paul 27 Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 Having problems with stalling over dead frog points could it be the contacts need adjusting though the instructions warn of this, pity there are no contacts on the trailer, has any one else had this problem. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butler Henderson Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 Having problems with stalling over dead frog points could it be the contacts need adjusting though the instructions warn of this, pity there are no contacts on the trailer, has any one else had this problem. Eh? Their are pick ups to all wheels. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted December 26, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 26, 2016 Having problems with stalling over dead frog points could it be the contacts need adjusting though the instructions warn of this, pity there are no contacts on the trailer, has any one else had this problem. Eh? Their are pick ups to all wheels. That could be the problem, the lack of pick ups on the trailer. Mine has them so it looks as if you've got a dodgy one. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougN Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 SRman that is the best install I have read so far. It is similar to what we were discussing a couple of nights ago. Well done! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butler Henderson Posted December 27, 2016 Share Posted December 27, 2016 (edited) Obviously until I source a replacement bearing (or complete wheelset) from Bachmann I cannot finish my dcc conversion, however I decided I could at least finish the trolley off and make certain that no shorts can arise. So first off I glued some plastic card to the insides of the metal chassis. Relatively thick plastic card was okay as I am using a CT Electronik DCX74zD , 9mm x 7mm x 2.6mm 1A avg 2A max with 4 functions (not that I will be using any), Significantly this appears to be cheaper than the TCS Z2 used by SR man and the DCX76 used by Andy Y albeit I have just noticed Coastal DCC now seem to have sold out of them. A wider decoder such as the DCX76 would need thinner insulation to the sides. Then refitted the wheels and had an idea - I had used Loctite 60 second all purpose glue to stick the plastic card in place (£6 for a 20g tube at most places but £4.85 at Tool Station - a near superglue quick contact adhesive). A very thin narrow glue thread was laid across the top of the bearings and the adjacent chassis sides and it seemed to work in making sure the bearings, and hence the wheelsets, stay in place no matter how much handling the chassis gets while not screwed together. Here is the assembled wired up decoder (bar to the motor). The pick up wires from the trailer have been replaced by longer ones and soldered to the metal tag to the pick up strip that fits in the trolley along with the track wires from the decoder. The motor wires trail off and the two function wires (the other functions are solder pads on the decoder) have been chopped short. The function wires were taped with their ends just clear of the decoder, which then was pushed through the hole of the middle of the chassis ensuring that the wires to the trailer are equally divided around the drawbar pin and the baseplate clipped back in place ensuring that the pick ups are aligned correctly. A self adhesive pad was stuck to the underside of the decoder as positioned in the chassis (the DCX74zD is double sided) to ensure it does not short on the track wires/ metal tag underneath. The last thing to do with the trolley I found before screwing it back together was to glue the floor in place as I found it easily unclipped on one side when placing the chassis back in position. The motor leads will need soldering to the wires from the coreless motor as evident in other postings but that will wait for the replacement bearing. Edited December 27, 2016 by Butler Henderson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul 27 Posted December 27, 2016 Share Posted December 27, 2016 (edited) That could be the problem, the lack of pick ups on the trailer. Mine has them so it looks as if you've got a dodgy one. Mine must have them not taken it apart, may be its my controller being DC Feedback which is causing the problems though I don't know why if they will run on DCC. Well looking with a very strong magnifying glass i can just see them, have also tried adjusting the back to back it is either the wheels or pick ups, I don't want to try to dismantle it is so small and delicate I am very disappointed will end up being an expensive static model. Edited December 29, 2016 by paul 27 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piggie Posted December 27, 2016 Share Posted December 27, 2016 I notice that Hattons are once more offering DCC fitting on the trolley having withdrawn the service a few weeks ago Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Roger Sunderland Posted January 1, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 1, 2017 (edited) Using the same method as SR man and a TCS Z2 decoder. Wired the grey and orange to the motor. All OK tested on decoder tester, reads 3, as it should. Wired the red and black to the pickup plate. Tested reads 255 on my Digitrax system which indicates a dead short. I've checked all the wires with a multimeter and all are ok. Any ideas? I think it may be that the core less motor is not registering as the decoder takes a new address ok. All working well now but won't read the address back Edited January 1, 2017 by Roger Sunderland Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Legroom Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 I couldn't resist one of these little beauties for the 1970s Scottish layout I hope to build one day! Here it is with a cruder US cousin on the Milan and Cairo RR. The Bachmann Fairmont has added side curtains to hide the interior and actually runs very well. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Using the same method as SR man and a TCS Z2 decoder. Wired the grey and orange to the motor. All OK tested on decoder tester, reads 3, as it should. Wired the red and black to the pickup plate. Tested reads 255 on my Digitrax system which indicates a dead short. I've checked all the wires with a multimeter and all are ok. Any ideas? I think it may be that the core less motor is not registering as the decoder takes a new address ok. All working well now but won't read the address back If this is any help, the unit is so light it has difficulty registering its presence. I kept a heavy finger on mine to press it down on the track while reading and programming, and all worked perfectly. Not pressing down on it gave me a few strange numbers on the readback. