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Bachmann EZ command - stopping locos!

2528 Views 10 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  SPROGman, 
D
Got my 5 year old the bachmann DCC starter set for Christmas - despite some peoples concerns he rapidly got his head around controlling the points and driving the trains without too many crashes


Personally, this is my first experience of DCC (used to model in N ~10 years back) and I'm impressed. The slow running in particular is impressive (and yes, I know this is only a real basic setup).

However, one thing that seems odd is that it seems near impossible to actually stop the locos! When you turn the control knob right down the loco appears to have stopped but is actually still creeping *very* slowly (if it wasn't for the slight hum I wouldn't have noticed for a while).

Both locos in the set show this behavior. I'm guessing this could be set in the decoder but the EZ command doesn't allow any programming (and I wouldn't know what to set anyway). I had planned to fit the hornby points clips to make the whole layout (loop and 4 sets of points) completely live but obviously, this isn't really an option if we can't make any of the engines actually stop still!

If this is something that can be adjusted can anyone tell me if this is something that the decoders in the locos can support (if only I can find someone to program it...). I guess the model shop (East Kent models in Whitstable) might have the gear to do it (although I live in Folkestone).

Ideas?

Darren
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Makemineadouble
2
OK keep this nice and simple:

CV's are used to control the behaviour of your decoders (Configuration Variables)

CV1 is the loco identification number (short address)
CV2 start Voltage. it's quite possible this is set too high and this is possibly where the creep comes from
CV3 Acceleration rate
CV4 Deceleration rate
CV5 Maximum Voltage

and we can change the direction of your loco by using CV29

I'm unsure of what your EZ-DCC controller will do but I have a feeling if you read the manual toy can change the values of basic CV's.
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Not heard of this one before !

If MMaD is correct & CV2 is set too high it may just be a case of re-setting this CV.

I could do this for you but am in Margate, so unless you are heading for the dreaded Westwood Cross probably no closer to you in Folkstone than EKM (Not too sure about EKM facilities for DCC work.)

If you think I can help send me a PM & I'll give you my phone mumber.
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QUOTE (dbclass50 @ 26 Dec 2006, 09:34) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Not heard of this one before !

If MMaD is correct & CV2 is set too high it may just be a case of re-setting this CV.

I could do this for you but am in Margate, so unless you are heading for the dreaded Westwood Cross probably no closer to you in Folkstone than EKM (Not too sure about EKM facilities for DCC work.)

If you think I can help send me a PM & I'll give you my phone mumber.

CV29 and CV1 are then only ones I can alter with the EZ command controller. Just seems odd that both do this out of the box - I'd have thought it would be set to a rather conservative value to ensure it was fine.

Could it be the controller at fault? Maybe not quite going low enough somehow?

dbclass50: thanks for the kind offer - I'll not take you up on it just yet. I might pop back to East kent models (I work up a the Uni in Canterbury so this is an easy trip for lunch) and see what they have to say in the new year when I'm back at work. Failing that, I'll get back to you :)

As for Westward Cross, I try to stay clear of places like that at the best of times - I'm not going near the place in Sales season ;-)

Cheers,

Darren
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QUOTE (dmchapman @ 26 Dec 2006, 19:57) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>As for Westward Cross, I try to stay clear of places like that at the best of times - I'm not going near the place in Sales season ;-)

What a sensible man...yesterday the drive from my parents home to Westwood Cross (just under 2 miles) took a mere 42 minutes and a BMW shaped dent!

Regards

John
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D
Well, popped into East Kent Models (where we bought the set) today and they say they'll have to send it back to Bachmann who will take anything from a few days to several weeks to fix it :-(

Bit of a bugger as it's my Sons Xmas pressy and the set it pretty useless without the controller (obviously!). We took it home again for now - will drop it into them to send off once he is back at school :-(

Anyone know if ringing bachmann is likely to be useful in anyway? I was kinda hoping to get the controller swapped out I guess :-/
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D
2
Just to follow up on this, after asking in the shop I noticed Bachmann had a contact form on their website (pretty grim website though!) so I sent them a message asking if this was normal.

Within 24 hrs I got an email from them saying no, it wasn't and that they had spoken with the shop and authorised a swap of controller.

I finally got chance to get back to the shop this week and the controller has now been swapped and we can now park locos \o/. Interestingly, with the new controller we have to turn the knob a fair bit more to get any movement - it really seemed like the original controller was offset by 40 degrees or something.

Thanks to all who offered help and feedback, all sorted now (and noticed in the shop an advert for the Canterbury show - might end up spending some more cash there
)

Cheers all,

Darren (and Jake
)
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Nice to know it's been sorted.

BTW - the Canterbury show is usually a good one !
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QUOTE (Makemineadouble @ 26 Dec 2006, 00:06) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>OK keep this nice and simple:

CV's are used to control the behaviour of your decoders (Configuration Variables)

CV1 is the loco identification number (short address)
CV2 start Voltage. it's quite possible this is set too high and this is possibly where the creep comes from
How?

If the command station is working properly and putting out speed step zero then CV2 is irrelevant (or the decoder is wrongly designed).

Andrew Crosland
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Makemineadouble
QUOTE Yesterday, 11:52 AM

I just don't understand the point of this post. Your about three weeks too late with your comment as well. While I fundamentally agree with you. The objective was to try and sort out a simple problem quickly. The unit was faulty and this was resolved.
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QUOTE (Makemineadouble @ 16 Jan 2007, 10:29) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I just don't understand the point of this post. Your about three weeks too late with your comment as well. While I fundamentally agree with you. The objective was to try and sort out a simple problem quickly. The unit was faulty and this was resolved.

Sorry, I admit I didn't look at the dates. I responded after reading the whole thread which was top of the list due to new postings.

But, better late than never!

Andrew
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