Does anyone know whether this item would require motor isolation and what that would entail? I’d like to convert one to motor only DCC if it was relatively easy.
I converted my Doodlebug last year using an ESU 52690 LokPilot w/BEMF and 8 pin plug decoder. There was no other modification needed. The motor is isolated and ready for DCC. Mine was a recent model so it was DCC ready, but if yours is a very early model it may be different but I don’t think the motor would need to be isolated. Take the body shell off and see if you have a socket on the light board for a decoder.
-Bob
If you are going to continue doing DCC stuff conversions, get a multimeter to check the motor installations and always use a program track with a new DCC install.
Expert DCC installers might tell you that is not important but for new people, it is very important.
I inadvertently swapped the orange wire with the red wire on a hardwire install. The program track prevented a blown decoder because my DCC controller indicated an error.
Some diesels, a motor lead csn be close to the frame.
Rich
Anyone know whether the motor in this model is good for DCC operation? I haven’t found a motor description nor release year for this model and don’t know anyway whether can, skew wound, etc matters. I don’t want to acquire one unless the motor will be decent for DCC.
If you’re buying a new one from Walthers it will be fine. If it’s “new in the box” from a dealer or discounter, it may actually be a bit older.
But, I don’t think anyone has been putting old “unsuitable for DCC” motors into anything for many years.
The one I’ve looked at is unused but late 90’s / early 2000’s vintage per the Walthers tech folks.
I have one of the first run. The motor is a can motor I don’t know if it is 5 poles or skew wound. It works fine on my DCC system. This uit is DCC ready as it comes with an 8 pin NMRA plug. However a trace must be cut on the light board in order to properly install a DCC decoder. This step is well documented in the documentation. The hardest part of the install is opening the shell and it is not a good puller, it will not pull anything on a 3% grade. I consider it to be a good runner otherwise
Jack:
Is the pulling power limited by the unit’s weight or the motor? Could weight be added without too much sacrifice of the interior details?
Joe
I did populate the unit with passengers, while I did not look closely to add more weight, there may be some room for a very small amount of weight. The weak pulling power is becaused only the front 4 wheels truck is providing tractive effort.
Thanks, everyone! That was enough info to allow biting the bullet and doing the Ebay BIN just now. Now I just have to hope it hasn’t turned to an inoperable state spending 15 yrs in the box. I’ll have to find the thread again about opening it…I saw one where someone found it difficult (as noted above) to the point he feared breaking something. If successful in converting, I like the idea of this shorter doodlebug type on my curves.
Na, it should be good. Clean the wheels and pickups, remove all the old grease, and apply fresh good quality plastic compatible grease to the gears and oil the bearings.
–Randy
Good news. Arrived today, “new” in the box as described and seems to run fine (after about 15 yrs) up and down my 3’ DC test track. The front headlight is not working (it appears that wires in the cab go there).
Now to find again the thread on how to get the shell off (I think I saved one). I have a couple of Bachmann 2-8-0 decoders (non-sound) that I wonder if I could try so I could run on the DCC layout. Anyone know what these are? Any problem with wiring to this Walthers gas electric? Would think an amps disconnect would be the only potential problem??
It’s a nifty little unit.