Quote from: Hunt on April 29, 2007, 06:30:56 PM
Current draw does not need to be a guess and hope it works affair. Do a Stall Test. Without any decoders installed, remove the shell, hold the flywheel of each motor at the same time, turn power of a DC power pack to 12 to 16 volts and measure the amp draw. Because there are two motors involved get someone to help you do the Stall Testing.

in normal operation the glue in the flywheels for the drivshaft sockets will give long before there is enough load to stall the motors, and a DH163 is rated for 1.5 amp constant load with a 2 amp peak.
the average modern motor in HO locos will draw around.45-.50 amp when slipping under load, and around .90 amps when stalled.
assuming a worst case event, something causing BOTH motors to lock up at the same time, and stay that way, then yes poof! out comes the magic smoke, no more decoder, in such an event, the damaged decoder would be the least of my concerns, because something went very VERY wrong some where else.
In the real world if one motor stalled the other could absorb enough of the load long enough to get it shut down.
I have cooked more than my share of decoders over the years, don't claim to be an "expert", and have learned a bit along the way.
Use two decoders if you want, I'm not going to stop you. IMHO it's overkill, and wasted $$$$, but I'm just some guy on the internet.
Using one decoder has not, in my experience, with six such locos, over years of use, caused any load issues with the decoder.
Trying to get two decoders to operate in perfect unison would be a far more difficult, and greater issue, it's not the same as A-B set of F units, there is no play, coupler slack action or minor towing at various speeds, it's one solid unit.     

Now for the lights, I removed the light board, stripped everything from it except the front and rear bulbs, and cut the entire center section out of the board in between the rear and front screws

yellow and blue light wires to the rear lamp, black tape to cover light leaks
so the whole shell doesn't glow

the tape covers up all the wiring, but here it is,
I used the remaining board traces to run the blue wire for the front lights, and all three are connected to it.
I added a LED (white and blue wires with 560 ohm resistor) in the nose for the headlight, again sealing light leaks with the black tape.
the original headlight bulb on the board now only lights the number boards, and is wired to function 2, but remapped to function 3 because on the Digitraxx command systems function 2 is not locking, and will only stay on if button held down.
for the roof beacon, I used a 1.5V grain of sand bulb with a 820 ohm resistor, and wired to function1.
the bulb slides up into the hole I drilled in the new beacon and housing I added to the shell, it's more to scale


the full album can be viewed here
http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f123/river_eagle/HO-Scale/install/
hope this helps you along
action vid/clip at
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=5573D5793FAE11F6

OK, here goes;
after the motor tab were removed I ran a pair of jumper wires between them along the chassis, and connected the decoder motor leads to the front motor

view of other side



lights to follow

give me a couple of hours, and I will put up some pics.

My HO dual motored DD's have been running on a single DH163 for several years, and my N scale ones (also dual motored) have a single DZ143.
No power or load issues have developed with either.
motors wired in parallel. headlights, numberboard lights, and roof beacon each on sererate function circuits, 0,1, and 2 respectivly.
when they get updated to sound,  the HO models will get a sound only decoder added, while the N ones will probally get new sound/motor decoders.

While I can't answer exactly how long it took to build, Harold is "flown" turned by a motor inside the layout.
The metal rod with Harold on the end turns around.
and how do the rotors spin? they don't.
the rotors have been replaced with clear plastic disks painted to look spinning rotor blades.

they are geared alot lower than many other types of steam locos and will never be a speed demon.

  it's a triple double
reolution is low, but if click the size button to the smaller version it's better!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7ivJy3X7RM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDHBP9jn_LE

Here is a how-to for a sound decoder  install on Bachmann’s new J.
If you have done a hardwire install before, you will have no trouble with this one.

Removing the tender shell  is easy two screws, and it slides off.

There are two copper jumper tabs that need to be removed.

Remove the screw(s)  holding the board, and pop the rear light leads out  of the mount, and lift the board out of the way, to remove the speaker/ pickup mount.

End chapter one.
Because the MRC decoder used has a slightly larger speaker than the mount in the tender, remove the 4 screws that hold the speaker/ pickup mount and with a sharp blade remove the speaker ring flush with the frame.
Before

After

Reinstall the pickup frame, and with a file or Dremmel, thin the inside walls of the tender frame just a bit to allow the speaker to sit flush on the bottom.

Now we’re ready to begin installation.
End chapter two


To begin the install, the speaker goes in over the grill, routing the wires to the rear of the tender, between the pickup wires, and the magnet will fit into the hole in the PC board .

I like to put the board back into place before setting decoder wires.

End chapter three
With the decoder generally in place, the wires are loomed through their respective holes to get the correct lengths.

The wires are cut to length with the decoder in place leaving a little extra for stripping and tinning.

Remove the wires from the solder pads, strip and tin the ends, and solder them in place one at a time, keeping everything neat  and separated as you go.
The speaker wires ,which are connected to the opposite end of the decoder from the harness, and run under the decoder when installed.

