I have some really nice bluebox athearns that I super detailed, and I want to know if and how can these be upgraded to DCC? I want to switch over to DCC, but I still want to use my blue box locos with my atlas’s
No problem - you just have to isolate the motor electrically from the frame, then wire in the decoder. The first one I did took me about an hour, now it’s about a half-hour job.
Digitrax makes decoders designed for easy installation in Athearn blue-box locomotives, bearing the suffix “AT” on the part number.
You should have gotten rid of the bent clip contact which sets atop the motor by now. This long clip picks-up the power from the inverted L-shaped contacts on the trucks. Most people will replace this with a wire soldered to the L-contacts. Isolating the motor is as simple as bending the motor brush spring clip’s tab which sticks out and makes contact with the locomotive’s frame on the bottom of the motor, flat with the rest of the motor clip. I think the the Digitrax AT decoder replaces the upper and lower brush spring clips with ones already soldered to the decoder leads. You will still need to solder track pick-up wires to both sides each of the truck side frames. You certainly can use the AT decoders however, it’s a simple matter to use the decoders with wire harnesses, also. Half of the decoders I have installed have been in Athearn locos. I have used the cheapest decoders available, the DH 123Ds. Each decoder comes with a small instruction note on installation and installation is easy.
They sure can. Digitrax even has special decoders with harnesses made specifically for Athearn “standard” locos.
I ave a bunch of AMD-103s from the blue box runs and they all easily converted to DCC with the use of the harnesses provided. You can get a pretty good deal on them too if you look in the right places.
AntonioFP45,
You seem to be an Athearn fan/expert on upgrading their locos. I have a GP-35 that I attempted to upgrade with an upgrade kit (I don’t remember if it was A-Line or NWSL). At any rate, I was a little dissapointed with my results. The motor didn’t quite sit right when I used the silicon caulk method. Have you done this with your upgrades? Should I have stuck with the original Athearn motor mounts and just swapped out the motor itself?
Dave
Hello Dave,
I’m currently working on a disassembled FP45. You won’t be able to re-use the Athearn motor mounts. In upgrading with the A-Line or NWSL kits, you can use a quality 2-sided tape (carpet tape) to secure the motor. Usually works quite well and offers more of a firm mount than silicone caulk. Before attaching the tape, it’s good to check that both surfaces are oil free (I like cleaning with alcohol).
Cheers and High Greens! [:D][8D]
Todd,
We showed how to do this conversion in the October 2004 issue. As a couple of the fellows have pointed out, the simplest way to accomplish it is via the Digitrax kit, but even without that it’s a pretty simple conversion.
Best wishes,
Terry
Todd,
It is not that hard to add DCC to an Athearn. Here is a photo of one of my installations in and BB GP38-2.
Dan
Now that looks professional!![swg][tup]
spiffy!
Looks like I need to stop procrastinating about my FP45 and fleet now that the myth of a"hard conversion" is tossed out the window!
Does anyone know of a place that has good deals on these decoders? I need about a half dozen.
I have purchased several from www.litchfieldstation.com His prices are quite reasonable and orders over $50 do not pay shipping.
Nice job Antonio on that GP38 decoder install. Got one question for you: What did you use for the flat piece on top of the moter and how did you mount it to the motor?
Thanks!
Greg
For those using the Digitrax Kit, I would like to point out a couple of traps. The little wires break off of the clips VERY easily. I had to strip and re-solder every one of them on my conversion. [banghead][censored][soapbox]
When I did, I slipped a small piece of heat-shrink tubing over one of the little prongs on the clip, fed the wire through the heat-shrink, and soldered the wire to the flat part of the clip. Then, I heated the heat-shrink so that it gripped the wire to the prong as a sort of strain-relief. On the motor clips, I soldered the wire to the flat part of the clip and then epoxied the insulated part of the wire to the clip about an eighth to three-sixteenth of an inch from the solder joint. This also makes a strain relief. Where you run into problems with wires breaking is when you have to take the shell off later to service the engine, and a little bit of extra work initially can save tons of swear words later down the line.
Also, don’t forget to put some thin electrical tape inside the frame so that the bottom clip on the Digitrax kit won’t, sometime in the future, accidentally contact the frame.
Just a few things that I learned, some from MR, and some the hard way.
Lord, I hope you can cause I got two of them. It doesn’t look like anyone’s interested in buying or trading for them, so they’ll get converted.
Antonio…
While we’re on the subject, where is a good source for Mashima motors? Is there a specific model number that is appropriate for Athearn conversion? Just wondering…
Thanks,
Mike
Has anyone installed the grain of wheat bulbs for headlights, replacing the “cab illuminator” bulb in a DCC loco? If so is there anything special that you need to do or can you just wire the bulbs to the white headlight wire?
If it’s a 12-14v bulb, you can wire it right in, although a low value resistor is often suggested to reduce inrush current that could eventually damage the decoder.
I prefer LEDs, golden white for older locos, the sunny whites are a little closer to modern halogen-type lights. Both work great with a 1K 1/4 watt resistor.
–Randy
Hello Mike.
One thing, though. I can’t take the credit as the above installation photo was performed by Dan.
Go to http://ppw-aline.com
When you get there, scroll down until you see Locomotive Chassis & Repowering parts. Then, select repowering parts and you will see the info.
You can order directly or through your LHS.
Hope this helps!
I’ve had great luck with Athearn conversions using the double sided tape, not so good luck using the caulk method. A lot of those old Athearns are well worth converting.
Cheers,
Ed