I bought a 3 Truck Shay at the NGRC. I also bought a battery (18 volt Nimh), an AirWire G2 decoder and a switch harness. I have a Phoenix 2K2 sound system as well. I’ve done a couple conversions in the past but man is there a pile of wires in this thing. Any hints on where to put boards etc?
Rex
You could always put the boards in a sandwich-bag and bury them under a bridge, call UPS and tell them to deliver the Shay to Tom. Then set back and relax for a while, a long while, a very long while.
[D)]
Sorry, Rex, I have no experience with the 3-truck Shay, but for a Bachmann 2-truck shay the only thing I could squeeze into the tender area was the speaker. Everything else, including the AirWire receiver and Phoenix sound system went into a trailing boxcar.
This necessitated a lot of wires going from the boxcar to the loco, so I used a 7-pin DIN socket and cable.
Sometimes there’s just no room in even a G-scale model for the batteries, decoder, sound system, and speaker.
The water bunker is fairly large and already set up for the speaker so I think I can use the space there for the speaker, sound board, and battery. Not sure where I’ll squeeze in the decoder. Did you remove the wheel power pickups or did you just clip the wires?
Rex
Progress report - The speaker is in. The 2K2 sound board is in. The volumn switch, the programing socket, and the RCS BIK-U3 fused on-off switch are installed. I put the battery on a logging car along with the battery charging jack. I used an airplane servo extension cord to connect the the charge port to the BIK-U3, Next step is to tear out the Bachmann board and wire in the Airwire G2 decoder.
Question - Do I need to remove the power pickups from the 3 trucks or can I just disconnect them? Also CVP recommends replacing the motor wiring rather than using what’s already there. Anyone have any experience using the Bachmann wiring?
Thanks,
Rex
Hello Rex.
How are you connecting the charger to the charge jack?
The normal 2.5 mm x 5 mm jack is actually a SPDT switch that has internal connection when the charge plug is removed.
If you have connected the three wires to the RBG terminals on BIK-U3 you will have to add a jumper plug, either at the BIK-US terminals or at the end of the servo cable, to make a continuous circuit for the ground (-). Otherwise the system will not get any power.
Also I do not recommend using a regular servo lead as it is not designed to carry the amount of current the loco can draw. You would be advised to use a heavy duty servo cable instead.
In my installation the volume control switch wasn’t necessary because you can control the volume with the AirWire receiver functions 7 and 8. I also didn’t include a programming socket because that can also be done through the AirWire if necessary.
I agree with Tony’s comment about the servo extension wire not being heavy enough to handle the current load. The Phoenix 2K2 can draw significant amperage itself if you have the volume turned up.
I used the servo connector for the charge jack’s red, black, and grey wires. Those wires are all the same gauge. Yes Tony I discovered (by calling Johnathan at Electric Model Works) that the BIK won’t work without the charge jack hooked up.
I used a 14 guage battery connector for the main battery power connector between the trail logging/battery car and the third truck of the Shay where I installed the switches. I plan to use another heavy duty battery connector to go between trucks 2 and 3 of the Shay for the battery wires. I used the Phoenix provided 20 gauge connector to go from the BIK output to the sound board.
What guage wire do I need going from the AirWire board to the 3 motor blocks? Backman appears to have used 20 guage wire. AirWire provides a shielded twisted 3 wire cable that appears to be heavier than the Bachmann motor wires.
Rex
what a dumb…ttrigg
Lets play nice[:)] - Peter
Hi Rex.
The wires on the charge jack can handle 5-6 amps over that short a distance.
I think they are 24 gauge.
Hi Tony,
Thanks for the info on the charge jack wiring. I think I’m okay with the 12" servo extension as I had to cut off 5" of the charge jack wiring so I only added 7" total.
I’d like to use the existing Bachmann motor wires going to the three motors but CVP says I should replace them. That means tearing into each of the trucks and possibly breaking something in the process. Your advice?
Rex
All of the “regulars” know that my various “UPS” comments are simply jealousy of their skills/product and are a form of complement in their endeavors. Over here on the large-scale side we have a tendency to poke fun at each other.
That’s how I took the comment, also it had an emoticon, which is sort of “forum insurance” that people know things are being joked about.
Greg
It’s just a joke. Tom usually gets to everyone, but I think I beat him to Mik[:D] - Peter
Tom,
No problem. Right now the Shay is total inop with wires everywhere. Any ideas on which wire to hook up to where?
Rex
This is where you earn your wings. You need to get a meter out, and trace out the wires…
Start by finding the motor leads. You should be able to trace them physically. you can hook a low dc voltage to them to verify you have the motor leads.
After that you can test just the motor part. Next you will want to find the headlight.
Is there a wiring diagram on the Bachmann site?
Greg
Rex: You of all people should know better than to ask me how to hook something up. Remember I’m the King of the Analog Dinosaurs. I even have problems putting the engineer in the cab (if he comes in the box with the engine.) I will assume that you are asking some one else that question. Have fun my friend.
All hail the king[bow][:D] - Peter