Sadly we are all getting older so 15 years ago is only 1995 - no way would a 1995 Athearn loco have the old high current motor. Now maybe the OP is off as well and it's not 15 years old, it's 25 or 30 years old. Then it might still have the older motor.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
If it is old enough that it has a Jet motor in it I would recommend checking the amperage draw before putting a decoder in it.
Lee
Thanks for the weblink. It is a great help.
Are there any decoders that you would recommend for this particular era of Athearn Locomotives?
You can buy a harness that is pre-wired from Digitrax, DHAT, and use it with any decoder that has a 9-pin plug. But really, it's not that hard to solder the required wires. The trick is isolating the motor from teh frame. One trick is to swap brush clips - the one ont eh bottom has extra tabs that are designed to contact the frame and could wear through tape palced there for insulation. The top clip doesn't have these tabs. So for additional protection, swap them AND put a couple of layers of electrical tape or kapton tape under the motor.
Yes it's very possible. I've done a few, and while they may seem like a challenge at first glance, they are very easy. First the engine must run decent in DC. I say decent because when I'm converting them to DCC I overhaul the motors since it's half apart already.
I strongly suggest the motor be completely disassembled and cleaned before installing DCC. Leaving it all together and filing the commutator will leave bits of metal all over the motor, just not good.
After that there are two ways to go:
1. Decoders specific to older Athearns which include special clips on the wires to easily connect the decoder with no soldering.
2. Hardwire any decoder you want.
I usually go with 2. Solder the motor leads of the decoder to the top and bottom clips of the motor, be sure to bend the little tabs back flat that are on the bottom of the motor so they are no longer contacting the frame. Also very important to place a few layers of electrical tape across the little contact strip of the frame under the motor so that no power can go to the motor from the frame. The power pick up leads I usually solder directly to the metal plates on the sides of the trucks and completely remove the clips that stick up from the trucks that use to carry power to the top of the motor. At this point you should have 6 wires. The 4 wires from the trucks can be tied together to make 2 (left side and right side). Now you have 4 wires (left and right trucks, top and bottom motor). connect those to the decoder and your set (plus some lights if you like). Some people like to use the frame as one of the power contacts. I shy away from that since your relying on the contact between the truck and the frame to never get dirty and cause a lack of power transfer. I always feel safer getting the power directly from the trucks with wires.
Yes, it's certainly possible, but how well does the loco run on DC ? How many hours of use does it have ? Some Athearn locomotives that old need to have their motors replaced.
I've installed decoders into 10-15 Athearn locomotives from that era for club members, but most of them needed to have some parts replaced in the process due to excessive wear.
There are web sites with detailed pictures on how to install decoders into these old Athearn locos, so use a search engine to find them.
Here's one such site: http://www.mcor-nmra.org/Publications/Articles/Athearn_TuneUp.html
I have an Athearn GP35 locomotive that I've had for about 15 years but has not been run in about 4 years. It's never been run on a DCC layout ever. I've started studying DCC operations a few months ago after a brief hiatus and was wondering if it's possible and how to do it.
Thank you in advance.