Two weeks ago I attended a model train show at Salt Lake City… I bought a Proto 2000 SW 9/1200, a few days later, I opened the box to look at what I had bought. Every thing looked O.K. then I realized there was no instructions on maintaining or where all the small plastic hand rails should be located. (it is an undecorated model). A note on the box stated it was “easy to install DCC , instructions inside”. You guessed it, no instructions. Any one out there have these instructions? I would gladly pay for a copy. I just finished installing a decoder in a Trainline loco, it works fine. I would like to install one in the SW. It has a circut board inside with diodes for the lights, but I don’t know how to linstall a decoder. Also I would like to know how to open the trucks to clean and lube them. I would appreciate any help.
Bob, I also found something on Tony’s Train Exchange page. It appears to be an NCE manual for installing a TTE SW9/12 decoder into the SW9/1200 locomotive:
I also bought a proto SW9 at a train show. It had a NCE decoder in it but it would not run. I put a Digitrax decoder in & it worked fine. If you send me your email I will be glad toscan the instuction sheet & send it to you.
Tom is correct. The TTE SW9/12 decoder apparently is a rebranded/repackaged/whatever NCE SW9-SR. I have a few P2K SW’s with this decoder. The installation isn’t difficult and they run very well. Here’s a link to the NCE version of the manual: http://www.ncedcc.com/ncetest/sw9_sr.pdf
I purchased 8 PK2 SW9/1200 locomotives. I also purchased 8 TTE SW decoders which are maded by NEC. While the decoders fit nicely in the locomotives I had a lot of trouble getting them to work properly. You have to solder wires to the decoders and I am not the most skilled at this process. As a result only one of the eight locomotives is working properly. The others are sitting in the repair bin. I will probably switch to Digitrax decoders for these locomotives.
When soldering, the quicker you can solder a wire to the decoder, the less likely you are to overheat and/or destroy your decoder.
It’s very important that the decoder does NOT touch any metal on the frame. A piece of electrical tape or Kapton tape on the bare metal frame will help to prevent this from happening. If the decoder does come into contact with the metal frame, you run the risk of frying your decoder.
Some decoders need to “breathe” in order to work properly. The installation instructions on my Atlas Gold decoder specifically said NOT to cover the decoder with electrical tape or strange things might happen.
Check to make sure that none of the above is the case in your non-functioning decoders.
I am planning to install two of these later this week. The instructions didn’t look bad. I am ordering some LED’s and will probably use one of those for the headlight. I may leave the 1.5v lamp in place in the cab, we’ll see.
Soldering to the decoders should be easy if you have the right tools. Soldering to track requires a large hot iron to get the track up to temperature enough for a good solder joint without overheating the ties. Soldering to these decoders is a different philosophy. For the decoders a small, low temperature iron is best. I have a 24W temperature controlled iron, and I would think about 500 Deg F would be a good place to start. A technician friend of mine actually recommended using a lamp-dimmer to reduce the temperature of a simple iron. Lower temperature lessens the risk of damaging the circuit board.
Do you have any idea what might have gone wrong with your installations?
If you use the NCE or Tony’s decoder, you can leave the light in the cab - it has a dropping resistor on it and is designed for that. There are two pads at the front of the decoder to solder an LED to to replace the front bulb. For a non-plug and play installation it’s fairly easy to do.
Thats’s how I’ve done the three I own. I’d consider it a very easy drop-in installation. I even added two-pin connectors to the cab light wiring so I could completely remove the shell. So far, that’s been a waste of time and material (knock on wood…).[:)]
Colin Murray; Thanks for answering my inquiry about my sw9/12. My email is sego65lilly@msn.com I would really appreciate it if you could send me the information on on this model. I would gladly pay you for your time. I could not get your email address.