# Bachmann 3 truck shay with dcc+ sound question



## BodsRailRoad (Jul 26, 2008)

I thinking of picking up a Bachmann DCC and sound equipped 3 truck shay, Little River Lumber Co. #2147 item #82697.

I don't have any experience with Bachman Spectrum shay and their DCC sound equipped locos and would like your opinions and advice on them.

How is the quality, sound system, and DCC operations.

Thanks, Ron


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Quasinami, no replacement parts, no support, sensitive to normal DCC voltages, i.e. will overvoltage at around 21 volts... 

Get one without the sound, add your own sound. 

Greg


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Ron, 

I had a friend of mine just purchase a Bachmann 3-truck Shay about six months ago WITHOUT SOUND. He had Jonathan install Phoenix and Airwire and it has been a great engine. Quite a few folks on this site recommended the 3-truck Shay before he purchased.


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## up9018 (Jan 4, 2008)

I purchased a standard non-sound version too, and threw the Bachmann PCB away and installed my own airwire and phoenix....I love it. 

Chris


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## Marauderer (Jan 5, 2008)

What all have said is correct. I bought mine with the sound and will eventually change it over to another system. I like the 3-Truck Shay and look forward to getting it the way i want it.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Barry, be sure to hang on to the sound/motor board when you swap it out, the Quasinami will fetch a price for those out there needing a replacement! 


Greg


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## BodsRailRoad (Jul 26, 2008)

Posted By Greg Elmassian on 22 Jun 2011 09:38 PM 
Quasinami, no replacement parts, no support, sensitive to normal DCC voltages, i.e. will overvoltage at around 21 volts... 

Get one without the sound, add your own sound. 

Greg 

Greg is there a simple way to limit the voltage from our setup to the shay?

Ron


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

The picture on the left is a normal full wave bridge. Apply AC to the two tilde ("~") terminals, and DC appears at the + and -.


To make a compact and efficient voltage dropper, connect a string of diodes from the plus to the minus terminals as shown, then put the device in line with one leg of a circuit (like from the track)... (wire in like a resistor). Notice that no matter what the polarity, the current goes through 6 diodes, or 0.7 volts times 6, or 4.2 volts constant drop.


This is good for reducing voltage to a dcc decoder that does not meet nmra specs on max voltage.













Just use more or fewer diodes to achieve the desired voltage drop...

Regards, Greg


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## BodsRailRoad (Jul 26, 2008)

Thanks Greg!


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

A tip: shoot for 19v, it's marginal at 20 and definitely unhappy at 21. 

Regards, Greg


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