German DCC fitting instructions

[maroon warship]

I found the following link is a great help whilst wishing to fit DCC to my German built locomotives (including the Hornby/Minitrix ones):

 

http://www.mtkb.de/

 

Select the ""Lok-Decoder-Einbau" link and then the image of the firm you want. If you don't understand German, give it a try anyway. The pictures say a thousand words, and the service sheets for many locomotives are available as well by following the "Waschzettel" link instead of the company logo. Well done Modellbau Team K?¶ln-Bonn. This is a great collection of information.

[Nigelcliffe]

They are worth a look, and as you say pictures do help.

 

But, I think the ways they have done the Hornby-Minitrix tender types is harder than need be. I've fitted decoders to Britannia's and 9F's by using a small CT DCX75 stood on a piece of plasticard above the worm. That way no additional tender-loco wires are required, and its easy to wire the front lamp onto the decoder as well.

 

 

There were/are some photos of the Britannia I did on the old RM Web pages.

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=46360&p=702349&hilit=britannia#p702349

[maroon warship]

They are worth a look, and as you say pictures do help.

 

But, I think the ways they have done the Hornby-Minitrix tender types is harder than need be. I've fitted decoders to Britannia's and 9F's by using a small CT DCX75 stood on a piece of plasticard above the worm. That way no additional tender-loco wires are required, and its easy to wire the front lamp onto the decoder as well.

 

 

There were/are some photos of the Britannia I did on the old RM Web pages.

http://www.rmweb.co....itannia#p702349

 

Thanks Nigel. I used a TAM LD-G-21 for two minitirx 9Fs. They were dirt cheap (17?‚¬ each), and just fit into the tender if inserted at a 45 degree angle. There were problems with wires to the locomotive on tight curves though. I got around this by using laquered copper single strand wire as used in motor windings, coloured black with a permanent marker. It works, but I have never run the two 9Fs for any period or with any load and suspect they wires would ge very hot indeed. Incidentaly, the TAM LD-G-21 also turns the rubbish lima 31 motor into a controllable almost acceptable runner, and again just fits with a little bit of removal to the window plastic insert.

I now try to use an ESU LokPilot micro for all of my conversions, but they are a little too thick for most jobs. They do have the advantage of being DCC, Selectrix and Motorola comapatable though. I have a mixture of Selectrix and DCC, so they are otherwise perfect. I will try your method, which looks excellent, on my two Britannias and other 9F.

[Nigelcliffe]

The Britannia is easy, the existing lighting wire is removed, and the decoder wire follows the same path to the terminal just behind the bulb.

 

The 9F lighting was a little more involved, though simple. In the end, I wedged a piece of very thin (either 0.3 or 0.5mm) PCB behind the bulb, to insulate the bulb from the chassis pickup wire. The decoder with a wire attached to the PCB. I then cut a horizontal slot in the boiler weight (I used a small milling cutter, but a few careful strokes with a junior hacksaw would do it). The lighting wire then ran horizontally along the slot, and turned to vertical where the weight narrows slightly at the front before diving into the lighting box.

 

Sorry, no photos of the 9F, it (and the Britannia's) have been returned to their owner.