Being somewhat new to this DCC stuff I have had the decoders either installed when purchased or they came factory installed. Yesterday I recieved an Atlas Trainman GP38-2. It was amazing , the dynamic brake assembly pops off , remove the DC jumper assembly and on goes my TCS T1 decoder and harness. back on with the dynamtic brake and wallo , done. How cool.
Always rewarding when a decoder can be easily and successfully installed,
Rich
Alton Junction
I did that by error with my Athearn. Problem is I think I actually broke the dynamic brake housing off and exposed the DC jumper connector. I am not so sure it was supposed to come off as it was glued on. On the non-dynamic brake models it is a different piece glued on there.
Dern thing is I cannot get the DC jumper plug off to connect the proper DCC decoder plugged in, so it is of little use to me really.
And If I did yank off the DC jumper plug without damaging the plug and manage to plug in the DCC decoder, I would have to re-glue the housing back on.
I am not so sure it was supposed to work that way.
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
Remove the whole shell so you can get at it. Firmly grasp all 9 wires with one hand, the pull while gently wiggling the dummy connector board with the diodes on it. Should come right off.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
galaxy Dern thing is I cannot get the DC jumper plug off to connect the proper DCC decoder plugged in, so it is of little use to me really. And If I did yank off the DC jumper plug without damaging the plug and manage to plug in the DCC decoder, I would have to re-glue the housing back on. I am not so sure it was supposed to work that way.
That's where a pair of flat-nose tweezers comes in real handy. I can pry on each side of the plug until it eventually comes off the connector. Randy's method of grabbing all the wires and pulling will help distribute the tension evenly.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Yes it's good advice - ther's nothing else to pull on - unless you just pull the whole thing against the main circuitr board and the solder joitns there - that's even WORSE. You grab ALL 9 wires, not just 1. Guarantee you try to pry on the 9 pin JST connector with a small screwdriver it will snap right off.
I'd love to see how you take apart the tender connections on Broadway and Precision Craft steam locos without pulling on the wires. It doesn't hurt anything, so long as you grasp all the wires and don't try to pull just 1.
Same thing removing a 9 pin decoder, there is absolutely nothign to grab on to on the wire side, the wire side of the connectore is fully inside the shell on the decoder. Try prying that and you'll break the shell on the decoder side, ruining the decoder.
i went to the TCS site which showed taking off the dynamic brake cover to replace the factory installed jumper with the harness. It was really tight so I took a small screwdriver and alternatley pryed very gently on either side until i was able to get my grubby little fingers in place to rock it off the connector , worked fine but "Gentle " is the word to remember when doing this.
ANd I've installed dozens and always grasp the wires when disconnecting a JST plug, because there's no other place to grab. ANd never broken anything. It's safe and won;t break a wire if you rememebr the key part of what I said - grasp ALL the wires, not just 1 or 2. And don;t yank - pulls slowly and wiggle. The come right off, even the stubborn TCS ones - they tend to be REALLY tight, at least when you connect their supplied harness and then want to get it off.
ANd I lost count how many times I took my steamers apart - I usually keep them in the boxes if not running them, and they won;t go in the box conencted together. Plugging them together is worse than takign them apart - to get the plug properly seated you usually need to push it in with a screwdriver - one clip coudl shear off the wires. Taking them apart is easy, uncoupel the drawpar, and even someone with large hands liek myself can reach in and grab all 9 wires and gently work the plug out.
I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. I've yet to break or damage anythign with my method. If there actually IS somethign to pull on, like an electrical cord, I don't pull the wire, I pullt eh plug. But when one side is wire and the other side is 'device'.. But then I also pry chips out of sockets with a screwdriver and not bend the pins, and assemble CMOS without a ground strap - as well as build computers. Never fried anything in some 30 years of building circuits. I just use common sense - no shufflign or sliding across the floor , touch somethign metal, like the computer case, before handlign the RAM or CPU, but no going nuts with ground straps. Never fried a decoder to date, either, although I guess I cheat, my old low power soldering iron was a grounded one, and so is my current soldering station. But I don;t take any special precautions when taking the decoder out of the static baggy. I think peopel get overly paranoid at times and that leads to getting a discharge you didn;t intend because you are trying to be TOO careful. This stuff's NOT that delicate - you can't handle it like a blacksmith hammering iron, but you also don;t have to treat it like a bottle of nitro.
