Revive A GG1?

[wallyworld]

When I moved from contemporary toy trains to the earlier tinplate ones, one of the factors was the electronic failures of several MTH engines, one of which is the GG1. I recently unearthed it and was pondering reviving it by replacing it's electronic guts. Are their any simple replacements beyond MTH?

I just want forward and reverse, no sound. Any help would be appreciated.The maze of wiring is intimidating. As an alternative, is there a way to simply bypass the board and have it run in only one direction? I rarely reversed it in operation.

[rtraincollector]

Chief has taken a mth proto and gutted it and made it tmcc and you can get a tmcc board (DC commander) for like $60 from boxcar bill http://mttponline.com/ He has done me good. Its not hard to install tmcc and yes it gives you conventional capabilities that you are looking for.

I put one in a Williams that had no horn I added a train sound board to give it a engine sound and horn and bell

Thats another option but not sure how well it would work there is either williams reverse board and I believe I read where (not sure of exact spelling ) Dalley's has a electronic type E-unit if you want ot try the williams contact marty at www.mapajunction.com as he has great prices. hope this helps as said not sure on some of this but heres some ideas anyway

[wallyworld]

Thanks much..Ill give them a call.

[M. Mitchell Marmel]

I think Dallee can fix you up:

http://www.dallee.com/e_units.htm

If you want to get even simpler than that: 

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062583

Simply connect the AC inputs to the center pickup and ground, and the DC outputs to the motor leads.  This is what Bowser uses for its AC three rail power units.

Have fun! 

Mitch

[TrainLarry]

  A Dallee electronic 'E' unit should fit the bill if the MTH board is bad. Don't forget to order the optional switch if you want to lock the board in one direction.

  Basic one direction running can be had by wiring in a full wave bridge rectifier and filter capacitor to the motors.

Larry

[wallyworld]

Thanks Larry,

I appreciate the help inasmuch as I need all I can get. LOL. but I would not know where to begin as far as putting in a rectifier, etc..but I will check out Dallee. It's a different world from Marx etc, to be sure.

[lionelsoni]

You don't need a capacitor, just a bridge rectifier, like this one:  http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062580&filterName=Type&filterValue=Rectifiers#tabsetBasic

Connect the ~ terminals, one to the outside rails, the other to the center-rail pickup.  Connect the + and - terminals to the motor(s).  If it goes the wrong way, swap the + and - terminals.  Or just turn it around--it is a GG1, after all!

[TrainLarry]

 The filter capacitor is used to smooth out the DC from the rectifiers, which always have a small AC component left in the output. All DC power supplies use them. Can't hurt to use one also.

Larry

[wallyworld]

I really appreciate the help with this guys..Larry is there any part # I should look for as far as a filter capacitor  like in a Radio Shack?

[rtraincollector]

well I clicked on bob's link and it was light in color but here is what they had listed for the part bob was showing Model:

276-1146

 | Catalog #: 276-1146

[wallyworld]

Thanks..I was wondering about that.

[TrainLarry]

  Radio Shack does not seem to have a capacitor sufficient for our use. Here is a Mouser part that will work:

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Nichicon/TVX1H102MCD/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMtZ1n0r9vR22SmzhV1iNnMtp06dqSFit8U%3d

  Note that these capacitors are polarized, with a stripe denoting the (-) side. Hook it up across the DC output of the bridge rectifier, noting polarity. It will smooth out the pulses of the rectifier, giving a better supply to the motor.

   You can run the engine without the capacitor, but good electronic practice would include one.

Larry

[wallyworld]

Thanks for taking the trouble to reply.I really appreciate all of your assistance as well as everyone else.

Again, thanks.guys

[lionelsoni]

Here is (I hope) a good link to the rectifier:  http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062580&filterName=Type&filterValue=Rectifiers

Larry, can you give a more specific reason than "good electronic practice" why you think he should use a capacitor?  It is common practice to run DC motors directly from full-wave rectifiers.  The motor itself acts as a filter, and it is fairly well modeled as a capacitor.

If you really want to use a capacitor, here is a suitable Radio Shack part:  http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102508&filterName=Type&filterValue=Electrolytic+capacitors  .  However, why not do it without a capacitor first, to see that it works for you.  You can easily add the capacitor later if you still want to.

[TrainLarry]

Bob,

  I am not disagreeing with the fact that our DC motors can run off the unfiltered output of a full wave bridge rectifier. Any full wave bridge still has a small AC ripple component in its' output, and a "filter" capacitor removes the ripple, resulting in a smooth DC output. It acts like a flywheel on a reciprocating engine-smoothing out the pulses. Any DC power supply will have these capacitors in it for this reason - for a smooth DC output. Do our motors need them? As you say, no, the motor acts as a filter. The same reason a car battery charger does not have a capacitor either - the battery acts as a filter. For 5 dollars, my locomotive would have a capacitor. To me that would be "good electronic practice". My humble opinion.

Larry

[lionelsoni]

Chaqun à son goût.