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Fitting Power Pick up to Coach Wheels


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1 hour ago, Mick Bonwick said:

I bought some of these a few years ago, but haven't yet used them. From the instructions and quotes on the website they look as if they will work, but I can't verify that from my own experiences. Yet.

 

https://www.dccconcepts.com/product/pickup-springs-1-5mm-axles-48-pack/

 

These pickups are designed for fitting to axles where one wheel is live and one insulated. Might need some more work if both wheels are insulated. 

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2 hours ago, SE4 Box said:

Can any provide any assistance/knowledge including materials for fitting power pick up from the rails to coach wheels please...

I would recommend taking a look at some of the more recent Bachmann coaches with lighting. The principle used is split axle, with no incremental friction pick up achieved by having the pinpoints running in dimples formed in a bronze alloy sheet. That's the way to do it...

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6 minutes ago, RFS said:

 

These pickups are designed for fitting to axles where one wheel is live and one insulated. Might need some more work if both wheels are insulated. 

 

The DCC Concepts springs are extremely low friction - which is a good thing. I have fitted conventional wiper pickups to bogies, but often find these a bit of a drag.........

I've used the springs on axles that previously had both wheels insulated.

 

Check the wheels - some  stock already has live wheel to axle - Dapol IOAs for example.

 

To make a wheel "live" to the axle, there are two options that I have used.

1. Conductive paint across the insulating bush - this is the easiest, but I find it has a resistance that can sometimes be a hindrance.

2. I prefer a more physical connection. Use a 0.6-0.7mm drill and drill through the insulation bush parallel to the axle. If needed, use a slightly larger drill that cuts slightly into the metal wheel - the axle will hardly be scratched. The hole can always be enlarged slightly with a tapered broach. Drill the hole a couple of times - say at 180 degrees to each other.

Then use a small piece of similar diameter nickel silver/brass/copper wire and push it into the holes. I will squeeze the wire with pliers to make it slightly oval/bent so that it is a tight interference fit in the hole and bridges between the axle and wheel. Trim off lush with the wheel. One insulated wheel is now uninsulated.

 

Cheers,

Mick

 

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2 minutes ago, Butler Henderson said:

There was  a range of coach wheels in the 1980s which had the axle live to one wheel and a brass bush on the axle for a contact strip to bear on. Not doubt now lost to the market like many useful items from the past.

 

DCC Concepts do have such wheel sets in their range - pre-fitted with pickup springs.

Problem is they proved so popular with the rush to fit DCC coach lighting, they sold out way ahead of their predicted timescales.

(I have enough for two coaches in my stock)

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If you are not going to power the lights from batteries aboard the coach, how will you avoid flicker?  The sensible way to do this is surely to have on board rechargeable batteries that can be charged from the track or a jack socket, but AFAIK nobody's ever done this.

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4 hours ago, The Johnster said:

If you are not going to power the lights from batteries aboard the coach, how will you avoid flicker?  The sensible way to do this is surely to have on board rechargeable batteries that can be charged from the track or a jack socket, but AFAIK nobody's ever done this.

Hi,

 

From my observations the lights don't seem to flicker* with the method previously mentioned employed by Bachmann of split axles and dimpled metal recesses for the pin point axle ends. 

 

* that's with eight pickups per bogie coach, one per wheel.

 

Regards

 

Nick

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

This is what I'm going to try

 

Been thinking about fitting lighting in the coaches for a while, but been unable to find any stock of the DCC Concepts wheel sets

 

However came across this 

 

https://www.petersspares.com/peters-spares-ps84-141mm-disc-coach-wheels-one-wheel-live-to-axle-x1-pair.ir

 

… with DCC Concepts pickup springs

 

https://www.hattons.co.uk/59657/dcc_concepts_dcf_ps2_0_pickup_springs_2mm_axle_for_oo_x_48/stockdetail.aspx

 

 

Have now ordered

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I’ve used the DCC concept springs with Hornby disc coach wheels on my NMT coaches, absolutely superb, just needs one spring on each bogie fitting and they run with no flickering 
 

i have also added a coach lighting circuit board with capacitor too, I’ll have to have a look what make they are though 

 

 

 

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I have a B set I converted about 20 ish years ago with Lima wheels, Romford pin point bearings and Hornby Dublo cast bogies. It has LED lights one to each compartment.  One wheel is live to the axle and pick up is via the pin points.  Each coach has a rectifier, an electrolytic capacitor and resistors to keep the brilliance under control when the set is powered but no loco in circuit.  It doesn't flicker when warmed up inside though has a few stutters on wet dirty track in the garden an works best with power hungry Hornby Dublo locos.  Much dimmer than the HST above the lights don't really show unless the room lights are off.  It runs free-er than it did before conversion.  

