Quote from: Loco Bill Canelos on May 06, 2012, 01:41:36 PM
Chuck,  You can use two 14.8 volt 2600 mAh packs in series as Kevin suggests.  If like me you do not run continuously you should get more runtime than you will,ever need in most typical sessions.   Bill

2 x 14.8 volt batteries in series will = 29.6 volts, which is a bit on the high side.  Surely you mean in parallel?

Hello Dave.

(Edit note:  I jumped in a bit too quickly.  I thought Dave meant the 2-6-6-2T.  Nevertheless this might prove useful anyway).

There is not a lot of room for batteries so I had to use 12 x AA size hybrid cells.  It is OK to use them for small loads but I would limit that use and use a trailcar with add on batteries in a trail car.  When you plug in the trail car batteries they automatically disconnect the on board batteries and save them for light engine duties.

This is how I did it.  http://www.mylargescale.com/Community/Forums/tabid/56/aff/35/aft/119543/afv/topic/Default.aspx

I doubt it is as simple as a broken wire in the stock motor wiring.
There are separate wire attachment points for each truck on the loco pcb.
It could be a trace on the pcb that feeds all of those attachment points. Or it could be a break in the motor drive wires going from the Tsunami to the loco pcb.
If they are OK, my (uneducated) guess is that there is either something wrong with the Tsunami decoder or the decoder programming has been corrupted.

Whenever I do a 3 truck battery R/C installation I always leave those connectors in place.  I simply smear some silicone adhesive around the plug where the wires come out of the plug.  This provides strain relief to the wire.  Then the wire cannot flex at the pin itself.  So far as I know none of my conversions have ever failed.

Thanks for the confidence JD.

Unfortunately the Forney is one Bachmann loco I have never worked on.  However your figures seem about right.  The RCS PnP is current limited to 3 amps and I have never had a problem with them overloading in pretty well any PnP socket equipped locos.

My estimate would be between 1 and 2 amps max with the train listed.

Quote from: Yardmaster on March 10, 2012, 10:33:37 PM
Guess that old "super" socket isn't so bad after all, eh?

It was another installer who ripped everything out to install R/C.  Not me.
I have always used the Bachmann PnP socket where they are fitted.  Never had a problem with them.  My past queries have only been about the current carrying capacity of the pins in the motor circuit.  3 amps is about it before they can fail. None of the PnP fitted Bachmann locos will draw anything like that, including the K-27.

If Bachmann ever upgrade the 3 truck Shay by fitting a PnP socket I would suggest they first thoroughly test it with a suitably heavy train the loco can pull, before including it. 
Other than that I don't think there any Bachmann locos that could potentially draw more than 3 amps.  Except possibly the two truck Shay with wheels where the plating has worn off.

This last week it has been my privilege to install my RCS R/C and Phoenix P8 sound into the latest Bachmann Climax.

IMHO the new Climax is one of the best engineered Large Scale locos it has been my pleasure to work on. Everything simply fits inside the tender.  No need to make any changes to the stock Bachmann wiring. Period.
For a track powered R/C loco the installation is very easy.  It certainly is virtually plug and play.
However, for an all on board battery installation the problem is there is very little, if any room to fit batteries. More on that a little later.
In this instance it did not matter as my customer is quite happy having a permanent trail car to provide the battery power.

The tender shell is easily removed by taking out the four screws that hold the shell to the body.  It simply then lifts off to expose the whole PnP socket assembly.

I located a point where I could carefully drill out an access hole under the floor for the connector cable for the trail car.  Be careful as the space is tight and any slip of the drill could damage the fitted PnP socket assembly.

I secured the cable to the underneath of the rear buffer beam with a loop made from two solder tags with one of the fitted screws. This will enable the loco to be returned to stock condition without leaving any tell tale signs of modification. The cable itself is one half of an RCS # ILC-S2 cable I sell.  These are quite small connectors.  Other types could be used if desired.

Next up was to solder a wire to position J1-5 for the P8 chuff signal.  The single black wire shown in the pic below. That is my only real grizzle.  It would have been nice to have had a screw terminal fitted.

The battery feed wires were connected to the battery #1 terminal shown on the extreme right of the pic.
Also remove the speaker plug shown here next to the on board voltage regulator on the far left of the socket assembly so it can be reconnected to the P8 speaker wires.

Then I simply plugged in the RCS # PRO-PnP ESC motor driver part.


Notice that all the Bachmann switches are accessible behind the sand boxes on the rear of the tender shell.  The sand boxes simply pull out for access.

The RCS Decoder part and the P8 sound together with the programming jack and volume control fit up inside the coal load.
I made a mistake locating the small styrene plate I glued in to hold the P8 controls.  The plate should be glued onto the back side the of the small fan stanchions so the I could actually insert the P8 programming plug.

Then I fabricated a sheet of 1 mm styrene to cover the wiring and keep it as neat as possible.

