Hi all, I’m converting an older Rivarossi Y6b to DCC. I want the tender wheels to pick up track current.
Currently there are two 6 wheel trucks without wipers.
Anyone know of a source for 6 wheel tender trucks with electrical pickups or for wipers I can install on the existing wheelsets?
I’ve used these in the past with some success:
If you can find them. My usual source, SBS4DCC is out but you might locate them from other sources. Generally they’re under $10 for a pack of 8 but these days, who knows?
I don’t know if you have your preferences set to accept youTube videos but the DCC Guy has a look at them here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vCOp91ve2A
Good Luck, Ed
I swapped out all my Rivarossi tender trucks with Bowser 35107 trucks, much better and all metal.
The holes in the floor are for speakers, I put a dob of red paint on the power pickup side of the truck frames.
I cover the speakers with black nylon to trevent the speaker magnets from picking up small metal particals.
https://melvineperry.blogspot.com/2016/11/november-10-2016-rivarossi-cab-forward.html
Mel
My Model Railroad
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
Bakersfield, California
Turned 84 in July, aging is definitely not for wimps.
It’s actually pretty easy to make your own, using either Tichy’s phosphor-bronze wire or Kadee’s original draught-gear box springs.
Here are some photos…
These are cut-up Kadee springs for centering couplers, used as wipers for a steam locos’ drivers, in effect allowing for all-wheel pick-up…
The same stuff from the Kadee springs is used here, too (the copper-clad board is double sided, allowing it to be soldered to the trucks’ bolsters, keeping the wipers isolated from causing a short…
This one uses Tichy phosphor-bronze wire to give the tender all-wheel pick-up…
The added resilience of the wire will allow you to alter the amount of pressure against the wheels…you’ll want good contact, but not so much that it will create excess drag.
My layout is strictly DC, so I use these simple plugs to get the power to the loco’s motor…
I used a similar set-up for this DCC loco done for a friend…
If adding wipers to tender wheelsets that are insulated on one side only, having the wipers ride on the axles may create less drag than riding on the uninsulated wheels.
Mark Vinski.
Good point, Mark. The pressure from wipers can be adjusted, as the phosphor-bronze wire won’t fatigue as quickly as does brass wire. If the tender has a good amount of weight, placing the wipers atop the axles should ensure good contact.
Wayne
I used to go to all the trouble adding all the extra wipers on brass steam engines at a great cost of time.
I have since given up on that entirely and just add a stay alive capacitor to the decoder now. Smooth continuous operation by only soldering two (or three) wires to the decoder.
Mark.
Thanks for the replies. Think I’ll try Mel’s idea.
You won’t be sorry, the Rivarossi tender trucks are pitiful at best. I tried Precision Scale Buckeye trucks and they are beautiful but are worse than the Rivarossi trucks for tracking, terrible !!!
The Bowser Buckeye trucks look great and track better than any three axel truck out there, perfect.
Mel
My Model Railroad
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
Bakersfield, California
Turned 84 in July, aging is definitely not for wimps.
I received my motors today. I know I have to cut the shaft and file a flat spot to fit in the connector piece but what did you use to mount and level the motor so that the shafts align? Looks like I need to prop up the back end before I glue it in place
I use small pieces of sheet Styrene for spacers and Amazing Goop to glue in all of my motors. Has worked great for me for at least 10 years. The Goop absorbs motor vibration and motor noise.
There are two dislikes about using Goop, 1) its messy to work with, 2) its setup time is about 45 minutes . . . but to me its well worth the problems, Great Stuff !!!
Mel
My Model Railroad
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
Bakersfield, California
Turned 84 in July, aging is definitely not for wimps.
Thanks Mel, I got the Goop0 yesterday and9 I have styrene.
I’ve been using (bathtub) caulk for attaching my motors. If it does not mesh well, the caulk is very easy to remove for a retry. It will hold for years, based on my experience.
As for the power pickups, I have added some to my tender trucks on many occasion to achieve an all-wheel pickup. I cut pieces from phosphore bronze sheets. I solder a flexible wire, then glue the strip on the truck. The strip makes contact top of the wheels, not on the side. The best glue to do this is epoxy. Here is an example:
https://www.alaskarails.org/modeling/PD-electrical-pickup.html
I did this on Rivarossi engines using the original trucks, as well as on an old Bachmann tender. It is a bit tricky to install, but way cheaper than buying a keep-alive decoder.
Athearn also sells all-wheel power pickup trucks (for a caboose) at a decent price. I’ve installed these on one of my lighter tenders. Works very well.
Simon