Bachman DCC controller

"estarriol" wrote

I'd be more inclined to suggest that you look at the Lenz Compact. It has much more long term usability than the Bachmann product currently has.

John.

Hi

I agree with John - I am a returning model railway enthusiast as well and have asked a similar question, titled: Lenz compact controller - how good? That thread might be a help.

Best wishes .... and I hope you do "bite the bullet"

:)

Steve

If you wish to reprogram a decoder to anything other than the factory default values you will need a separate dedicated programmer. Bachmann's unit gives you change of address, select function and not much else.

Ditto, but avoid Bachmann's own green diesel with built-in DCC. These are being flogged off separately at £40 a throw and there are few takers.

(kim)

Yes it was reports that the prechipped cl25 was not great that stopped me buying the starter set, hence the query about the controller in its own.

The chipped 25 can be *made* to work well but it's as much work as it is to chip it yourself. The E-Z controller is also very basic in the sense it is fed from a plug/transformer unit rated at only 1.0 amp of the type usually found in conventional train sets. That would tend to rule out any kind of future expansion. It's adequate for my purposes as I only use it with a test track to check if locos - both analogue and digital - are working or not.

(kim)

"estarriol" wrote

There's not much wrong with the loco but its performance can be greatly improved by the simple expedient of removing the yellow capacitors (and probably the rest of the gubbins) which is soldered across the motor brushes.

It can be transformed into a superb loco by the simple expedient of hard-wiring a better spec of decoder in place of the one built in to the PCB situated on top of the chassis.

Don't knock it, the set this loco comes in is excellent value-for-money.

John.