Model Railway Forum

Folks,
Sorry I'm sure this has been asked lots of times before, however I hope someone can help with this.
I don't do DCC but I have recently acquired two DCC ready locos. Having read that you can run them on analogue, I carefully tried the 1st one, a Bachmann G2 0-8-0 which ran perfectly well ( I use a H&M Duette controller).
The 2nd loco is a Hornby Grange 4-6-0. On turning on the controller the loco didn't move and made no sound. I quickly therefore turned the power off - there was no discernible " armature burn" smell. Suspecting a short circuit l tilted the Grange to one side thus leaving only the "Driver's" side wheels on the track and thus the "Fireman's" side in fresh air. I then placed an old DC analogue Jinty on the track and turned on the power, and the Jinty began to run. On allowing the Grange to sit properly on the track the Jinty immediately stopped so I quickly lifted the Grange off the track and the Jinty then set off again.
So clearly the DCC fitted Grange will not run on analogue although the G2 was fine.
My simple question is therefore are Bachmann and Hornby DCC locos wired differently which would explain the above?

Cheers,
Monte

DCC ready just means that it is wired for analogue but has a blanking plug fitted which can, if necessary, be replaced by a decoder to make it DCC fitted.
Even a loco fitted with a decoder will run happily on DC provided DC running has not been disabled on the chip.
As yours is shorting I suspect you have something else causing the problem - broken wires, faulty soldering, the list is almost endless.
Check there are no track pins or other bits of metal stuck in the works then start working through the wiring with a multimeter to check for faults.

A friend of mine recently had a similar issue with a DCC rrady loco.

it turned out to be that the dcc blanking plug was faulty.

Thanks guys for your kind replies.
Steve - I'm just starting on a brand new layout so I only put together 4 new yard lengths on a piece of chipboard to test the locos on.The Grange is brand new and that was the first time out of the box.
I haven't even looked inside it yet so any ideas as to what to look for to see if there is a blanking plate fitted, and if so how do I check to see if it's ok?
Alternatively how difficult is it to remove or just bypass the chip?
Regards,
Monte

If it is DCC ready it wont have a decoder just a blanking plate, and it must have one or the other to run.

Monte, very simple answer if it is brand new, take it back to the shop for an exchange. Any fiddling will likely invalidate the warranty.

DCC loco on a DC layout.

It will work fine if :-
1. You are not using a feedback controller.
2. You are not using electronic track cleaners.
3. The DCC decoder has been programmed to run on DC. (The majority do as a default setting).

DCC READY and DCC FITTED.

DCC READY mean they have a DCC socket on the loco so if you decide to convert the loco to DCC, one just unplugs the blanking plug and plugs in the decoder.

DCC FITTED means that the loco has a DCC decoder fitted.

I hope what I write makes sense.

Hi Monte,

If it's brand new, yes, I'd suggest getting it back to the vendor to deal with, as others have said.

That said, the blanking plug shuold be plugged into the DCC socket, but thats all I'll be able to tell you, as they differ from loco to loco.

Regards,

Thank you guys,
The Grange although brand new was bought 3rd hand so I have no idea who the original vendor was.
So failing any concrete info as to any wiring differences between Hornby and Bachmann DCC chips I may have to resort to trying to disconnect the chip - should be fun!

Cheers
Monte

So the loco is not brand new, its really second-hand and so its highly possible DC operation has been turned Off in the decoder by a previous owner. You really need to have it checked by someone who has a DCC system that ideally can read CVs. Then have CV29 adjusted to ensure DC operation is set to On. i.e. CV29 value set to 6 or 38.
Or if you're only ever to run it on DC, remove the decoder and replace it with a suitable DC operation only blanking plug.

What is the Hornby Rxxxx number of the Grange?