I just got a bunch of new motive power, including the Bachmann EM-1 which I'd been lusting after for a while. The other engines all responded beautifully to my Power Cab and checked out fine. I put the EM-1 carefully on the test loop and it seems to be DOA. Does not respond to anything, including headlight control. Checked and double checked that I had reset the address to 003. Anything I can do to verify before returning it?
Well, I've tried everything I can think of. Program on Main, Programming Track, Decoder Unlock, Decoder Reset. Nothing I do can resolve the Can't Read CVs problem with this loco. Any suggestions gratefully accepted.
Misread this section; "The other engines all responded beautifully to my Power Cab and checked out fine" I say try it on DC, but if no go? Pop the tender shell and check those darm connections!! Mailing it off is a last resort, in my book.
Great minds think alike, I guess. I just got back here after trying DC. It was a no go. So I removed the four tender shell screws to find... the plug from the boiler wiring harness was completely disconnected! It looks like it had never been plugged in... weird. So I plugged it in, put the tender back together and "ta-da" motion. But it was not running correctly. It started up in a crawl at throttle position 1 and did not accelerate at all as I advanced the throttle. It almost seems like the decoder lost all of its programming. I checked CV 5 and 6 and discovered they were both 0. Not good. I programmed in some values for mid and high and that got things going, but I'm not sure if this decoder uses CV8 as the reset. I figured at this point I should try and reset it since I'm not sure what's going on, but when I went to CV8 its current value is 101. Not sure if that's the right register for reset on this one. This is a Lenz, isn't it? I went to the Bachmann site and got the decoder PDF but it really doesn't show what all the default values should be. Oh, and the headlight doesn't seem to turn on when I hit the Headlight button on the NCE. I tried setting CV8 to 8 and 33 and neither seems to have caused a reset to this decoder. The values I programmed in for CV 5 and 6 are unchanged.
There have been threads on this in TB before http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/archive/index.php/t-142136.html
Thanks Paul. I found a post on the MRR forums where someone said it had to be "08" and not just "8". I tried 08 and it worked! Everything appears to be back to normal. Headlight works too. Thanks to everyone here for the help. Now I wonder why it seemed to have been shipped unplugged, and with the default values apparently wiped? Is it possible it was someone else's return?
Tony, Glad you got it fixed. Could just be a minor quality control issue but give it a good inspection to see if sending it back is justified.
Yes, plan to do that tomorrow. Not enough light to try and do that level of examination now. Test run very impressive. .9 smph at throttle position 1 with smooth, even motion. No bucking or hopping. 66 smph at max throttle.
Killer! I need to try that on a couple decoders; "08" not "8". Thanks and congrats! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Okay. So in nice bright daylight I carefully looked over the engine. I found a few small things, and I'm not sure if it's enough to send it back for a replacement. First, the screw on the right front linkage that attaches the valve gear to the driving rods looks a little scraped up; the blackened top surface of the screw head has some of the paint scraped away. It looks like while it was being tightened down the screwdriver blade slipped out of the slot. I think it's this and not the screw head scraping the valve gear because the screw slot also appears to be marred a tiny little bit. Next, on the grab irons on the front pilot, the angled support irons at the top rear of the pilot - the ones that angle up to the grab irons and have little U-shaped claws that go into the grab irons? - the one on the left front was glued to the grab iron rail before the U-shaped claw was mated with the grab iron. So the two are not actually mated; you can see the little blob of glue between the "U" and the grab iron. I suppose I could get a thin needle and clear out that glue blob, seat the "U" properly on to the grab iron and add a molecule of CA. The way it is now, when you look at the front of the engine the whole pilot railing looks like it's leaning to the right. The last, perhaps most annoying, is that the circular B&O herald on the front on the smokebox is rotated so that "B&O" is pointing to maybe the 12:30 position. As to front coupler height, it checks out that the lower edge of the coupler matches the lower edge matching height of my MT equipped cars, but when those cars are placed at the tender the coupler there has equal space above and below a standard MT coupler. So I guess the front coupler may be a bit high? On the upside, this engine runs like a Teflon ball on glass. As quiet and smooth as you can get. So what do I do?
Those a little things, but they will continue to bother you. Send it back and get one that is right. It is one thing to forgive Bachmann for some quality control issues on a $29.95 0-6-0, it is another on a $200 locomotive. Have fun, Mark
One of two EM-1s I purchased developed a problem which seemed to be related to the decoder. I ran it only in dcc mode from the day I received it. I have sent it back to B'mann.
The EM-1 that I returned to B'mann was one of two that I purchased shortly after they were available. I am running them DCC, and they both ran very nicely out of the box. I parked both on electrically isolated siding for a few weeks and then when I attempted to run one of them it did not operate. Several suggestions were offered on this forum about resetting CV which I did, but that did not solve the problem. It is under warranty, thus I returned it to B'mann.
I am posting this to publicly acknowledge that I feel Bachmann has certain raised the bar on Customer Service! I sent two locomotives to them. A few days ago, I received an e-mail acknowledging receipt of the locomotives; they provided an estimation the time for service. This is my idea of how all manufacturers should run their customer service operation. On a prior return, they called me to explain the options available which was replacing the locomotive, but with another style. Thanks!!!
