I have a couple new Athearn RTR SD40T-2’s. I thought I might convert them to DCC tonight. Anybody want to start a pool on how well they’ll run with out modification, I mean adjustment?
I like the color blue…but I’m not holding my breath.
Tilden
No way. Anyone knowing Athearns spotty QAQC knows that there are no guarantee’s. Some run pretty good, a few not so good. Good luck!
Depends…What decoders you using?[:-^]
Well Loathar, the Dash 9 got a NCE 15SR and it ran terrible until I tore it down and fixed the electrical continuity problems. I thought I had a few spare MRC 1650’s but couldn’t find them. So I ordered some MRC 1651’s because they have both the JST and eight pin plugs. Of course then I found the 1650’s. So…[:-^]
Tilden
I only have the old BB Athearns. I’ll be curious to get one of the new ones and see what all the complaints are about. The new Hex drive sure looks a lot better than those old u-joint shafts they used to put in them.
OK. I slipped downstairs and pulled out one of the RTR SD40-2’s. First off, they have a new box with a real lift off top. No more wrestling with the side flaps to open, just lift off the top. The interior packaging is the same with a molded clear plastic top and bottom and a clear sleeve holding them together. There is a plastic bag of detail parts for the fuel tank and the horn. When I removed the couplers I noticed the coupler skrews are different lengths. Both are long, the rear one, quite long.
Since they are new version RTR’s the light board has both the JST and 8 pin plug, which is nice. I decided to check continuity on the trucks and noticed they are built and wired differently. The workings on the trucks are lower profile to go with the hex drive but the tower like electrical post is gone. There are two small, short, contact studs with wires running from them directly to the light board. The wires are held on by the same plastic slip-on caps as the light board. Both the front and rear truck are directly wired in this fashion. This is a much better idea. The electrical path is more direct, the wire runs are shorter and the contact is much more dependable. Since you are no longer using the frame, you eliminate the bolster contact point and any related problems. And yes, the continuity was fine.
The decoder (which is small) fit with no problems and putting on Kadee 158’s (scale whiskers) was the most time consuming part of the conversion. The rear coupler was spot on for height and the trip pin did not need adjusting. The front coupler is slightly high, but an off-set shank would be too low.
As we speak (or write) it is running in, quiet and smooth. After about an hour I’ll adjust the decoder settings (yes David, I’m reasonably sure it will run that long).
Gee, maybe I’ll do the second one…but maybe I shouldn’t press my luck.
Lets hope so…[;)]
You should hear the SD40T-2 I just finished for a client. It sounds amazing!
David B