO Sound Value engines also though most of my roster is O gauge. Two of these engines had problems right out of the box one had intermittent sound and the other wouldn't move like yours. I found the leads to the HO decoder were loose Bachmann uses tiny plastic clips to attach them to the decoder. If you don't mind opening it up and looking inside you could check these clips and make sure the motor leads are tightly attached. I generally solder them in place to be sure but if you simply hook them back to the pads and reattach the clips you're good to go. Bachmann is very good about their products if you want to contact them  for service. Good luck and have fun!

Vern

P.S.-Bachmann has an excellent forum if you have further  questions about their HO products.

Paul Moore posted:

I have a bachmann echo valley ho dcc sound set.  The engine won't move, but everything else works.  When I turn the throttle on the controller, the engine won't move.  The whistle, bell and all the sounds work.  I think its either a loose wire in the controller or the engine.  Any ideas?

Paul:

Did the engine work previously, or is this bad out of the box?

If it worked previously, before you start looking at wiring, I'd encourage you to look at the documentation on the locomotive.  Some locomotive decoders can be locked in a shutdown mode with a repeated pressing of some function keys.  If there is one thing I've learned over the years with DCC, eliminate things that could be caused by operator error first.  I have a lot of experience in this area, as I've done this to myself many times.

What engine do you have?  If you have the part number of the trainset, or the loco, you might be able to find a decoder manual on-line.  Give us the info, and we may be able to assist.

regards,

Jerry

It is the Bachmann 00825 Echo Valley set.  The Engine is a Southern 2-6-0, #7080.  It was working before.

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/...-usa/board/index.php

Try this forum in the HO section  "Ask Bachmann"