spectrum two motor 44 ton

[rich1998]

i just picked one up and the conversion looks easy.  two motors are wired in parallel and locked rotor is .6 amps. i have ordered a digitrax 1 amp decoder with bemf.  also ordered some nmra colored wire to make the wiring job easier. bachmann wires are black. loco has 12 volt lamps. the motor wiring looks a little different than the article in the mr jan 2001 article. should be a piece of pie. 
lex

[rich1998]

just finshed up the two motor dcc install. used a digitrax dz125 z scale decoder.
lex

[NMWTRR]

Question, I am the person who has been discussing the 44 tonner Decoder install in the general category.

Thanks for all of the helpful info.  When I got the MR article about the install, all they said was to cut the pick up leads between the wheels and the motor.  It looked like from the picture that it might be difficult to do this?  Was it easy to access once you take the motor apart?  Also how easy was it to solder the connections form the decoder to these leads to the wheel.

I have converted three locos now to DCC and all of them have been a challenge to get back together in the shell.  I think the 44 tonner might be pretty tight and the wires mihgt interfere with the trucks abiltiy to rotate??

Thanks again

[hotrainlover]

When I have to cut wires from the power pickups in engines, I cut the wires where they attach to the motor.  This allows for ample wire, and I do NOT have to change the original pickup configuration.

[rich1998]

first of all, study the trucks carefully. someone told me about this
one screw allows you to remove the pc board and clear plastic.
one screw for each truck to remove.
four screws to take the top off of each truck to remove the motor.
a small pair of side cutters to cut the metal strips that contact the motor terminals.
remove the motors and solderr a wire to each motor terminal. i have a small rubber jaw vise to hold the motor.
i uses a little rosin flux and electrical solder from Radio Shack to solder the wires to the terminals. no soldering gun.
i use a 40 watt solder iron that has a temp adjust i keep at half way.
i assume you have done soldering before.
the magazine instructions tell you to cut the pickup wires a little shorter and solder splice the new wires.
i unsoldered the original wires.
with a Xacto knife, i scrapped the old solder points clean and using rosin flux and solder i tinned those points. the pickups are a little delicate so be careful.
then soldered the red and black wires in place. a little solder, in and out quick.
take your time.

i have done this type of soldering for years so no problem for me.
at this point i used some labelle gear oil which is thick. a little on the gears. not a lot. a film is needed.
a drop of labelle oil on each motot bearing
carefully assemble the motors again.
make sure the decoder red and black wires only connect to the red and black pickup wires.
the trucks do not swivel very much.

i bought some #30 decoder wires from a place called litchfield. the correct colors. very flex.
do not dumpster dive for wire. you want small stranded wire.

after the trucks assembled i put them in the rubber vise and ran them for about an hour measuring motor current. at 7 volts, 160ma.

soldered in all wires following nmra color code. used small shrink tube over eack solder splice with decoder. shrink from litchfield.
i use kapton tape from litchfield to hold down everything.

look at the magazine pictures, plenty of slack in the wires.

the dz125 decoder is good for 1 amp.

lex
lex