TA462 rrinker: Remove the whole shell so you can get at it. Firmly grasp all 9 wires with one hand, the pull while gently wiggling the dummy connector board with the diodes on it. Should come right off. --Randy WHAT????? NEVER EVER pull on any wires. BAD ADVICE!!!!! The board should come off with a little effort by grabing both ends and gently pull them apart. A small flat screwdriver can be used to gently force them apart if they are tight.
rrinker: Remove the whole shell so you can get at it. Firmly grasp all 9 wires with one hand, the pull while gently wiggling the dummy connector board with the diodes on it. Should come right off. --Randy
WHAT????? NEVER EVER pull on any wires. BAD ADVICE!!!!! The board should come off with a little effort by grabing both ends and gently pull them apart. A small flat screwdriver can be used to gently force them apart if they are tight.
I don't know which way is the proper way to do this. My total experience is with one of the Athearns with that 9 pin plug. I asked the guy at the LHS what method he recommended and I believe that he suggested that grasp the wires thing.
When it came time to do the install, I removed the shell because I could see that there was just not any room to grasp anything without doing so. So after the shell came off I grabbed the wires and started pulling, and immediately became uncomfortable doing so. Probably because I remembered something long ago in my youth where we were warned to pull on the plug shell to remove the cord from the wall outlet, and to never just yank the plug out by pulling on the cord.
Getting back to the loco, I remember cursing the designer. And it did seem that the assembler had applied some sort of adhesive to the connector to make sure it did not come apart. Being a mechanical type, I resorted to the pry here and there with a small screwdriver method. This was because I had also learned in the past that a screwdriver was the universal tool one used when the proper tool was unavailable.
I'm glad that the era I model doesn't require me to use anything more than the 8-pin plug. Much easier.
While pulling on the wires isn't usually the recommended thing to do, sometimes it's still the best thing. You have eight, 30 guage wires. They're plenty strong together if pulled in unison. I've had to do it several times and had no problems.
Springfield PA
maxman TA462: rrinker: Remove the whole shell so you can get at it. Firmly grasp all 9 wires with one hand, the pull while gently wiggling the dummy connector board with the diodes on it. Should come right off. --Randy WHAT????? NEVER EVER pull on any wires. BAD ADVICE!!!!! The board should come off with a little effort by grabing both ends and gently pull them apart. A small flat screwdriver can be used to gently force them apart if they are tight. I don't know which way is the proper way to do this. My total experience is with one of the Athearns with that 9 pin plug. I asked the guy at the LHS what method he recommended and I believe that he suggested that grasp the wires thing. When it came time to do the install, I removed the shell because I could see that there was just not any room to grasp anything without doing so. So after the shell came off I grabbed the wires and started pulling, and immediately became uncomfortable doing so. Probably because I remembered something long ago in my youth where we were warned to pull on the plug shell to remove the cord from the wall outlet, and to never just yank the plug out by pulling on the cord. Getting back to the loco, I remember cursing the designer. And it did seem that the assembler had applied some sort of adhesive to the connector to make sure it did not come apart. Being a mechanical type, I resorted to the pry here and there with a small screwdriver method. This was because I had also learned in the past that a screwdriver was the universal tool one used when the proper tool was unavailable. I'm glad that the era I model doesn't require me to use anything more than the 8-pin plug. Much easier.
TA462: rrinker: Remove the whole shell so you can get at it. Firmly grasp all 9 wires with one hand, the pull while gently wiggling the dummy connector board with the diodes on it. Should come right off. --Randy WHAT????? NEVER EVER pull on any wires. BAD ADVICE!!!!! The board should come off with a little effort by grabing both ends and gently pull them apart. A small flat screwdriver can be used to gently force them apart if they are tight.
Little tough to use the 8 pin plug when a model comes with a 9 pin plug. I don;t need anythign more than a headlight and backup light myself, so I never need more than a 2 function decoder, but 9 pin plugs are now about as common as 8 pins. Athearn gives both - but you still have to pullt eh dummy plug off the 9 pin conenctor to use a decoder in the 8 pin. ANd since a TCS T1A with no wires or plug is over a buck cheaper than one that comes with a 9 pin plug and wires, and nearly $3 less than one that comes with an 8 pin plug - well, I'll be using the 9 pin conenctor on any new Athearns and using the cheaper decoder.
