I am using the guts from an IHC 2-10-2 to mate with an old rivarossi 2-10-2 to make a decent running DCC B&O Big Six. Bought the IHC 2-10-2 on ebay and the guy had done some surgery on the tender circuit board. Tried to run it and got the blue smoke of death from the tender circuit board. Called IHC, the board is no longer available. Whats the best way to fix this? I want to Convert to DCC anyway, is there a simple way to directly wire the decoder to to the engine? I'm new to wiring so please explain it on caveman level :-)
IF someone can provide a schematic of the tender wiring indicating which wire goes to which pin on the plug, removing the factory circuit board and installing a decoder would be a very simple matter. Two wires will be connected to the pickups on the locomotive wheels, two will go to the motor, and two to the headlight, which is an incandescent bulb.
I have one of those locomotives, but it did not come with a wiring schematic. IHC went out of business shortly after it was marketed. The locomoitve was made by Mahano of Slovenia, which is still in business. If you can find their web site or an email address, perhaps they can provide a schematic.
Tracing the wiring between the tender and locomotive with a VOM and battery should not be too difficult. Clip all the wires from the tender circuit board and set the tender aside. Plug the harness into the back of the locomotive, and place it upside down on some type of cradle. Use the VOM to trace which two wires go to the drive wheel pickups. The headlight bulb is probably a 14 or 16 Volt type, so a 12 Volt battery can be used to determine which wires go to the motor and which go to the headlight.
The wires from the tender wheels to the circuit board can also be traced with the VOM. Because all the wires are black instead of being color coded, you're going to need a way to mark each one as you determine its use.
Wieberk,
To The Forums.
Mehano/Slovenia:
http://www.mehano.si/EN/models.php?models=1
Take Care!
Frank
Follow the suggestions given by cacole. Put a 22 ohm, 1/2 watt resistor in series with one light bulb lead. The surge current is what shortens a light bulb life.
Make sure the first test is on the Program Track, not on the main.
No company I know of shows wiring diagrams for their DCC locos. The NMRA did that many years ago when they came up with the DCC idea. Simply Google NMRA DCC wiring and study the pictures. Store the links in Favorites.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
I haven't done this to the one IHC engine I own, but with Bachmann boards, if you turn them over when they are removed from the engine, the attachment points for the wires from the loco are labeled, M+, M-, RLR, (Right rail), RLL, (Left Rail). It will be something similar to this, but it does make hardwiring a loco easier.
Like I said, I don't know if IHC locos have this labeling on the underside of the board or not, but it's worth finding out.
Carey
Keep it between the Rails
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I have a selection of Sharpie paint markers which can be used to mark wires in a situation like this where everything from the factory is black.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!