Soldering for rail pick up

Model Railroader Electronics and DCC
1

It seem my last idea of reusing the “factory Light board” may prove to be more trouble that it is worth. I was told by an installer he modifies the light boards. This was a few years ago and I do not have a contact as the hobby shope he worked closed.

My new question is where to solder the track pick up wire from the decoder. as mentioned I had hoped to use the copper on the factory light board. Can I solder to the brass or copper pick up stips in the frame, or is some other attachement to the frame halves recomended.

and i thought milling the frame was going to be my big problem.

Thanks

Perry

2

Hi there. If I understand your question correctly, you are wondering where to connect your black and/or red wires from the decoder to the rail pickups. I also understand that you want to connect the wire that connects to the frame (red for a steam loco, I forget for diesel). What I usually do is drill and tap a hole in the frame, install a screw, and connect the wire to the screw.

Simon

3

Edit

I see we have dueling threads.

For some reason, the forum no longer allows me to see all your posts when I click on your forum name.

4

I thought the same with Athearn light boards, but they do not support certain functions, or even LED lighting.

I think you’d be better off scraping the light board and hard wiring the decoder, or finding a “drop in” decoder that will fit your locomotive.

Some decoder manufacturers have great info on installing a specific decoder into specific manufacturers locomotives.

The TCS sight has a variety of installs. https://tcsdcc.com/

Mike.