[Keith Underwood]

I have recently fitted a Lenz decoder to a Bachmann 08 shunter (without a socket). Very good instructions can be found at http://www.electricnose.co.uk/dcc/dccbachmann08.html.
However, after hard-wiring the decoder in as per the instructions and the loco running quite happily at first, suddenly it would not respond on the track. I had coded it "3336" as per the cabside number, but it would not read on the programming track. So I stripped it all down again and, to cut a long story short, found that the problem was with the brass pickup strips not making proper contact with the wheels. I unscrewed the keeper plate under the wheels, allowing the axles to drop slightly, pushed the contact strips more firmly onto the wheels, and it has solved the problem.
This is the second time I've had a problem with the current not getting through on a Bachmann loco. The last time was on a Deltic where the black wire from the motor was not making proper contact to the circuit board (my other topic "Decoder not responding on track" documents this saga).
So, in my experience, if anyone had a problem with a Bachmann loco, I would suggest checking the contacts carefully, both to the motor and the pick-ups. In my case, a very slight pressure on the wire or the pick-up showed up the fault, even though it was not at all obvious to start with!

 

[upnick]

QUOTE (Keith Underwood @ 16 Jul 2008, 12:17) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I have recently fitted a Lenz decoder to a Bachmann 08 shunter (without a socket). Very good instructions can be found at http://www.electricnose.co.uk/dcc/dccbachmann08.html.
However, after hard-wiring the decoder in as per the instructions and the loco running quite happily at first, suddenly it would not respond on the track. I had coded it "3336" as per the cabside number, but it would not read on the programming track. So I stripped it all down again and, to cut a long story short, found that the problem was with the brass pickup strips not making proper contact with the wheels. I unscrewed the keeper plate under the wheels, allowing the axles to drop slightly, pushed the contact strips more firmly onto the wheels, and it has solved the problem.
This is the second time I've had a problem with the current not getting through on a Bachmann loco. The last time was on a Deltic where the black wire from the motor was not making proper contact to the circuit board (my other topic "Decoder not responding on track" documents this saga).
So, in my experience, if anyone had a problem with a Bachmann loco, I would suggest checking the contacts carefully, both to the motor and the pick-ups. In my case, a very slight pressure on the wire or the pick-up showed up the fault, even though it was not at all obvious to start with!

Hi Keith,
I had experience of the same thing with an 08 farish / bachmann N gauge loco a contact issue occurred during testing of the chassis alone ......although i solved it with the addition of the body its weight sorting the contact problem out.

 

[Brian Considine]

Unfortunatly this is a problem we are seeing more & more of - a factory test run on DC will not show up these problems. No good to people that have hard wired locomotives & a pain to send them back, but that's the only way that the manufactures will get their quality control up to scratch if they get too many back.
Personally, I would be more than peeved if I spent my hard earned cash on a locomotive only to find that I was effectively carrying out the final inspection for them.