Revolution in 2-8-0

[dlb]

Has anyone put a revolution decoder into a 2-8-0 consolidation part #81299
Box reads dcc ready.  Is the room in the boiler for the decoder?

Thanks,
David

[Kevin Strong]

The Revolution plugs into the socket that's in the tender. Just plug it in, connect the battery to the battery screw terminals, and you're off and running. You'll probably want to install a charging jack and on/off switch for the power, or make it such that the battery is removable for charging. (The coal load is removable, so access is easy.)

The only catch is that the Revolution board does not pass battery power forward to power the headlight or other accessories in the locomotive, so you'll have to solder jumper wires from the battery (B+ and GND)  to J1-6 (B+) and J1-7 (GND) solder pads.

Later,

K

[dlb]

Kevin,

The C-19 and K-27 have a socket but not the consolidation.
At least not the on I have here.
It has never been run but I believe the guy may have had it awhile.
The book that come with it says hook up in the boiler behind the front plate.

David

[Kevin Strong]

Oops. My bad. Curse you, Bachmann, for releasing a 2nd 2-8-0 and confusing me. (But please don't let this dissuade you from any plans you may have of releasing your On30 Mogul in 1:20.3.)

I'd put everything in the tender for easier access. There are 6 wires running between the engine and tender; a 2-wire and a 4-wire plug. You can use them and not need any additional wires. You could put the board in the boiler, but then if something goes screwy, you're pulling the boiler off to fix it instead of just removing the tender shell. That, and you will either have to gut the stock electronics that control the firebox flicker and cab lights, or figure out a way to put both boards in the boiler and still be able to easily access them. You're going to want the batteries in the tender anyway, so why not just keep everything there?

The 2-wire plug is the chuff trigger. The 4-wire plug carries track power forward from the tender to the loco's main PC board, and the back-up light from that PC board to the light on the tender.

I'll presume you're using battery power, so use the two wires that carry track power to carry battery power forward to the main PC board. That will give you your headlight and firebox lights (and smoke if you want it). This will give you constant power to the headlight--when the loco's on, the headlight will be on. Use the pair of wires that originally carried power from that PC board to the reverse light to carry power to the motor instead. Use the chuff trigger wires for the chuff trigger.

(If you want directional control of the headlight, you'll need to run another pair of wires between the loco and tender, and hook the headlight directly up to that instead.)

Inside the locomotive, just cut or disconnect the leads that come from the loco track pick-ups leading to the main PC board. That will prevent the battery power from back-feeding the track. (Also, cut the leads in the tender to the truck pick-ups.) Unplug the motor leads from that PC board, and do two things. First, remove the "filter" that's on the back of the motor. It's not needed. Then, wire the leads that used to run to the reverse light pick-up to the motor instead. Bachmann uses the same size wire for both, so you don't need to beef it up.

In the tender, connect the back-up light directly to the reverse light output of the revolution. I believe (don't quote me) that Bachmann wired a resister in series with the LED light near the light itself. (Look for heat-shrink tubing and a small resistor-sized bump.) If that's there, you can just connect it directly. Otherwise (or if you want to replace the orange LED with a warm white one for a more prototypical look), then drop in the new LED and a 1000-ohm resistor. It doesn't matter which side of the LED.

If you're using the Revo's stock sound, wire the chuff trigger leads coming from the loco to the two white wires on the chuff trigger plug (there's a white, black, and white wire). Put a speaker in the tender and connect it to the speaker output of the Revo board.

Later,

K

[dlb]

Thanks Kevin,  I agree decoder goes in tender.  This will run track power.

I have just finished a J1e Hudson with revolution and I put the decoder in the tender.
I also have a J1e Hudson to do dcc and will also put the decoder in the tender.

I have 4 wire aristo style cabling that works fine.

David