I have 2 Bachmann N scale RS 3 locomotives, which were released in 2011. I bought them on eBay from the same seller, many years after their release. They were advertised as practically new and they look it, with virtually no wheel wear or even dirt and cosmetically excellent. I never used them until I recently ran them to prepare them for sale.
They are both factory DCC equipped. One unit runs fine in both DC and DCC modes. The other is totally non-responsive in DCC mode including lack of headlights. In DC it runs like a spotted ape (that is, excellently). I popped the shell off the chassis and performed a cursory inspection of the DCC board looking for loose wires and discolored chips and other obvious signs of damage but could not find any. I tried the CV8 reset to 8 and got nothing - not knowing if this is a valid operation for the type of decoder Bachmann used in this early example of DCC from Bachmann.
Time to give up on the DCC operation of this unit?