I also have an Auto trailer similar lights with Bachmann split axle wheels and wipers on the stub axles, not as free running but works equally well. The Bachmann wheels seem to be quite rare as Bachmann seem to have regressed from split axle to insulated bushes and  dead axle.   

A Hornby Dublo BG runs with an LED tail light with two button cells powering it which I forget to turn off, and a Hornby Dublo brake van runs with Wrenn metal tyre wheels and wiper contacts onto the tyres on one axle, contacts run on the actual tread. This drags horribly but again with rectifier and capacitor etc works OK,  with LED tail light and yellow LED light to keep the guard awake.

The only system I can't make work is pickups on the wheel backs, The drag is excessive or the contact is intermittent, or both.  The tyre tread pick up keeps the contact patch clean.   I can't make inter coach connections work either but there are lots of very flexible wires around for DCC tender pickups etc around now which I didn't have when experimenting. My ideal would be battery powered lights from batteries in bake compartmemts switched OFF when a microswitch is over a magnet with magnets strategically placed in the FY Carriage sidings etc.....

 

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The problem with track fed lights is that the brightness varies with train speed and go out when it stops.  LEDs are more stable than bulbs and consume less power, so are a good starting point.

 

I have a plan to power the lights from batteries* and add a switching circuit so that the come on when track power is applied and switch off after a suitable delay when power is removed. This would require track pick up but one wheel per rail should be sufficient. I was thinking of a thin strip of phosphor bronze bearing on the back of the wheel as close to the axle as possible to minimise drag.

 

Pound shop button batteries are cheap enough at 8 for £1 for the last ones I bought (a mix of CR2016, CR2025 and CR2032 3V cells) to avoid the need to use rechargeable batteries. I did have a scheme to use the lighting module from garden lights, but didn't pursue it.

The bits I ordered from the Far East for the circuit have just arrived, so I've no excuse for not proceeding....

It's intended for the headlights of North American locomotives, but there is no reason the same circuit can't be used for carriage illumination.

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The only thing the op didn’t mention was whether he’s running analog or DCC

 

if running  DCC then the lights won’t go out when stopped or vary in brightness 

 

if you fancy the battery powered route and want an easy off the shelf fix then train tech lighting bars are a good option, they are motion sensitive so once you start the train moving they come on and once stopped they stay illuminated for a number of minutes 

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I can recommend the DCC Concepts pick-up springs that have been mentioned already.

I've just replaced the home-made wiper pick-ups fitted to a Hornby mk3 coach, which seemed to cause excessive drag.

Now the coach runs just like it did before the lights were installed.

I probably went a bit OTT, & fitted all 4 axles ( 1 each way per bogie ) but there's no hint of flicker from the lights.

 

Cheers,

Phil.

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  • 2 months later...
On 04/01/2020 at 17:20, Phil Mc said:

I can recommend the DCC Concepts pick-up springs that have been mentioned already.

I've just replaced the home-made wiper pick-ups fitted to a Hornby mk3 coach, which seemed to cause excessive drag.

Now the coach runs just like it did before the lights were installed.

I probably went a bit OTT, & fitted all 4 axles ( 1 each way per bogie ) but there's no hint of flicker from the lights.

 

Cheers,

Phil.

I'm trying this. How on earth did you get a wheel off to get the spring on? I can't seem to shift them.

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54 minutes ago, Mack1979 said:

I'm trying this. How on earth did you get a wheel off to get the spring on? I can't seem to shift them.


‘Make sure you’re removing the one with the plastic centre !

 I gripped the axle in a pair of pliers and twisted/pulled the wheel.

 

HTH

 

Cheers,

Phil.

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I use a single wiper for each pole touching the axle feeding a rectifier/ capacitor then LEDs.

 

Where the wheels are double insulated I bridge the insulation with conductive paint. 

 

I fit one bogie per coach like this and it is enough for good lighting and to assist the whole train showing up on the block detectors.

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