# Is this a bad Bachmann 44 ton switcher?



## tkruger (Jan 18, 2009)

I purchased a Bachmann 44 ton switcher with DCC on board. I can hear gear noise when it runs. I had a spectrum and it was silent. Is this noise normal. It is close to the level put out by an Athearn Blue Box locomotive, not acceptable for a new locomotive. Is this a fluke, is there a break-in procedure that is not listed in the instructions? 

I just received this from Walthers and they are closed on weekends as is Bachmann. 

Anyone eles have this. I had thought this would be the same as the old spectrum I had noise wise but it is not even close.


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## wingnut163 (Jan 3, 2013)

i would think it is not normal.

monday call them and I'll bet they will have you send it back.


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## Genetk44 (Feb 26, 2016)

tkruger said:


> I purchased a Bachmann 44 ton switcher with DCC on board. I can hear gear noise when it runs. I had a spectrum and it was silent. Is this noise normal. It is close to the level put out by an Athearn Blue Box locomotive, not acceptable for a new locomotive. Is this a fluke, is there a break-in procedure that is not listed in the instructions?
> 
> I just received this from Walthers and they are closed on weekends as is Bachmann.
> 
> Anyone eles have this. I had thought this would be the same as the old spectrum I had noise wise but it is not even close.


Well without actually hearing it it is hard to say if its abnormally loud. Both the 44 and 70 tonners are noisy, especially compared to most of the Spectrum and newer locos. Try running it around the layout for 20 minutes in forward and then 20 minutes in reverse at half-speed. That might smooth it out a bit. But no matter what...they are noisy, noticably so.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

It is not unusual for new locos to make various
noises. Sometimes the trucks need lubrication,
sometimes the shell vibrates against the other
parts.

Remove the shell and run the loco. That way
you can pinpoint the source of the noise.

Don


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

Have a look at this one on YouTube, seems quiet enough.


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## tkruger (Jan 18, 2009)

Thanks for the video, maybe I just need to run mine more. I was discouraged after 20 minutes and it not showing any signs of getting quieter.


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## Genetk44 (Feb 26, 2016)

Cycleops said:


> Have a look at this one on YouTube, seems quiet enough. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j2xV4eJQs1A


I wouldn't call the one in the video quiet compared to Spectrum or things like Atlas,Athearn Genesis or Rapido locos or even the more modern Bachmann stuff.

It has the typical hum at low speed steps and the typical gear/growl of all 4 of my 44-tonners and my 70-tonners. I'd say the 44-tonner in the video is a perfectly normal example, soundwise, of these Bachmann locos.

Tkruger...if yours sounds like the one in the video then I'd say its normal for these models and yours is ok.


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## Eddystone (Sep 2, 2014)

I think some of this noise, including the hum at low speeds, is due to the DCC pulse width modulation waveform. My DC-only 44s don't seem to exhibit this characteristic. Having had a couple of these little suckers completely apart, my impression is that the drivetrain is just as complicated as that of a full-size loco but that the gears are tiny and have a larger than normal amount of play or "lash" in them. These tiny, loose fitting gears are subject to noise as a result of vibration in any mode, and it would be greater in DCC than in DC because the gear is being pulsed (motor on-off-on) many times per second when it is hit by the DCC pulse width modulated waveform. The more "slop" you have in the gear train, the more noise you will hear, especially if DCC controlled. A gear lube with some "body" to it as opposed to a thin oil might reduce the noise.


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