The ultra small 4 ch Planet 2.4 Ghz RX simply plugs in upside down on the decoder part on the LH side of the pic.
With the RCS # PRO-PnP ESC I supply two lightweight cables to connect the decoder lighting outputs and P8 motor reference voltage to the motor driver part that is plugged into the PnP socket assembly.
The coal load simply fits down snugly onto the top of the tender. The internals are easily accessible if you need to make any programming changes.
Bachmann also supply a similarly sized oil bunker if you prefer the loco to be an oil burner.

What to do about on board batteries. To be honest I don't really know.  I am loathe to dismantle it to fit batteries in the boiler.  I don't really know if that is even possible.
However, it may be possible to fit a small flat pack of four Li-Ion cells up under the roof and try and hide the wiring.  Then comes the problem of charging them.  Perhaps I will have to find that out in the future.

I have only been able to run the Climax on rollers but it is as smooth as any Bachmann loco I have ever tested.
To say the least I am very impressed.

Quote from: Bris Biker on February 14, 2012, 06:52:24 AM
Aristo Craft states in there manuals that PWC is different I am now confused can you explain the difference they say that PWC provides a continuous voltage to allow full power regards Greg.

PWC is just another name for PWM.
Yes there is a constant voltage applied to the track which is interrupted rapidly to achieve speed control.
DCC decoders see that interrupted voltage and confuse it with a proper DCC signal voltage.
Do not use track voltage PWM (aka PWC) with locos that have DCC decoders.

It is generally accepted that you do not use PWM (aka PWC) to power DCC equipped locos.
They see PWM as a sort of DCC signal and can get confused and often will lose their programming.
If you are not actually using DCC it is best to run DCC equipped locos on filtered linear DC.

For many years the only Large Scale equipment that was available came from LGB.  They chose 1:22.5 scale so that 45 mm gauge represented 1 metre for the mostly European stuff they made.  When LGB decided to enter USA prototype they kept the scale at the inaccurate 1:22.5.
Then Bachmann entered the Large scale market.  So that the models were about the same size as those made by LGB and looked compatible, Bachmann also used 1:22.5. Even the first Bachmann Spectrum model (of the L & B LYNN) was also 1:22.5 scale.
Later Bachmann saw the light and embraced the more correct 1:20.3 scale for models of 3 foot gauge prototypes.
The two scales have been marketed side by side ever since.

Thank you Sean.
I am still using an 11 year old Fuji Film MX-2900 equipped with the original Smart Media card. A dinosaur by the standards of digital cameras of today.
It only has 2.1 mega pixels but does take really nice pics in TIF format as well as JPG.  Even though it is very slow storing a pic it is perfectly fine for my close up use on a tripod.  I still use it for regular pics but cannot take action shots of my very active Grandchildren.
The only other complaint is the battery.  They regularly die after 18 months.  Not really a problem as I use it more or less permanently connected to the charger.
I have tried other brands but am now a Fuji Film customer for life.  If and when my finances allow I would once again buy a Fuji Film digital camera.

Part # 2 now added

At long last a Bachmann "James" has crossed my desk to have RCS battery R/C and MyLocosound installed.
As James is a tender engine with a quite large tender there is plenty of room for everything inside the tender.
The install will be in two parts.
After removing the tender shell the first thing I did was remove the small weights from the tender floor.



Once the weights were gone I cut off the two screw lugs from the floor with side cutters.



This was so the speaker could sit flat on the floor.



I used a square 50 mm speaker as that fitted just nicely.

I drilled out a hole pattern under the speaker and mounted it with 4 x small self tapping screws. I also drilled a 1/4" hole for the ON-OFF switch with the toggle mid way between two axles.



Next came four 3.5 mm holes for the tapped metal stanchions. Two each side midway between the axles. These will support the styrene platform that will hold the batteries and the R/C + sound.



Like this:



I am using 10 x ENELOOP AA hybrid cells as 12 volts is plenty for a realistic top speed and they fit neatly in the space.

Next up was the chuff timer. I used a regular small reed switch mounted in a styrene tube and supported at the correct height. Normally the reed switch I use works best end on to the magnets but this one had to be parallel.
The tender wheels are almost exactly half the size of the drivers so I used two small rare earth magnets super glued in place for 4 x chuffs per revolution of the loco drivers.



Here is the template for the styrene platform.



Part # 2 soon.
Second part follows.

I fabricated a 4 wire loco to tender cable with a plug and socket to make life simple when separating the two.
This pic shows where the cable exits the loco chassis.  I used heatshrink tubing to protect the wires.  The orange and grey wires solder to the two terminals on the back of the polarity switch after I removed the original track pick ups.





I used another thinnish sheet of styrene glued to the battery pack on which I could mount the three main components.



Then the assembly was mounted on the stanchions with 3 mm screws and lock washers and wired up.



