You say What..?

[OBJack]

This may seem a bit weird at first sight, but I will press on regardless and see what tarnspires.

I was given this Hornby Loco by my next door neighbor (who had only been there a few months and was relocating again), who said he had been carting this "thing" around with him for ever, and seeing as it would not go and he had not unpacked it for years, would I like to have it.

After attaching a few wires cleaning the motor and a little grease on the gears, and she is now up and running.

However I would like to run it on the layout which is DCC.

So

Is this motor suitable to hardwire a simple or even a sound decoder to.
http://www.modeltrains.net.au/hornby/ser...sheetid=34
Or do I buy a "can?" motor and start from scratch?

I know it would probably be cheaper to buy the same thing new but it wouldn't be the same would it?

Jack

[nachoman]

With the motored truck removed, and all wires disconnected between it and the chassis, take an ohm meter and test continuity between the wheels on the power truck - if there is, the motor is hardwired to the truck and may be difficult to isolate. Or, take the disconnected truck and put it on the track and see if it will go. If it will run - the motor is hardwired tot he truck and may be difficult to isolate.

Being that this is a "pancake motor" chassis, it would be difficult to simply remotor with a can motor. Your easiest option may be to find a chassis with the same wheelbase, and put the shell atop that.

[BR60103]

Jack:
since one of the motor brushes (on the left) doesn't have a visible wire to it, I think it is probably hardwired to the track. You would need to find a way to break this connection. These motors are probably the hardest to chip after the ones that are completely enclosed in a chassis.
Sorry, but I have no positive suggestions.

[shortliner]

There is a very good DCC section on <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="Http://www.RMweb.co.uk">Http://www.RMweb.co.uk</a><!-- m --> sponsored by Bromsgrove Models who are experts, together with a lot of guys with considerable knowledge, who will be able to help. I'd suggest you join and ask on there - particularly since this is a Hornby/Lima model with the old "pancake" motor. You should also be able to get advice about re-motoring it - explain that you aren't in UK. Best of luck
Shortliner(Jack) away up here in the Highlands
PS - Mods - I trust I haven't broken any rules by posting a link to another forum (I know some forums don't allow it) - If I have I apologise!

[Squidbait]

I believe David is correct, the motor housing is probably in contact with the rail on that side.

That said, all you should need to do is isolate that brush from the frame. Some dielectric tape or heat shrink around that clip (or removing the clip entirely) should do the trick, assuming there are no other electrical connections between the rail/chassis/motor.

[Squidbait]

Actually, after looking more closely at the motor (and the backside) it looks like it may not be connected to the track. It may be that the lead from the rear truck may just be soldered to the frame of the motor rather than the brush itself. If that's the case, and the motor housing is isolated, it's a piece of cake.

[OBJack]

Wow what a fast response team,
Nachoman, Shortliner, BR60103 and Squidbait, thank you for all the help, a very knowledgeable crew we have here, and I guess if I had half a brain I would have seen what you have pointed out to me.

I can now see In this picture, that the motor drives the front truck ...... but is powered by the two leads from the pickup on the back truck . So I would assume as squidbait says that the motor is isolated from the track.


Time to show a bit more ignorance.
I notice that there is a resistor on the lead that goes first to the light, before clipping onto the motor body to complete the circuit, this would be to drop the voltage to the light?
Does this have any implications to the running voltage of the motor in DC....if any.
I guess it won't matter if a decoder is put in.

And I suppose the decoder would have the white (or is it yellow) and blue wires going to the front light as per normal, but does it matter which wire ( white or blue ) the resistor is on?

New Information every day here.
A "Pancake motor" I didn't know that's what it was called, Thanks Shortliner a veritable mine of info... but now you need to be able to add to that for me before you get a star, and let me know if it is worthy or able to handle a dcc decoder, insofar as the slow speed and smoothness etc.

Thanks again for the interest and help.

Jack

[shortliner]

I think most locos CAN be converted to DCC, whether or not it is a worthwhile excercise is another matter hock:
I know little about DCC - my dabbling runs to a Bachmann EZ-Command controller! That was why I offered the suggestion in the link - like you , if I don't know - I ask! It may be very cheap, simple, and easy - however I don't recognise that particular model - so I'd hate to offer advice and have it all go "POOF!"

[Squidbait]

My guess is that the resistor is to cut the voltage down for the bulb, not the motor.

Go with an inexpensive but robust decoder (like the NCE D13SR or Digitrax DH123), and you should be OK. And if it does go "poof", you won't have lost much!

[OBJack]

Thanks for all your help guys. It is much appreciated, the decoder I plan on using is one I'm taking from a little steamer so I can put in a sound decoder.
Will update the post on the decoder exchange, as soon as I purchase the new one.

Jack

[BR60103]

Jack: is that a resistor or a rectifier (diode)? It could be a diode for directional lighting -- does the loco have directional lighting?

[Squidbait]

Good call David! I didn't look too closely at it, but now that I do, I see that it is a diode, for turning the headlight off for backing up.

Jack - one less thing to worry about!

[OBJack]

Thanks again, The loco doesn't have a rear light and I haven't run it for a while on DC for a while now so I don't know if it turns out the headlight in reverse.
However it would make a lot more sense, if that is a diode, because I couldn't see (even with my limited knowledge) how a resistor placed where it was would not drop the voltage to the motor.
With my DCC at 15~16 v, do I need a resistor between the decoder and the light now? I assume the light would be able to take 12? v (seeing as it was working on DC without a resistor)
Do I get rid of the diode now, if I install a rear light and let the decoder do the directional turning off of the lights?

Sorry for the questions, it will sink into this brain soon if I continue with the homework.


Jack

[Squidbait]

Jack,

Ditch the diode, you won't need it. Your decoder will have separate leads for a headlight (white) and backup light (yellow).

If it is a 12v bulb, it should be OK on 15V, although brighter than usual. You might want to pick up a 15 or 20V bulb just for a safety margin... plus I like the colour of a 20V bulb run at 15v over a maxed out 12-15V bulb. You'll also get longer life from an over-rated bulb.

[woodone]

I say trash the light bulb and trash diode. Replace the light with a LED. Hook up the LED from one rail with a small resistor 1K or 750 ohm. Then use the white wire for the control and hook it up to the other lead of the LED. BTW the longer lead on the LED is the positive lead and needs to go to the rail or the blue wire from the decoder and make sure you use a resistor!
The LED will out last your loco. the bulb?? who knows when it will burn out.