TA462 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Don't do this!!! This is and always will be bad advice. You can argue all you want but you never ever pull the wires on anything. Now you go and have yourself a great day.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Don't do this!!! This is and always will be bad advice. You can argue all you want but you never ever pull the wires on anything. Now you go and have yourself a great day.
SHould have gone all the way to the BIGGEST BOLDEST font choice. Maybe Italics and BRIGHT RED too
The day I EVER break somethign doing things the way I have for years, I'll mail you the evidence and post a public apology that I did it wrong. I have about a dozen more locos to install decoders in, and some of those will probably get sound so that should get quite interesting as I grind down weights to make room for speakers.
Guys:
Has anyone noticed that the Digitrax recommended practice for removing the 9 pin plug is as Randy has been doing? Take a look at their decoder manual.
Joe
JoeinPA Has anyone noticed that the Digitrax recommended practice for removing the 9 pin plug is as Randy has been doing? Take a look at their decoder manual.
I am including the ENTIRE section so it can't be said I took one part out of context.
Section 3.8.2 Digitrax 9-pin HO decoder interface.
Most Digitrax HO Scale wired decoders come with a plug and socket on the decoder so that the wires can be unplugged from the decoder. This lets you share one or more decoders among multiple locos wired with Digitrax 9-pin harnesses. DHWH is the wire harness with a plug that attaches to your DH series decoders and 9 wires that motor, brushes and functions on your locomotive. DHDP is a dummy plug available for DC operation of harnessed locos (without decoders). When install a DHWH wire harness in your loco and plug a DHDP dummy plug into it, your loco will operate on any analog control system. When you remove the DHDP and plug in a decoder the loco will run on DCCThe Digitrax 9-pin interface gives you a cost effective way for clubs and large layouts to share the decoders they have and run with Digitrax even if all locos can't be converted right away.
The DHWHP wire harness has a Digitrax 9-pin plug on one end and DCC medium plug on the other end. DHWHPS is the same with shorter wires. DHAT is a wire harness with Digitrax 9-pin on one end and clips for solderless installation in a standard Athearn diesel locomotive.
To separate a Digitrax decoder from the wire harness:
Pinch all 9 wires between thumb and forefinger about 5/8" back from the plug. Grasp the decoder body on the sides right next to the socket to insure no stresses are placed on components under the protective sleeve. Pull gently and evenly on all 9 wires simultaneously. It is important to distribute the force needed to separate the plug and socket evenly over all the wires to prevent damaging the plug by pulling a single wire out of the plug. It is easier to remove the plug if you gently rock it from side to side. After the first few times you connect and disconnect the plug it will be easier to do. Be sure to keep the plug and socket free of dirt and debris.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
Yep Jeffrey that's what I was referring to. The section also has a couple of photos to illustrate the technique.
JoeinPA Yep Jeffrey that's what I was referring to. The section also has a couple of photos to illustrate the technique. Joe
Page 18 of the 9/2008 edition I happen to have saved on this computer. They're photos, just not reproduced with any sort of high end typsetting software. Or the source was a rather old low-resolution digital camera or scanner.
It's a lot easier to installt he decoder if you unplug it first - either soldered in connections where you are cutting and stripping the pigtail ont he 9 pin connector, or where the loco already has a 9 pin connector so you don't need the one that comes with the decoder. TCS started shipping theirs not connected.
And Atlas has 8 pin plugs with a dummy plug in it, those just pull off, no wires involved. At issue is the 9 pin JST connector, many new AThearn models have both a 9 pin and 8 pin connector, but the dummy plug is always on the 9 pin and must be removed regardless of which type of decoder you use. It's like a mini decoder with just some diodes and resistors for directional lighting. On a very short set of 9 wires to the main board. Grasping the 9 wires to keep from pullign against the soldered connections on the main board is the only real way to get these things off.
Digitrax instructions aren't the only ones that say this. NCE's directions for the D13SRJ say the same thing: firmly grasp all 9 wires.
Randy, check your PM's.
Don't worry, I'm done with this discussion.