#12 Lima Class 47 Loco Upgrade: Wiring a DCC Decoder to a Ringfield Motor (Part 1)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ส.ค. 2024
- This is Part 1 of a mini-series looking at upgrades to an old Lima ringfield/pancake motor-driven Class 47 locomotive. The general principles will apply to most ringfield/pancake style models.
In this video, we look at converting the analogue DC ringfield motor to DCC use, through the installation of a Hornby TTS decoder. The process is, however, exactly the same for non-sound decoders.
It's vital that the decoder selected can handle current draw of the motor. There are various descriptions of how to work out the stall current online. Older ringfield motors, especially those not running well, may exceed the current rating of some decoders, including TTS sound chips. Please do take time to suss out the suitability of a chip before commencing installation.
The wiring diagram referred to in the video can be downloaded here: www.strathpefferjunction.com/dcc-decoder-wiring-diagrams-for-non-dcc-ready-locomotives
The Brian Lambert ringfield motor article referred to in the video can be found towards the bottom of the page here: www.brian-lambert.co.uk/DCC.html
Items required for the modification work and installation are:
- 8-pin or 'wires only' DCC decoder
- BlackTak
- Kapton tape
- Heat shrink
- Soldering iron, solder & liquid flux
- Various tools, including: jeweller's screwdrivers, small side cutters, wire strippers, an exacto knife and a cutting mat.
In Part 2, we'll look at installing directional lighting...
Thank you very much for watching. Please comment, like, share and subscribe!
Find out more about Strathpeffer Junction at: www.strathpefferjunction.com
Thank you for the video - as a complete newcomer to DCC (and a return to railway modelling after an absence of 40 years) the thought of hard wiring a decoder to a Ringfield motor filled me with trepidation but I have done just that with a Hornby Class 110 DMU and it worked first go (!), all thanks to your step-by-step and very clearly explained video. Very much appreciated.
My pleasure. I'm really glad the video was of use. Happy modelling! 🙂👍🏻
A big big help! After researching DCC, DCC chip and sound fitting and how to upgrade models for DCC use this has been the most helpful video I have found so far. Great work and thank you.
Really informative video.
Gets right down to basics, which is great, and shows how converting a loco can be done by anyone with basic skills..
Many thanks indeed for the feedback.
This video gave me the confidence to implement chip in my locomotive. I modified two already. Thanks,
Great! Really glad it helped 😊👍🏻
Excellent part 1, doing the exact same installation as I recorded by myself on 2 Lima Class 66’s.
Bringing Lima to Life 👍
Looking forward to seeing part 2 adding lighting, as that is something I have on my TO Do list 🤔
Love the Mug 👌
Thanks, Jason. I do enjoy these sorts of conversion, but glad I moved on most of my Lima's to my nephew as I don't think I'd have the patience to do them all! Plus, he can get fun and enjoyment out of them too and spread the railway modelling bug! Lol. 😎
Excellent and very informative for a novice like myself , Thank you, appreciated. Now i can attempt to dcc my LIMA stock.
I'm delighted you enjoyed it. Thank you so much for the comment 😊
Another very well put together "how to". I have hardwired lots of locos and agree with you, Hornby's soldering can be problematic, I have had to re-solder lots of them. You should get to 500 subs very easily, your videos are too good not to miss...Simon
Thanks, Simon. As every, your support is really appreciated. I only need one more sub to sneak over to 500, so even if that's all I get, it's a heart warming milestone! I'm off into hospital this week for another spinal procedure, so Part 2 may have to wait for a few weeks...unless I managed to squeeze it in tomorrow! ☺️
What spinal procedure are you having this time? I had my last major spinal opp in 2009, I am refusing anymore. After my Titanium implants things were much better, but they could not do anything about the nerve damage. Good luck...Simon
Thank you for this valuable info as I have Lima locos rather than Hornby!
Lima really did make some fantastic models for the time.
