Switching Bachman (or others) DCC ready tenders

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Please does someone know if its possible to switch dcc ready tenders to different dcc ready engines of the same or different manufacturer. Assuming decoder chip is in tender...it seems tenders could be swapped (an oil vanderbuilt for a coal square side) as long as the plugs are compatible....so then would all Bachmans use the same plug, or MDC, etc?...thanks...Paul

-- Paul Nunes (Pstonecastle@aol.com), November 16, 2003

Answers

It may be possible to switch the tenders but I wouldn't blindly trust any manufacturer to supply the same cable connections on any connectors between loco and tender if that same loco-tender combination is not available as a catalog item. Swapping tenders between manufacturers is even worse as the plugs themselves may not be compatible.

To be safe rather than sorry, check it before plugging them together and applying power.

Which wire does what job is easy to check with a handy-dandy ohmeter. Disconnect the cable between loco and tender. Open the tender shells & trace where the individual wires go. Clip a small dia piece of wire to one of the the ohmmeter leads to poke into the connector if needed. Verify that there is near zero ohms from each connector pin to the source of that wire (right side wheels for example). Draw yourself a picture for each tender so there will be no confusion. Do not rely on the color of the wire...Trace it. If necessary, re-wire the alternate tender connector to match that of the original.

DonV

-- Don Vollrath (dvollrath@magnetek.com), November 17, 2003.


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