End chapter four
While you still have the iron hot, remove the two capacitors near the front of the PC board on the firemen’s side, you can also bypass the induction coils if you like, but I have never found it necessary.
Before

After

Align the decoder so that it, and the wires will clear the mounting lugs, slide the shell back on and replace the two screws to lock the shell down. (the long screw goes to the rear of the tender, short one next to speaker.

Test, program, and enjoy.
End chapter five

I have not messed with one for years, but IIRC, the bottom is held in by pins/tabs on the ends and sides, you would spread out the sides and flex the bottom down to release the end pins.
but again it's been several years, so newer ones may be different.

there are two undecs in eBay stores right now.

If you buy one, get the one in the black spectrum box, avoid the ones in the white window box!!!,
There are several on eBay right now.

make a stong pot of coffee,  and pour it into a shallow pan to cool.
put the castings in for 10-15 seconds, remove and allow to dry, you can use a hair dryer on low to speed the process, and repeat if not dark enough.
mix thin acrylic black paint  to a very thin wash, and flow over the parts, and it will flow into the grooves and form the shadows, again allow to dry.
drybrush the highlites with light yellows, browns, greys or even white to bring out the sunlit details.
the older you want the wood to look the more grey it needs to be.
when your happy, seal the pieces with flat clear spay.
this one is concrete, but, except for the coffee (used thinned light grey paint), the method is the same for both the portal and rocks.

Quote from: bnsfmodeler on April 15, 2007, 11:31:57 PM
it was cool, i have found a plan that is 10' by 15' and its all a couincidence, its based on cajon pass which i was planning on doing the scenery on anyways, the plan is around the walls with 2 pininsulas, my parents were looking for a house to buy and right across the street they saw an open garage with a huge layout(10' by 15') and they started talking to him and he said bring your son by anytime, so the next day my mom took me and he gave me lots of advice, and even let me run a 40 car intermodal train around the layout he let me choose the locomotives that i wanted and everything, i chose a custom made atlas locomotive, it was a UP SD70MAC, an athearn BNSF dash8 wide cab and an athearn dash9 UP locomotive, i would post a link but there is no website i just found it by luck, the guy had well ever 70 locomotives, he had a huge selection too, he had csx, UP, SF, BNSF, amtrak, and BN i was impressed and im building the exact same layout and the guy is gonna help me build it, give me advice, wire it with DCC, install DCC decoders in my locos as well as sound, and hes giving me some locos and rolling stock as well!!!!! it is gonna be awesom when i finish my new layout.

wow one sentence!!

Quote

The guys is also gonna let me join his interchange group, its a group of model railroaders that all model modern railroads, he models UP, some models CSX, someone else models NS, and now im in and i model BNSF so we have all the major modern railroads.

The interchange group members all live really close to where i live and every saturday we go to someone elses house and operste there railroad, next saturday, not the one that just passed but the one coming next week were going to the CSX house, then to the UP house, and then to the NS house and then to my house to work on the model railroad, and when its finished well go to my house after the NS.

The UP is based on cajon pass, mine is based on cajon pass, the NS on is based on like a desert scene, the CSX is based on like a forest scene, the UP model railroad is 10' by 15' as well is mine, the NS is 20' by 30', and the CSX one is the biggest 20' by 50'. its gonna be so awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

slow down and take a breath! your post is very hard to read all run together like that. 

Quote from: CAB_IV on April 15, 2007, 10:49:52 PM
also, its DD40AX.

somewhere along the line someone started putting the A in front of the 40, and I don't know why. most books i've seen, and even UP's site lists them as DD40AX

sorry to burst your bubble and say you're incorrect, but either way, nearly everyone knows what this monster is.
From EMD own history page

Quote
To celebrate its 100th anniversary of the Golden Spike, the Union Pacific takes delivery of EMD's biggest locomotive ever, a 98 foot 8-axle, twin engine DDA40X locomotive rated at 6,600 traction horsepower.

http://www.emdiesels.com/lms/en/company/history/1960/index.htm
UP site list of donated locos
http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/history/loco/locohs04.shtml

EMD DDA40X UP 6946 1984 Portola, CA Feather River Rail Society
EMD DDA40X UP 6944   St. Louis, MO National Museum of Transport
EMD DDA40X UP 6900 1988 Omaha, NE Lauritzen Gardens/Kenefick Park,
Oct. 15, 2005
EMD DDA40X UP 6901 1985 Pocatello, ID   
EMD DDA40X UP 6911 1985 Mexico City, Mexico   
EMD DDA40X UP 6913 1986 Dallas, TX Texas State Fair Grounds
EMD DDA40X UP 6915 1985 Pomona, CA Los Angeles County Fair Grounds
EMD DDA40X UP 6916 1986 Ogden, UT Ogden Union Station Museum
EMD DDA40X UP 6922 1985 North Platte, NE Cody Park
EMD DDA40X UP 6938   North Little Rock, AR Jenks Locomotive Shop
EMD DDA40X UP 6930 1985 Kansas City, MO Moved to the Illinois Railway Museum,
Union, IL.