@@StrathpefferJunction not forgetting the lima HST which was still is best looking HST
I agree. With a bit of detailing, it can be a really great model, even today.
@@StrathpefferJunction I am going to weather the exhaust stubs and roof baffle plate as well not too much though!
Sounds excellent! Very best of luck with it. I'm sure it'll look great once finished.
I have one of these...in fact a few different Lima Diesels, so I am going to complete this upgrade. Thanks.
Best of luck! Lima are still decent models for the money.
Fantastic video, thank you for sharing. Im converting my BR Blue Lima 47, still a bit of work to do include fitting the new cd/dvd motor, and will be looking forward to seeing it running.
Really glad you enjoyed the video and many thanks for the supportive comment. Best of luck with your 47!
@@StrathpefferJunction Subscribed 👍
Once again very Informative, look forward to the rest of the series.................John.
Many thanks, John.
LIMA ah yes, i have a soft spot for these, you can fit two motors to these and you have a lot of room for mods inside, good video mate.
Many thanks indeed. That's quite an interesting idea re the two motors. I may have to give that a shot!
It doubles the torque and the trains run a lot slower
What an excellent idea. Do you use the standard pancake motors or do you use two of something new?
@@bl7355 2 of the ordinary pancakes work very well mate, dont use the cd motors fella they have hardly any torque
It really depends which motors you use. There are many different types of 'cd motor' with a wide range of voltage, rpm and torque characteristics. If you buy a 50p motor off ebay and stick it in your model, it'll probably be garbage. If you spend time trying out different quality cd motors, you can often get very satisfactory results. If you can get a ringfield running well, nice and smooth that is often the best solution, but if you can't, then a decent cd motor can make the difference between having a model that you can get use and enjoyment out of or one that just spends the rest of its life in a box.
Great video, I have had very mixed results with hard wiring old loco's, probably it was a case of the motor not being very healthy in the first place but I decided that I would only buy dcc ready rolling stock, I still have a few DC loco's and they will remain DC, if I can set up a garden railway they will work that exclusively.
Yeah, I'm nut a fan if these older ringfield ones - they can be more hassle that they're worth in terms of dcc running. I actually gave most of mine to my wee nephew, but I saw this one and liked the livery/number, so thought it'd give it a whirl. While it was noisy in the video there, this one's motor is in good nick and I think it'll be OK, although I have decided to switch the motor out for a CD one, so I'll do that as the final video in the series. I have a couple that run on CD motors now, and they are all a big improvement.
Fantastic tutorial many thanks.
It will be interesting to see you do the dc motor conversion.
Thanks, Brian. That'll be coming up in the next couple of weeks. Just waiting on the motor and a couple of other bits arriving.
I've already done it but having running issues
What sort of issues? I've had done a couple before - last one was a Lima 156 DMU - and it works fairly well. I don't think they'll haul as big a load as newer ones, but they've not been too bad. I make sure I put some diodes in series to drop voltage and also use a fairly good decoder that allows me to tweak voltage to the motors (although, I've not tried a tts chip before, so I'm hoping it'll work OK in this instance).
I'm thinking dirt in the wheels or the fact they are old( 80s hornby ) plus the motors are used ones out of a pc.
Also I've had to loose the centre axle as the motor gets in the way of the wheel
A good informative video as i have 2 lima GWR railcars to fit this way
Many thanks for the feedback! Happy new year. 🙂
my lima deltic only has one wire coming from the rear bogie and plastic frame
Fantastic video very informative and I will have a go, one point could you give me a link where to buys the gears and copper tube.
Sorry for the late reply, George. There are a few sellers on ebay selling the right gears. The tube is just brass tube, 2mm ID and 2.5mm outer. However, you can do this without the tube. If you do use tube, make sure to align it perfectly otherwise it may bind on the motor.
Great video. Lima (Aussie) loco from early 2000's, after removing the capacitor I had continuity across the brush contacts so now I'm a bit confused. I thought power would flow through the winding from one brush to the other. On opening the motor found a resistor soldered between each pole contact (i.e. 3 of them), which I assume would also provide an electrical path from one brush contact plate to the other. Your thoughts would be appreciated. Train was tested and running fine on DC.
