Locomotive wiring

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have any info/drawings/articles,on how to solder wires to a Athearn motor? I have heard and seen a few modelers that have done this,though do not know how. I do not have the metal strip that is to go on top of the Athearn motor,for a few of my locomotives,so I would like to know as to how this is done, so can run these locomotives.Thanks.

[Anonymous]

There's a copper strip on top and bottom of the decoder that holds the brushes in. Carefully unclip this (be careful not to lose the spring or the brush), tin it (put the tip of the iron against it and deposit a blob of solder), then solder the wire to it. Now clip it back on and you're sorted. Hope this is of help!

[TomDiehl]

Sounds like you have an older design pre-DCC locomotive. Pretty simple really. Lift the copper colored clip from the top of the motor, make sure you don't let the brush spring go flying when you do. Buff off a spot on the outside of this strip and solder two pieces of very flexible wire to it so one goes toward each end of the strip and they're long enough to reach beyond the truck's electrical post. Make sure the wire is very loose so they won't interfere with the truck swivel, and solder the other end of each wire to one of the posts, reinstall the clip, put the body back on, and you're in business.

[cacole]

Two extremely important steps that people have not mentioned about this procedure is that you MUST remove the motor from the frame in order to remove the lower clip, and there are two prongs sticking out from the lower clip that must be flattened or cut/filed off so they no longer touch the frame. You must then put insulation (electrical tape) between the motor and frame as the motor is reinstalled. Failure to do this will turn your decoder into an instant smoke generator, though only for a very brief period of time, because the locomotive's frame is one of the electrical pickup points.

[Anonymous]

CNW Fan,
You didn't mention in your post if it was your intent to convert your old Athearn to DCC. Some of the replies were given with DCC conversion in mind. Tom Diehl's reply was for returning the locomotive to the original (DC) method of operation. Keep this in mind as you read the replies.

[Pennsy58]

If a DCC conversion is what you have in mind, try this link to an article from model railroader. Even being the older type athean motor you can readily adapt your approach to the pictures in the article.
http://www.trains.com/Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/002/386vdfwa.asp

[cacole]

Oh, yes, I misread your question and thought you were wanting to install a DCC decoder. If you just want to replace the metal strip that ran between the trucks and upper motor brush, the procedure is rather simple.

1. Carefully remove the bronze motor brush clip from the top of the motor. Be very careful, because there is a spring under this clip that is pushing down on the motor brush, and it can easily fly out and get lost.

Solder a flexible, stranded wire to this clip that has enough length on both ends to reach to the brackets that come up from the front and rear trucks. It may be easier to solder two separate pieces of wire instead of trying to strip a bare spot in the middle. I use a pair of surgical forceps as a clamp to hold these wires while I solder them to the bronze strip.

After the bronze clip has cooled, replace it onto the top of the motor, being careful that the brush spring doesn't get mashed out of alignment..

Solder the other ends of the wires to the truck brackets. This will require quite a bit of heat, because these brackets act as a heat sink. It is advisable to clip the forceps or some-such onto the bracket about halfway down as you heat the top so the plastic on the bottom of the bracket doesn't get too hot and melt.

Leave enough slack in the wires so the trucks can swivel without binding.