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porcy Mane Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 If this is any help, the unit is so light it has difficulty registering its presence. I kept a heavy finger on mine to press it down on the track while reading and programming, and all worked perfectly. Not pressing down on it gave me a few strange numbers on the readback. I had exactly the same problem. (and the same solution) I also find that this lack of grip make the whole assemble waddle along the track at slow speed yet strangely it will propel a Hornby Pullman that has plenty of drag due to the lighting pick ups. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Ben Alder Posted January 3, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted January 3, 2017 Managed to get a bit of time this last week to get mine into service - no chips needed, being firmly of the analogue mind,but added some of the Preiser figures. Although HO they don't look too small, and a bit of toning down and a wash was enough for the assemble. I haven't done anything yet about the trailer load bar a quick paint but something a bit more realistic will no doubt come to mind in time. Cant believe how well it runs - the PW dept will be pleased they don't have to tramp any more... 20 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butler Henderson Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 Advised by Bachmann that an axle (I presume with wheels) is £4 plus postage. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunsen Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 Hello, This is my first post on RMWeb but I have been lurking about watching this and other interestring topics on this site for a year or so now, having got back into railway modelling thanks to a friend with a large shed/railway room in his back garden. I managed to squeeze a tiny decoder into the trailer using a stripped-down Bachmann 6-pin harness that is closely connected to the motor. I cut a suitably sized hole in the moulded on ballast and then covered the result with Tamiya masking tape, which was then painted to look like a tarpaulin. Hi. This is also my first post.I have been following this topic with interest as I bought a Wickham trolley and am hoping to fit a decoder.I think your conversion is excellent as I was going to fit the DCC chip under the roof in the trolley but did not want all the wires between trolley and trailer. It is a while since I hard wired a loco so could you just explain how you have wired it and have you left the trolley untouched i.e not removed or touched the PCB ? Thanks you for any advice, Mark. Apologies in advance if I have posted in the wrong place or incorrectly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted January 5, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 5, 2017 Hi.This is also my first post.I have been following this topic with interest as I bought a Wickham trolley and am hoping to fit a decoder.I think your conversion is excellent as I was going to fit the DCC chip under the roof in the trolley but did not want all the wires between trolley and trailer.It is a while since I hard wired a loco so could you just explain how you have wired it and have you left the trolley untouched i.e not removed or touched the PCB ?Thanks you for any advice,Mark.Apologies in advance if I have posted in the wrong place or incorrectly. Hi Mark, I kept the dcc decoder fitting to the trailer so the trolley and its internal electrics and the wired connection to the trailer are untouched. I put a Bachmann 6pin decoder harness between the motor and the two wires serving the motor from the pickups on the trailer and trolley. I stripped the insulation in the harness plug back to reduce its length/bulk and trimmed back the wires as much as possible. You only need the red, black, orange and grey wires - orange and grey to the motor and red and black to the pickup wires. Test fit the harness wires to the motor to make sure that they are not cut too short before you solder them in place. Ditto with the harness wires to the pickup wires. You could just hard wire the decoder but I don't like doing this with a £30 decoder so opted for the decoder harness option. The trailer body and ballast load are a single moulding so a hole was cut in the ballast to let it fit back on over the decoder and harness as shown in the pictures. The tarp is thus needed to hide the conversion. Cheers Darius Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunsen Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 Hi Mark, I kept the dcc decoder fitting to the trailer so the trolley and its internal electrics and the wired connection to the trailer are untouched. I put a Bachmann 6pin decoder harness between the motor and the two wires serving the motor from the pickups on the trailer and trolley. I stripped the insulation in the harness plug back to reduce its length/bulk and trimmed back the wires as much as possible. You only need the red, black, orange and grey wires - orange and grey to the motor and red and black to the pickup wires. Test fit the harness wires to the motor to make sure that they are not cut too short before you solder them in place. Ditto with the harness wires to the pickup wires. You could just hard wire the decoder but I don't like doing this with a £30 decoder so opted for the decoder harness option. The trailer body and ballast load are a single moulding so a hole was cut in the ballast to let it fit back on over the decoder and harness as shown in the pictures. The tarp is thus needed to hide the conversion. Cheers Darius Thank you, currently on with this project,chip wired and working first time,running ok,hole cut in trailer load,just a few refinements and figures to fix in.When finished photos to follow,many thanks for your help. Kind regards Mark 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted January 6, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 6, 2017 Thank you, currently on with this project,chip wired and working first time,running ok,hole cut in trailer load,just a few refinements and figures to fix in.When finished photos to follow,many thanks for your help. Kind regards Mark Hi Mark, Glad your conversion worked. It's always