SammySquirrel Posted May 15, 2018 Share Posted May 15, 2018 I have just found this vintage loco in my loft and I am trying to convert it to DCC. I am in the process in fitting a decoder but cannot find a pick-up for the black wire. Can anyone advise me how to get round this problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissaf Posted May 15, 2018 Share Posted May 15, 2018 It sounds like your vintage loco uses the metal chassis as the return electrical path. This means that the conversion to DCC will be more onerous as the motor will need to be electrically isolated from the chassis..How to achieve this motor isolation will depend upon the exact motor / chassis type you have. Not every type can be easily modded and may need some mechanical engineering skills..A photograph of your chassis showing the motor will help your chassis type to be more easily identified by those on here in the know. To upload a photo use the 'black & white' hill and moon upload icon located between the tree and smiley icons in the tool palette above. Note that photos will not appear straight away and will be held back for the approval of the Hornby administrator and will not appear outside normal UK Weekday Office Hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissaf Posted May 15, 2018 Share Posted May 15, 2018 Follow up to previous reply..I think this drawing may represent your motor, it lists the R152 in the title../media/tinymce_upload/12aa1374b517c1433a79dc1fb89d3b00.jpg.See how the far side motor brush is insulated by a sleeve, whereas the near side brush is in direct electrical contact with the wire spring screwed to the chassis. You will need to fit another insulating sleeve on the near side and wire the DCC decoder Orange and Grey wires directly to the brush holders (replicate the connection methodology currently used on the insulated side)..The DCC decoder Red & Black wires will then go, one wire to the single wheel pickup and the other to the chassis. Remove any suppression components fitted to the motor and discard them. The DCC decoder will handle the suppression function. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 Or for more complete instructions you might refer to SoT’s excellent https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/making-the-x03-and-x04-dcc-fitted-the-proper-way!/?p=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissaf Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 Note that the post Fishman has pointed you to, makes mention of Synchrosmoke..If your loco has a synchrosmoke unit as well, then do not try and power the smoke unit via the decoder without making some significant loco modifications. The smoke unit requires a lot of current and is designed for DC up to 12 volts whereas DCC is an alternating voltage that swings back and forth with a peak to peak voltage of 28 volts. If you apply that to the smoke unit, it will try and draw even more current than it is designed for and potentially burn out. The amount of current the smoke unit draws is more than most decoders can handle. Another reason for not running the smoke unit through the decoder without modification is that the smoke unit also uses the chassis as the electrical return path and would need to be modified to isolate it..Son of Triangman's second fitting DCC article covering the Synchrosmoke unit can be found here:.https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/making-syncrosmoke-locos-dcc-fitted/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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