ESU LokSound 5 Micro DCC into N-Scale IM F7A

[RBrodzinsky]

While I have done a few LS 5 decoder installs into steam (tenders have room!) I had not yet tried putting one of the new decoders into a diesel loco.  The added depth kept me a bit leery of the task.  This weekend I finally decided to give it a try, starting with a wide-body EMD F7A unit.  As I only had one of the Micro DCC decoders (58823) on hand, I decided to start with one of my "single" units, an Intermountain F7A Santa Fe #312. I use sound project S0711.

Here's the video of the finished install (with an installation section)

The first question, of course, was would everything fit.  Here is a photo of the stock frame, with the old Digitrax decoder sitting in there
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I milled out a pocket for the speaker at the rear.  NOTE: for any future installs on these units, I would also mill down the deck above the motor just a bit, taking off about 1/16";  there is plenty of metal and this will give a bit more space.
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Next up was to tackle the lights.  Unlike the Kato E & F units, the IM units have very shallow light pipes, with the LED stuck in a holder right next to the nose (already removed in photos above).  Here we see the installed light pipe
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Taking the light pipe out, I cut the lenses apart, glued them into their respective holes with CA, and added a couple pieces of black styrene between them to prevent light leakage.
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Next up was to create a small light board for the front.  Santa Fe had a Mars Light in the upper head lamp, but also a red emergency lamp  The lower lens is the standard head lamp.  To build the lights, I created a small styrene board:  at the top are two 0402 SMD LEDs - one red, one warm white; at the bottom is an 0603 SMD LED, warm white.  Again, note the pieces of black styrene separating the upper and lower lamps.  This was sufficient to eliminate light leakage between the lenses

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After fully installing, I did find that I needed to add a light block just below the cab windows, to prevent being able to see the backs of the LEDs lit through the side windows, and also a block below the lower LED, to ensure light wasn't coming out from the frame around the front coupler.

The rest of the install was very straight forward.  Speaker in the rear, with decoder just forward of it.  At the front edge of the decoder, I placed a small PCB board with the resistors for the lights, a "U+ common" (blue wire) pad, and a pad with a 100uH inductor for the stay alive caps.  The standard track pickup for this loco were screws in the back left and forward right of the frame, but since I milled out the back left screw hole, I tapped one in the fore left for the black wire.

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Two 330uF 20V Poly-Ta capacitors were added for stay alive, sitting over the motor.  And here you see the cab interior back in place

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Final photo shows the red emergency lamp on

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[Steveruger45]

Nice job Rick.  You managed to stuff a great deal in there.

[peteski]

Nice install Rick, but wide-body diesel installs are almost as easy as steam loco tender installs.     If you really want to stretch your skills, do a narrow hood diesel next!   

Just giving you hard time Rick - you did do a nice clean install, and I like your dual color headlight setup.

[RBrodzinsky]

Nice install Rick, but wide-body diesel installs are almost as easy as steam loco tender installs.     If you really want to stretch your skills, do a narrow hood diesel next!   

Just giving you hard time Rick - you did do a nice clean install, and I like your dual color headlight setup.

I was thinking my next should be a 44-ton switcher ... NOT. 

[peteski]

I was thinking my next should be a 44-ton switcher ... NOT. 

Touche! 

[tehachapifan]

Another great install! Question....weren't the red emergency lights on these also oscillating? 

[jdcolombo]

Great job, Rick.

Added to the master list.

John

[RBrodzinsky]

Another great install! Question....weren't the red emergency lights on these also oscillating?

Yes, they were.    It does oscillate (I used Mars Light, not oscillating lamp, since the latter really doesn’t look like much). Since the red light was only supposed to oscillate when stopped, I set it up to be steady red if moving in reverse. My bet is, since I backed the loco back up for that shot, the throttle was at 1 (and this loco crawls very slowly) instead of 0. I didn’t even notice it.

[peteski]

Yes, they were.    It does oscillate (I used Mars Light, not oscillating lamp, since the latter really doesn’t look like much). Since the red light was only supposed to oscillate when stopped, I set it up to be steady red if moving in reverse. My bet is, since I backed the loco back up for that shot, the throttle was at 1 (and this loco crawls very slowly) instead of 0. I didn’t even notice it.

I believe that the F-units used the marker lights with red lenses as end-of train indicators.  But the red headlight in reverse looks cool too.

[RBrodzinsky]

I believe that the F-units used the marker lights with red lenses as end-of train indicators.  But the red headlight in reverse looks cool too.

Exactly! I thought about doing them, as I did on the Kato E8s (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=43507.0), but I purposefully did not want to tether this shell with lighting wires. Suppose I could have inset the LEDs into the frame (mounting on edge of frame is tricky for shell handling). Maybe a follow on project for the future.

[greenwizard88]

The rest of the install was very straight forward.  Speaker in the rear, with decoder just forward of it.  At the front edge of the decoder, I placed a small PCB board with the resistors for the lights, a "U+ common" (blue wire) pad, and a pad with a 100uH inductor for the stay alive caps.  The standard track pickup for this loco were screws in the back left and forward right of the frame, but since I milled out the back left screw hole, I tapped one in the fore left for the black wire.

You've inspired me. I have a Kato F7 or two I can give this treatment to. Is that a next18 adapter board that you used? Where did you get it? The only one I can find is on eBay and it's way too large for N scale, by the looks of it.

[RBrodzinsky]

You've inspired me. I have a Kato F7 or two I can give this treatment to. Is that a next18 adapter board that you used? Where did you get it? The only one I can find is on eBay and it's way too large for N scale, by the looks of it.

There is no adapter board.  The small daughter board above the decoder comes with the 58823, with all the wires pre-installed.  You just have to run them (remember, there are no resistors protecting the function outputs.  Just take a small thin piece of single side PCB, cut to width of body, and then mill/file channels in it for the resistors (or, just solder them in-line with the wires.

For Kato F units, here is a link to that install (with a Select decoder, but the LS-5 will fit just fine) https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=41190.0

[Steveruger45]

You've inspired me. I have a Kato F7 or two I can give this treatment to. Is that a next18 adapter board that you used? Where did you get it? The only one I can find is on eBay and it's way too large for N scale, by the looks of it.

As Rick said.  There are a number of options on the 588xx series lok5dcc micros, depending on what style of adapter you want, or none at all.
Making pcb boards for the ancillaries like resistors,leds, chokes is the way to go too. I make my own pcb’s too, and cut the insulation traces / tracks with a sharp x-acto blade and a jewelers file.  I use mostly 0.4mm thick single sided pcb.  If space in one place is an issue it sometimes makes sense to make smaller individual and localized installed pcb boards for led head lights with resistors, led rear lights with resistors etc etc.  you just need to plan your approach to it depending on the loco.

[Bill H]

Rick:

Nice job. Tell us a little about what speaker and enclosure you used.

Kind regards,
Bill

[RBrodzinsky]

Rick:

Nice job. Tell us a little about what speaker and enclosure you used.

Kind regards,
Bill

It is a Soberton 12x8mm speaker and a Keystone Details enclosure from Shapeways.