Hi there. I think those are normally small chokes. They are probably in place to deal with analogue interference, but now we use digital TV and radio, they're basically redundant. If that is what they are, and you're switching to dcc, it's now recommended to remove them first. I used to occasionally leave capacities and chokes in place if the decoder ran OK with them there (as it meant the model was left as original), but now I always remove them regardless. They serve no purpose and can affect some decoder operation. If you want to email me a photo of what's there I'd be happy to let you have my thoughts and hopefully confirm what they are/if they're needed in your case: info@strathpefferjunction.com I've got a bit of a backlog on emails just now as we had a big water leak at home which lead to parts of the house being ripped out, so I've struggled for time to reply, but we're back on track at home and I'm now clearing though the emails. You can also message me on Facebook via my Strathpeffer Junction page. I get those messages pretty quickly.
@@StrathpefferJunction Ouch! Thanks for getting back to me. Yes they might be chokes but I'll send you a photo just to confirm.
Interesting video, what is the most role of the capacitor was before the installation of the decoder, and its value
I really want to dcc my dc Lima class 55 but I don’t know what type dcc decoder I would need for it so I can get dcc TTS sound and lights
I just brought 2 motors for my 125 it says change the cv s 5 and 6 ,I can work out the mid range cv but what do I put the full speed cv down to please I’m use hornby chip pls
Hi Malcolm. What Hornby decoder do you have? Feel free to message me at info@strathpefferjunction.com too as it might make it easier to help. 🙂
Very helpful thanks.
No problem. Glad it was of use. 😊
Another well presented video.
Great video !
Many thanks 🙂
For years my CV said loves cars and planes hates traines, but recently I have started to take an interest in model traines but only on a very tight budget. I brought a 0 6 0 pannier for £12 and then thought I need a controller and for £13 brought a Zero1 controller and got it to work. Now I have a Ardunino Mega and power shield set up and talking to my computer, but my £20 DCC fitted engine tries to connect but I get error message that the decoder is not recognised . When I opened the engine up it up it was flooded with oil and when I connected power I noticed that there was faint smoke coming from the decoder module and closer inspection I can see that one of the components appears to be melting, but my question is this , there is a capacitor across the motor connections, is this correct or has someone tried to fix this problem before?
I'm afraid I don't know for sure. Do you have any photos of it so that I can get a better idea of what's going on?
Quality video. How do you install a dcc harness 8 pin.
Thanks, James. I'm afraid that I don't have a video for that yet, but I'm sure others will. It's quite straight forward though. Pickups go to the Red and back wires, motor to orange and grey. If you've got lights, common goes to blue, front to white and rear to yellow.
What happens if you do not remove the capacitor?
Something explosive! Sometimes nothing, and leaving the cap on has no effect. Other times, the cap can affect the decoder and running may not be particularly smooth. I have left some in if they run fine with a decoder, but only if I may revert it to dc at some point in the future. Otherwise, I just remove it the cap. Given we don't have terrestrial TV in the UK any more, the chance for interference is less anyway, and the caps don't do a huge amount for smooth running with modern controllers and decent track layouts either.
@@StrathpefferJunction Thanks. I bought a DC version of the Trix Harry Potter set and installed a decoder but left the capacitor. It has an uneven running, so I will try with removing it. I have another DC locomotive which i installed a decoder in, and that one I removed the capacitor and it doesn't have the issue
What model Class 47 is this one? I have noticed Hornby/Lima had a few different versions of the Class 47. The ones from the 70's seem to be more difficult to convert....
If I need to extend some of the wiring from the motor what size wire do I use? This may sound dumb sorry but a google search of ‘electrical wire’ is like travelling to Narnia!
