Hi, If this has been addressed before here please point me to the thread. I have a Bachmann B23-7/B30-7 on order. Please NO Bachmann bashing in this thread. According to N-Scale Locomotive Encyclopedia Has anyone put a decoder in this loco? Gary
I have three of these locos with various road names and I read somewhere that Bachmann will have decoders for these locos not sure if they will be release with these locos or some new re-tooled ones but there is some definitely in the works, but knowing Bachmann that could be later then sooner.
Bachmann B23-7/30-7 Decoder Install I received my Bachmann B23-7/30-7 and was very surprised to find on the parts listing sheet, some simple instructions on adding a decoder to the board. Even though some of the line drawings on the sheet were wrong (detail on wrong side) the install was fairly easy. The circuit board is held in place by two yellow (Yellow on my loco) clips. Spreading one with a finger nail and lifting frees the board. The only contact the board has with the frame is via 2 small brass? strips (seen in image 4) for power pick up, that are very similar to the motor strips in an Atlas loco. The motor is hard wired to the decoder also seen in image 4. The only screw that has to removed is the one holding the extra weight to the frame. This weight at the back of the loco is removed to make room for the decoder. I used a Digitrax DZ123 since I had it on hand. A smaller newer decoder would have been better. Image 1. Circuit board is held to the frame by the two yellow clips. Image 2. The two jumpers to be removed Note that holes have copper all the way through the board Image 3. Close up of the only screw that has to be removed - The board has a small piece of Styrofoam on each end under the LED to keep the board from touching the frame. After removing the weight and board along with the jumpers, I threaded the wires through the 7 (seven) holes in the board from the bottom. From left to right the holes are labeled 8, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7. There is NOT a hole number 3. There is a table on the parts sheet that tells what color wire goes in what hole. Image 4. Board with all wires threaded - Note the location of the power pickup strips Continued in my next posing.
Bachmann B23-7/30-7 Decoder Install Bachmann B23-7/30-7 Decoder install continued Image 5. Close up of the wires - Hole 8 is on the left with the Red wire I trimmed one wire at a time to about 1/4 inch (6.35 mm) and striped about 1/8 inch (3.175 mm) of the insulation. I them pulled/push the wire back down the hole about 1/2 the distance of the exposed wire. I then soldered the wire to the board. After each wire was soldered to the board I checked with a continuity meter to make sure I did not have a short. As seen in image 6 some of the insulation retracted during soldering the wires to the board. Wire ends were trimmed before putting the shell back on. Image 6. View from the left side, the board back in place with decoder a bit to far back Image 7. Decoder as seen from the right side of the frame The hardest part of this install was getting the board back in place. The motor wires run above the clip that holds the board in place and below the board. There is a small channel on each side that the wire is to run in. Getting the wires to stay put was a pain. As seen in image 4, the wires were pinched when the loco was assembled at the factory. After images 6 and 7 were taken I made a adjustment to the placement of the decoder by moving it towards the front of the loco. This adjustment took the stress off the board and let it lay flatter. There was not really a problem with the board being tilted other then looks. The tilt increased the contact pressure of the power pick up strips. Maybe I need to readjust... Putting the shell back on was not an issue since the decoder sits below the board and is not wider then the board. Image 8. Removed weight and screw - looks like a load for a flat or gon Running the decoder wires from below made for a clean looking install. If I had run the wires on top of the board things may have been tight and messy. I had not tested this loco before doing the install and was very please on how well it ran on my programing/test track. It needs some break in time. Gary
I have that same decoder DZ123 but I haven't installed it yet cause my layout is not DCC yet but sooner or later it will be DCC. For now I just use these locos as DC. Good tutorial on the install by the way.