a great relief when the loco runs first time under dcc when you have passed the point of no return and wired everything up. Cheers Darius Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunsen Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 (edited) Thank you, currently on with this project,chip wired and working first time,running ok,hole cut in trailer load,just a few refinements and figures to fix in.When finished photos to follow,many thanks for your help.Kind regardsMark Some photos of fitting a chip to the Wickham trolley,in the same style as Darius(so credit to Darius) I have fitted a Gaugemaster DCC22 (Very small loco decoder). All the wiring is to the trailer .Nothing in the Wickham trolley has been touched and it was left connected by the joining wires whilst the conversion was done. I firstly cut the wires to the decoder harness and removed all the wire except red,black,orange grey. These four wires where then shortened by approximately half their length. The motor was removed from the trailer and held by a clamp whilst I connected the grey and orange wires of the decoder to the blue and red wires of the motor. The joins covered with heat shrink. The two pick up wires that come from the trolley into the trailer were then connected to the red and black wires from the decoder. The motor was replaced back in the trailer in the tiny plastic motor holding supports and tested. The chip was covered in heat shrink and once satisfified the chip was positioned on top of the motor and held in place by tape. The plastic covering load was cut (guesstimate) and filed to fit over the motor and chip. The load was then covered by masking tape and then once satisfied coveredin tissue paper to try and get a Tarpaulin effect. I am in the process of painting the load and trying to get some figure to fit . Edited January 8, 2017 by Bunsen 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butler Henderson Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 The fitting of the decoder in the trailer rather than the trolley chassis does mean that the capacitors etc remain fitted which many remove as a matter of course. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Midland Mole Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Managed to get a bit of time this last week to get mine into service - no chips needed, being firmly of the analogue mind,but added some of the Preiser figures. Although HO they don't look too small, and a bit of toning down and a wash was enough for the assemble. I haven't done anything yet about the trailer load bar a quick paint but something a bit more realistic will no doubt come to mind in time. Cant believe how well it runs - the PW dept will be pleased they don't have to tramp any more... IMG_0553-crop.jpg IMG_0557-crop.jpg Lovely job. I'm sorry if this has been said somewhere else in this thread, but which Preiser figures are these? I just want to make sure I get the right ones. - Alex Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunsen Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 WP_20170106_001.jpgWP_20170106_002.jpgWP_20170106_003.jpgWP_20170106_004.jpgWP_20170106_005.jpgWP_20170106_004.jpgWP_20170106_005.jpgWP_20170106_009.jpgWP_20170106_011.jpgWP_20170106_010.jpgWP_20170107_002.jpgWP_20170108_001.jpg Some photos of fitting a chip to the Wickham trolley,in the same style as Darius(so credit to Darius) I have fitted a Gaugemaster DCC22 (Very small loco decoder). All the wiring is to the trailer .Nothing in the Wickham trolley has been touched and it was left connected by the joining wires whilst the conversion was done. I firstly cut the wires to the decoder harness and removed all the wire except red,black,orange grey. These four wires where then shortened by approximately half their length. The motor was removed from the trailer and held by a clamp whilst I connected the grey and orange wires of the decoder to the blue and red wires of the motor. The joins covered with heat shrink. The two pick up wires that come from the trolley into the trailer were then connected to the red and black wires from the decoder. The motor was replaced back in the trailer in the tiny plastic motor holding supports and tested. The chip was covered in heat shrink and once satisfified the chip was positioned on top of the motor and held in place by tape. The plastic covering load was cut (guesstimate) and filed to fit over the motor and chip. The load was then covered by masking tape and then once satisfied coveredin tissue paper to try and get a Tarpaulin effect. I am in the process of painting the load and trying to get some figure to fit . Sorry for my poor editing in previous post as new to this.I have tried attaching some video footage of the Wickham trolley running but it says my file is too big. However it runs excellently even over my standard Insulofrog points .In one place on my layout I have 5 Insulofrog points in quick succession and it runs over them at low speed without any faltering.Hope this was helpful for anybody considering hard wiring the Wickham to DCC. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bacon butty Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Masochist! The DCX76 has just arrived from Digitrains and fits perfectly in its intended home. No room for heatshrink around its sides though unless you want to file away any weight. 1.jpg 2.jpg Hi Andy, Have you managed to find time to complete this project - if you have what months Model Rail is the article going in? Thanks Stuart Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted January 8, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 8, 2017 Hi Andy, Have you managed to find time to complete this project - if you have what months Model Rail is the article going in? Thanks Stuart I suspect BRM is a more likely recipient of Mr Y's project report. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bacon butty Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 I suspect BRM is a more likely recipient of Mr Y's project report. Doh! - it's with all of todays excitement! Sorry Andy - and thanks for the correction Tony! Stuart 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Hi Andy, Have you managed to find time to complete this project - if you have what months Model Rail is the article going in? Thanks Stuart As the others have said it's BRM. A step-by-step will be in BRM Spring (out late Feb or Early March) including some content on EMing it. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now