Model Railroading > Bachman center cab & DCC

Greetings
I was rummaging though a bunch of model railroad stuff (junk) that I had stored away and came across an HO Bachman center cab that still runs on DC

Has anyone converted one of these over to DCC? I guess I need to know if a decoder will stand the voltage on the truck motors? This unit has dual motors. Must be an older version.

Thanks

KR



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/11 16:44 by kdrtrains.

KR

No, I have no experience.

You need to be concerned about amperage, not voltage.
Amperage, amps, amp, or current all refers to the same
thing.

It sounds like you have a Bachmann Spectrum 44 Tonner.

The amount of current both motors draw is very low. I think
a Z scale decoder would work, such as a Digitrax
DZ125
http://www.digitrax.com/prd_mobdec_dz125.php

It is small enough to fit in a Z scale engine, handle one
amp motor draw, and has two functions.

They come factory equipped with a basic decoder if RTR is
more your speed.

http://www.micromark.com/Bachmann-HO-Standard-Line-GE-44-Ton-Diesel-Switcher-DCC-Equipped-PaintedandUnlettered-Black,10075.html.html


Larry

I did the conversion with no problem. using an NCE board. I used the small NCE board and it fit in the cab area with some room. I do believe it is one of the DS14 boards. Has 1.3 amps which is more than enough for the 44T Get new motors. The old motors are 3 pole and suck. the newer ones are 5 pole and work better. I have found though that china way over lubes them. So much that it easily gets on the commutator and burns out the motor. So wash off all the grease an oil. Then relube it yourself. Havent had a single problem with my two motor 44T since i did that. runs great.
Shane