Hi,
I finally got around to installing decoders in some Stewart Locos. The newer ones (FTs primarily) have plugs, and are fairly easy.
The older ones - F units w/Kato drives - "appear" to be needing a hard wire job for installation. Is this true, and what decoder would be preferable - an NCE DASR or ???
Also, I suspect there are instructions/pics out there, and do you know where they might be found.
Thank you!
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
This should help: http://www.tcsdcc.com/public_html/Customer_Content/Installation_Pictures/HO_Scale/Stewart/stewart%20early.htm
Thank You!
I totally forgot about the TCS site!
I was also able to look up some other locos, and the instructions, comments, and pics are very straight forward.
My intent is to categorize the locos into "degree of difficulty" and of course start with the easier ones.
Thanks again!
I put T1's in all of mine. D13SRJ would be a great low cost option. Yes, a hard wire, but an 'easy' hard wire because the motor is already isolated and the wires are pretty much in distinctive physical locations. Even thought he wires aren;t color coded, it's pretty easy to see which wire is conencto tot he right side of the truck, etc. My Walthers Trainline FAs are like this too. There's a circuit board of sorts but it only serves to get the power from the trucks to the motor, there's no decoder plug. Fairly easy job to connect the rail pickups and the motor wires from the decoder.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Good Morning,
Yes, after checking out the pics/instructions on the site, it really is a relative easy hard wire. I've got quite a few DASR (NCE) decoders and "assume" they will work. Is that a good assumption? Also, will the existing bulbs be ok, or should they be changed out?
Speaking of decoders, I finally replaced one in a DCC equipped Spectrum 2-8-0. I used an NCE D14SR, and it worked like a charm. Ha, even I can tell an operational difference. By the way, the lightbulb works OK, but is a replacement recommended?
One last thing..... while pulling off the existing plug in decoder on the 2-8-0, it suddenly came off, twisted in my fingers, and one pin stabbed under my fingernail and drew the red stuff. It surely hurt, and I can only say that if used as torture, I would tell whoever whatever they wanted to know.
Having build plenty of circuits, I've had more than one chip plugged into my fingers, as it suddenly tilts while removing it and the pressure of your other finger forces it into one.
A DASR might work, not sure if the board mounting pins will be in the right palce, so it will sort of just hang there by the wires. Atlas/Kato locos have a specific pair of plastic pins ont he ends of the motor mounts that clip on to the original grey plastic 'circuit board', and the decoder board has cutouts to match those and clip on the same place. I don;t remember if the Stewart locos have the same clips. The bulb should be fine, but I replace all of them with LEDs anyway. The newer Stewarts have LEDs but they always get replaced because for some reason they used yellow LEDs. Not golden white, they are actually YELLOW.
ON a steamer you shoudl keep it cheap and use a D13 since you don't need the extra functions of the D14, but other than extra functons they are the same. Either is light years beyond that junk they put in there - not sure what the deal is with Lenz making and Bachmann requesting a decoder so limited in functionality - and look at how much Bachmann charges for one as a replacement - I think around $20. Compare that to $12 for the D13.
FWIW I used board-replacement decoders on my Stewart FT's that didn't have plug-and-play. The flat board is easier to fit in the body than a "regular" hardwire decoder.