Turning to DCC and need help

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Ok I need help, I’m trying to get my five engines switched over to dcc but i dont kow how. I know you need decoders to get started. oh by the way im going with DIgitrax. here is my list of engines.

3 athearn blue box with 84040 motors and 1 84030 motor (Gp9; Gp50;F7a;sw7)

tyco c430 run great for ot being 20 yrs old

2 lifelike gp38-2’s and

1 international hobby corp E8

so if anyone knows how to transfer these to
DCC please reply to this post or my email at ray52773@yahoo.com

thanks so very much [#wstupid]

2

Ray,

First off: [#welcome] to the forum! Good to have ya’ aboard! [:)]

My recommendation for you is to contact anyone of the following establishments and get their recommendations:

Any one of these fine gentlemen has the DCC expertise and can give you terrific advice on decoders.

Hope that’s a help…

Tom

3

Welcome to DCC. As far as the Athern engines Digitrax has a decoder with all the wiring for the conversion. You may have to go to a higher amp rating decoder for the Mantua. Many of them draw over 1 amp. at stall, which most standard decoders are rated at. As far as the IHC, I don’t know of any “plug & play” decoders that are made for that engine. You may want to pick up a Lifelike engine to replace it as they have provision for “plup & play” You can install a decoder in any engine. The question is , is it worth the time & money? Jerry

4

As jerry mentioned, there are decoders specifically for the Athearn blue box engines.

<> the real tough one here will be the Tyco… if it has the infamous “powertorque” motor, your going to have real problems. It’s impossible to isolate the motor on those because the motor is housed in the front truck.

Dean

<>

5

Ray, For the Athearn locos Digitrax sells a so called plug and play for the BB models. The DH123AT is a 1-1/2 amp 2 amp peak decoder. It is a no solder version of the DH123D. If you go with this decoder don’t bother with the AT version. You will find that soldering the wires to the motor contacts and lights yourself works better and you save $5.00. I bought mine online at Internet Trains for around $22.00each.

I did an Athearn F7A several months ago. If you want to check out what is involved go here http://good-times.webshots.com/album/552513071iZyOrv?start=0

Bill

6

As simple as it is to install a decoder into an Athearn, I consider the special decoder unnecessary if you can perform simple soldering. Either way, you must remove the motor so it can be properly insulated from the frame. There are several web sites with step-by-step instructions on how to install decoders into Athearn engines.

The others you have I personally would not consider worth the cost of a decoder unless they run exceptionally well and you use them on a regular basis.

7

thanks for the info and i will keep yall updated on ant findings