Track testing produced an odd problem with the sound chuff timer.  I had used the front wheels of the tender upon which two Rare Earth magnets were mounted.  Unfortunately the center wheels sit very slightly lower then each end wheels.  This results in a slight rocking on the wheels and sometimes the front wheels do not make very good contact with the rails.  The chuff got a bit erratic.
The easy fix in future is to use the middle wheels for chuff timing.
As it was a bit difficult to redo the reed switch mounting I opted for another simple solution.
I used thin styrene shims under the axle bracket mounts to lift the centre wheels up a smidgin.
I removed the bracket screws cut a thin strip of shim just wide enough to fit under the bracket and marked where the screw holes should be.



Then I drilled out the screw holes



I slid the styrene shim into position and replaced the screws, then trimmed the styrene to fit.  Repeat for the other side.



So how does James perform?
Just like Thomas.  Nice and smooth just like Thomas. 12 volts is more than adequate for a quite fast top speed.
There is plenty of room in the loco for extra weights. 
Bravo Bachmann.

If I did it again I would possibly mount every thing in the loco and have just the speaker in the tender.

This week I finished off another Thomas battery R/C + sound conversion.
As usual the conversion went quite smoothly as I fitted my new RCS PRO-3 ESC + Planet R/C and MyLocosound.
First up take the body from the chassis by removing the 8 fixing screws.


Take care removing the body from the chassis.  Lift up the rear to clear and then slide forwards.  If you simply lift it up you may damage the plastic mechanism that makes the "eyes" swivel from side to side.  I advise owners to remove the front of Thomas and tape the "eyes" in the middle so that when you replace the front back in the boiler it is easier to line up the little levers behind the "eyes" with the slots they sit in.  Before refitting the front, stop the mechanism in the middle of the sideways movement.

There is no particular order for installing the parts.
I chose to start with installing the speaker in the coal bunker. Cut off the end bits of plastic from the "coal load" thus.


Then I glued the low profile Phoenix speaker under the load.


Next up I made a a baffle box using thin sheets of styrene cut to size and fit.


Then I fed the speaker wires down through a small hole in the bottom of the coal bunker. I replaced the coal load cover and turned my attention to installing an LED in the rear dummy light.  The LED legs are fed through the body shell and glued in place.  See outside pics at end of article


I had two 4 x cell AA size ENELOOP battery packs made up in flat and block configuration.  The total 9.6 volts is plenty fast enough for Thomas in the hands of the owners grandchildren.


The two different shapes were needed so they would fit as shown below.


The 2 x part RCS PRO-3 ESC/Decoder were mounted under the boiler top and on one side tank.  The 4 x channel Planet 2.4 GHz RX simply plugs into the decoder part.  Servo leads are not needed.


The new MyLocosound steam sound with mechanical chuff was mounted inside the other side tank.


The ON-OFF switch and charge jack are mounted on the rear buffer beam.  The yellow programing pushbutton is under the floor.


Various connecting wires were fed up through a 1/4" hole I drilled in the chassis floor.


I drilled out a 1/4" hole in the front of the dummy headlight.  Plus two 1 mm holes in the rear of the light to feed the LED legs through.


Two more 1 mm holes were drilled through the mudguard cover. I then cut off the flange on the bottom of the LED and fed the legs through the light. These legs were bent downwards so they could be fed through the mudguard as I gently pushed the LED into place.


This is how I set up the rear LED.


I also made up a mechanical chuff timer by mounting a small reed switch in a styrene tube and gluing it under the motor block.
I used 4 x Rare Earth magnets glued to the back of the middle driver.  Even though there is a lot of side play slop the magnets never miss a beat.


This particular conversion was also supplied with an auxiliary battery supply, charge jack and ON-OFF switch for mounting in a trail car. That should be enough for at least 5-6 hours run time.

The only other thing I would do is add weight to the front of the loco to balance the batteries. Thomas is actually quite light and can derail on uneven track.
I will use stick on wheel weights.

I have another Thomas here to convert to battery R/C.
Before I do the conversion I wanted to show readers how easy it is to do a simple modification to Thomas so he can run on Track Power or Trail Car battery power.

Following are three pics of how I would wire Thomas.

Take care removing the body from the chassis.
Lift the rear up and push forward to disengage the movable eye levers.

Then I drilled a suitable hole in the floor of the chassis.  Simply reach under the floor to switch from one to the other.

The first pic shows how I unsoldered the two sets of pick up wires from the little pcb on the end of the motor.
Then I kept them joined together and added an extension for each colour so they could reach the switch.  The joins were covered in heat shrink tube.  The thicker black parts.
The extensions go to one end of the switch.



Next I added two new wires from the little pcb on the end of the motor to be connected to the centre terminals of the switch.



This pic shows how I drilled a hole in the rear crossbeam to allow a two wire connector cable to be fed through and up into the loco.
These two wires were connected to the other end of the switch.



Tuck the wires out of the way and refit the body.

To make life simple replacing the little levers for the eyes in the slots on the actuating mechanism, I removed the face and taped the eyes in the middle.
Then when the body is back on it is much easier to get the levers in the slots.

I hope that helps.

I will post the battery R/C + MyLocosound conversion later this week.