I have a few older BB Athearns that I want to up grade to DCC low draw motors. Few of them would tax my MRC 9500.
I bought a couple of these to help the old BB's.
They are new motors for dash 9 I think.
They do not have the bottom contact prongs that would gound the motor to the chassie. I will add some electrial tape to be safe.
Now where I am a little lost.
In this PIC it show to mounting points on the trucks. As you folks know there is only one mounting point on the older BB engine trucks.
Do I open the trucks and hook the wires to the contack point for the wheels that does not have the mounting point (tower that sticks up) or tap the chassis and round there? Are the left side say + and right side - or front truck + and rear truck -?
I am 98% sure the each side of the truck has it own politary.
First one I want to up grade is my FP-45 Santa Fe War Bonnet. Great looking engine but pulls 1.5 amps. Think it has what is called a rocket motor, from the 70's.
Thanks for the up coming help.
Cuda Ken
I hate Rust
Hook one wire to the truck lead and the other wire to the chassis, unless you want to delve into the truck to chassis contact and wire both wires directly to the truck. Don't worry about plus and minus as long as you do not go swapping trucks around, just maintain the factory set up. And if all this is for DCC, as long as you do not have the two shorted together, you shouldn't have to care which is which. Or did really I understand your question in the first place?
Ken,
The Athearn BB trucks are designed so that they pick up track power thru the wheels to the metal sideplates, one side goes to the vertical post and then to the top of the motor, while the other side goes to the chassis and the bottom of the motor. As you know with DCC the motor has to be electrically isolated from the chassis, to do this I modify the trucks (see photos below).
Dan
Dan, that was the perfect answer I was looking for! PIC to boot, only thing better would be if you came here and did the converson.
By old Blus will be running in a few days.