Convert Bachmann Spectrum Pennsy K4 Pacific

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T

tmiller

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Gentlemen,

I just bought an HO Bachmann Spectrum Pennsy K4 Pacific locomotive from a friend. What a beautiful detailed engine it is. Only problem is that it DC, and my layout is DCC. I would really like to convert it to DCC sound. I have installed sound decoders in 2 of my diesels, so I know just enough to be dangerous. However they were DCC ready so all I had to do was change the circuit board and do some wiring. But I have never converted one from scratch.

So my question is where do I start? I assume I have to make or change the electrical pick-ups in the locomotive. Not sure where to start there. Then running a cable to the tender where the decoder will go. I would think mounting the decoder in the tender would be the easy part, because of space. I haven't even looked at the locomotive to see how it comes apart to access the motor and pick-ups.

Any help in getting this project going would be most helpful. Can anyone direct me to any How To's on this conversion? I am a visual type of guy, so if I can see how to do it, I can make it happen.

Thanks for any advice and help.

Ted
 
Since this is a 'spectrum' it may be DCC ready.
So first step is to open the tender and see what is in there.

Carefully examine the inside of the drivers, there may be power pick-ups on all wheels. These may need tweeking to get then to work perfectly. Also, look at the wheels on the tender. There may be pickups on all four axles.

The K4's they currently sell are DCC and/or DCC with sound.
How old is the one you just bought?

I installed a SoundTrax decoder in Bachmann's Spectrum '10 wheeler' about 7 years ago. This was DCC ready and had a connector so conversion to DCC was easy. The only extra work was to mount and wire in a speaker.
 
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I do that the last time it was run was in the late 1980's. I will open the tender and see what is happening.
 


i dont think anything was DCC READY in the late 80s im sure some of you gurus can correct me if im wrong
 
Yea... Most likely you will need to re wire everything... If you can solder and remove the screws that keep the tender/ boiler on you can do the job....biggest pain wll be removing the parts to get to the loco motor and power pick up wires if equipped...a dcc decoder teather will have to be hard wired in and the speaker and decoder contained in the tender. My advice is to buy a cheep decoder to test with first. No need to put a 100 dollar sound decoder in and find out you smoked it on your first install..the speaker is just 2 wires so that's easy. The important part is that you hook all the power and motor wires up correctly.
 
I would start by closely examining the circuit board in the tender. Most Spectrum boards I am familiar with will have all the inputs and outputs marked on the board. Then all you have to do is hard wire the harness, using these markings. First you'd remove the wire from the board, then solder it to the appropriate wire on the harness. When you're through, then you can just throw the circuit board away.
 
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