russellwar Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 Hi there Does anyone know whether any of the later 158 releases are dcc ready? Thanks Russell Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trains4U Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 Hi there Does anyone know whether any of the later 158 releases are dcc ready? Thanks Russell No. They run the same chassis as the 170 in my DCC fitting guide, though some work is required on the bodyshell to allow space for a decoder. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Etched Pixels Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 You don't need to touch the bodyshell at all. Use a reasonably small size decoder and put it in some of the spare space between the bogies. That IMHO makes a much cleaner install. If you are fitting a sound decoder I think its easiest to put the decoder and speaker in the trailing car. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
russellwar Posted January 3, 2010 Author Share Posted January 3, 2010 Thanks, was just thinking if there was a new one I could do a simply chassis swap as I have a unit with 2 powered cars and neither run particually well. Oh well! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Etched Pixels Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 If its the old spring drive ones then the body is different to the body for the Bachmann style chassis. If it's a Bachmann style one then it should run well but they can be quite poor out of the box with poor pickups and caked with enough grease in them to oil a politician. For my Bachmann ones I did the following - Remove body - Unscrew chassis and remove motor/drive shafts, bogies. - Take each bogie, dismantle it and clean all the old oil out of it (a long soak in soapy water should help after a bit of work with cotton buds etc). Clean the wheels to especially the back - Adjust pickups on the bogie making sure they press on the wheels - Clean all the gunk out of the chassis block. The two crappy springy bits on each bogie press onto this to conduct power to the chassis block but its often full of goo as supplied so totally useless. I go further and replace them with very fine wires when dcc converting as they eventually gunk up again - Fit close couplers and reassemble bogies - Reassemble chassis (best done on a table on one side) as you can then fit all the parts into one side and drop the other on top - Relube lightly - Run in - Add body After that treatment including wiring the pickups I've not had any problems with them. The spring drive ones can be a bit more fiddly to get running smoothly but should also run reliably if properly fettled. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Al Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 The spring drive ones can be a bit more fiddly to get running smoothly but should also run reliably if properly fettled. They can indeed be made to run well. The main issue with them seems to be split gears and centering of the armature. If these are seen to then these chassis generally are very reliable. Cheers, Alan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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