No worries. It's not a daft question at all and it can be quite confusing. Firstly, make sure you use stranded wire and not solid core wire. It's more robust and also better for dc systems. So, avoid stuff called 'wrapping wire', as that's solid core. It's tempting because it's tiny and cheap, but it's not the best. Secondly, whilst we tend to use cross-sectional area in mm in the UK, you'll find a lot of listing on ebay etc use AWG (American wire gauge). For decoder wiring, something like 30 or 32 AWG is probably fine. The smaller the number, the thicker the wire. You could probably use 28 AWG too, but it's getting a wee bit on the th on side (although it would still work in a technical sense).
Strathpeffer Junction so in terms of uk stranded wire would you say 7/0.2? Or more 16/0.2 like what’s used for the droppers?
Hi there. This is a very informative video and I have now bought a TTS sound decoder to convert my Hornby dc Class 47; however on the Hornby forum I've been advised that the TTS chip cannot handle the extra current from the older Ringfields (my train id made in china so maybe not that old)Ive got a multi meter so how can I tell if its pulling to much current and what is to much? Can any one help with this.Thank you.
The easiest way to tell is to do a stall test, but they aren't the kindest on the motor. Most old ringfields can be current hungry and I would have thought they'd be right on the limit if what is sensible for a tts decoder, if not over it. Depending on the model, you can always switch out the ringfield for one of my motor upgrade kits, and the motors in those have a lower current draw.
hi yet another great video and more explain then others i came across i got some tenshodo motors so the principle be the same ?
Thank you. I've never used tenshodo motorised bogies, but so long as you can isolate both pick ups from the motor and insert the dcc chip in between, I'd have thought it should work fine. I don't know what the current draw is on those motors though, so you'd have to check that they don't overload the chip.
Anyone know where you can get a class 47 TTS sound chip/decoder. Been looking around at this time (30th October 2019) and there’s none on any market. EBay, Hatton even Hornby. Any help much appreciated
I think you may struggle right now. I don't think Hornby have done a batch recently, with focus being on the new range released in 2019. I haven't seen any for sale for a fair while either. I've got one here that I bought last year that I'm planning to install in a Class 47, but it's possible I may have a second one. I'll have a check tomorrow and if I do, I'll let you know.
Strathpeffer Junction thank you. Looked through some sites on google and haven’t got anywhere with them. Shame they’re not making more at the moment, would save much time
Are the sounds 8 bit? they sound quite low bitrate
They could well be. They're certainly not as good as the loksound or equivalents and I suspect there's a fair bit of compression as I don't think the chip will have much capacity.
Sorry it might be your accent but what is the motor you may change it too in part 4?
Och aye, it may be! 😜 It's a CD (or DVD) drive motor. You can get them from Amazon, ebay, Aliexpress etc. The key thing is to get one that is the right size and also at least 6v or higher (around 12v is better, but can be harder to find). With 6v, you can add some diodes to drop the volts a little and also tweak CV settings. I'll cover that in the video. ☺️
PS. This ringfield assembly takes a CD motor that's about 10mm/0.9" thick, which are a little harder to find. The more common CD motors are 12mm, but they're a wee bit too thick for these particular Lima motors...they do, however, fit some of the other ones. You really need to measure the ringfield assembly of the loco in question to suss out which is right.
Ooch ye canny be right. I throw so many dvds/ cd players, TVs and stereos out in my business i think I will have to check them out for their motors now. Cheers
Oh yes I forgot to mention that this video and it's info is exactly what I have been waiting for. Looking forward to seeing the rest of this mini series; yah!
How much to get one to N. Z? Cheers
Aye ,I was going to say ,your Capton tape will be in the last place you look !!! ,if you have a 3d printer ,i Designed a holder for Topnik flux if you would like the STL file let me know or any of you guys.
I've already designed a topnix flux holder - it's a must to prevent messy accidents - but thanks for the offer 👍🏻
@@StrathpefferJunction Fit Like!!! ,great stuff ,i found the bottle rather unstable and so easy to tip. keep the cool vids coming .