Decoder Installation - old engines

[Stardog]

 Has anyone put DCC Decoders in to old high flange articulated Rivarossi engines.

If so, please provide information on how to do it.  Thank you.

[retsignalmtr]

Be careful with the stall current rating of the decoder. I put a decoder in a 55 year old AC Gilbert American Flyer HO Hudson. It ran beautiful with a few cars, but when I loaded it up with the same amount of cars it could pull on DC the loco stalled and the decoder went up in smoke. The traction tires wouldn't let the drivers spin when the loco stopped moving. 

[ARTHILL]

I have put decoders in a English YardBird circa 1950, and two PFM brass, one an articulated. In the articulated and the Yardbird I replaced the motor. I used the old Pittman with a Shay. It was slow work, but I got them to work by reading the directions a lot of times and taking it slowly. If I did ten more they would be better and easier and faster, but they would not run any better,

I put the decoder in the Yardbird for sentamental reasons. I also detailed it. I could have bought a fine finished model for less, but this was a work of love as were the other two. If you love the engine, you can make it work if you can do fine soldering and deal with LITTLE pieces. If you just want a good DCC engine, but a new one.

 The process is:

Take it apart and remember where all the pieces go. I made notes, put the pieces in a labeled muffin tin and even took a couple of pics.

Find a place for the decoder ( and sound if you want)

Isolate the motor

Get the wire colors straight (This is important)

Solder in the feeds and put it all back together

Program the decoder.

The engine should run as good as it did before, but not better.

[Texas Zepher]

Stardog

Has anyone put DCC Decoders in to old high flange articulated Rivarossi engines.

If so, please provide information on how to do it.

Yes, but it has been so long ago I cannot provide details.   Most of the time I put the decoder into the tender.  I ran two additional wires between the loco and tender.  One for track power (from the loco's pick up wheels) and the other for one side of the motor.  In the loco all one has to do is break the wire coming from the frame to the motor.  Each side of the break are the wires described above.  In the tender break the wire coming from the tender wheels going to the engine through that spring coupling connection.  Put the tender wheels to one side of the decoder's power and the new feed from the loco's wheels to the other.   One output of the decoder goes to the tender spring feed (that will go straight to the motor) and the other goes to the second feed from the loco.   If you want the headlamp to be decoder controlled it will take two more wires, or then consider putting the decoder in the locomotive instead of the tender.  The only issue with that and an articulated locomotive is all the moving drive shafts that can snag a wire.
 

[Stardog]

 To:  Zephyr;  Tender on this unit does nothing - engine will run without it.

What wire to cut in engine?

[cacole]

 Which Rivarossi engines are you specfically referring to?  I have put decoders into Rivarossi Cab Forwards and Big Boys.  The tenders, as someone already wrote, do nothing and have no electrical pickup or connection to the locomotive.  I used TCS T-1 or M-1 decoders placed into the boilers.  The wiring in the Rivarossi models is all black insulation, but it's not difficult to trace with a VOM.  The ones I put decoders into all had can motors that were totally isolated from the frame.