Bemo Ge4/4 II pickup wire

[Talbotjohn]

I recently bought a used Bemo Ge4/4II. It looks very nice and runs very well but I noticed one of wires connecting the pickups on one side of one bogie has come adrift - I can see it floating about. It might be possible to refix it with a fine bit soldering iron from underneath but I don't want to risk melting the bogie sides as access is very limited.

Any thoughts about how much I need to dismantle to gain better access?

[Salmotrutta]

You will need to remove the bogie - which is actually quite simple. There is a steel pin that goes through the chassis and you can gently "drift" that out. I use a smaller diameter drill bit and tap it VERY gently to remove the pin. You might then be able to get an iron onto the pick up - if you are VERY careful. If at all unsure then you could remove the grey plastic keeper plate; I haven't done this but it appears to be a clip fit underneath the bogie - 2 little black pegs. It looks like you have to push the plastic to one side of the bogie to release it. It might be easier to do this before removing the bogie. If I do another one I will probably remove the plastic keeper plate as I did melt it a bit when I did mine (it was a railcar but they are the same construction).

 

I just installed DCC in one of these and if you like I can share pictures of the installation - I also installed LED lamps.

[Talbotjohn]

You will need to remove the bogie - which is actually quite simple. There is a steel pin that goes through the chassis and you can gently "drift" that out. I use a smaller diameter drill bit and tap it VERY gently to remove the pin. You might then be able to get an iron onto the pick up - if you are VERY careful. If at all unsure then you could remove the grey plastic keeper plate; I haven't done this but it appears to be a clip fit underneath the bogie - 2 little black pegs. It looks like you have to push the plastic to one side of the bogie to release it. It might be easier to do this before removing the bogie. If I do another one I will probably remove the plastic keeper plate as I did melt it a bit when I did mine (it was a railcar but they are the same construction).

 

I just installed DCC in one of these and if you like I can share pictures of the installation - I also installed LED lamps.

Hi,

Thanks for replying and sharing your useful experience. It is the sort of advice I was hoping for. Undoing the clips and removing the keeper plate is a good way to try in the first instance. 

 

Yes I would like to see the DCC installation photos please especially as I have one loco with a duff headlight. Replacing bulbs with LEDs is the way to go now although I do have some grain of rice bulbs and  appropriate resistors that used to be state of the art for installing number plate and headlights in the top of cabs of HO US diesels.

Best Wishes.

John.

[Salmotrutta]

Hi John! Here's some photos of the installation in  Ge 6/6 II. For DCC I now remove all the wiring and gubbins from the circuit board like in the pictures as I re-purpose it to connect the chip and other wires, sometime cutting the copper tracks in places to create solder pads. I then remove the roof and put the body back on - then using a marker draw where there are gaps in the body for wires and resistors. This model is worse that the Ge 4/4 II as there's hardly any room. The 1k ohm resistors are under the board where there's space in the transmission. 760 ohm are a better choice as the lights are pretty dim. The micro leds are from China at about $20 for 20 warm white (off eBay). They're attached to the little metal plate using 3M black putty (Blu-tak works too) - then placed where the bulb went. There's a light pipe at the front of the light bulb hole for top headlight - that needs to be secured with PVA or similar to stop it coming loose. The longer side faces towards the hole otherwise the light is dim (found that out the hard way). 

 

I used surface mount resistors in the Ge 4/4 II installation. I will post a picture when I can. If you like the installation then let me know as I'm in the UK next week and I can post you some resistors and a couple of LEDs.

Richard 

[Salmotrutta]

Here we go - Ge 4/4 III. Hopefully clear enough to see what I did. In the picture of the three loks you can see the difference between the lighting of the locos; the one at the back is the original bulbs, the one on front right is LED and 1mK ohm and the one fron left is the Ge 4/4 II with LED and 750k ohm.

[Talbotjohn]

Here we go - Ge 4/4 III. Hopefully clear enough to see what I did. In the picture of the three loks you can see the difference between the lighting of the locos; the one at the back is the original bulbs, the one on front right is LED and 1mK ohm and the one fron left is the Ge 4/4 II with LED and 750k ohm.

Hi Richard

Thanks for posting these pictures. I can see that the the 750k ohm and LED is the better LED set up. Many thanks for the offer of some components to try but don't worry if you are busy.

Best Wishes

John.