ESU LokSound Micro Select Direct install in Atlas GP40-2

[conrad]

Yikes, I hit post instead of preview.  more to follow

conrad

[peteski]

Yikes, I hit post instead of preview.  more to follow

conrad

Looks good Conrad.

You can always go back to that previous post, and add more text and photos to it. 

[conrad]

contnued (sorry)

The 22 year old loco needed lots of cleaning.  This loco has done many trips around NTrak layouts.  The motor and worm gears were somewhat clean.  The trucks, however, were another matter.  I found lots of fuzz on the wheel axels and old lube in the gear train (Atlas maybe).   More serious were the 3 wheels that spun on the gear shaft.  Was going to use Locktite but opted for crazy glue.  We'll see how it works.  I briteboyed the pickup strips, lubed the motor and cleaned out the worm gears.  I did not lube any plastic to plastic or plastic to metal bearings.  I did put Conducta Lube into the cups of the truck pickups.



Look close at my paper decoder templet and you'll see that the location of the motor pads don't match the motor pickups.  Thus the motor will be hardwired.

Now I wait for the decoder, etc. 

Many thanks to all.  I would never have attempted this without TheRailwire.

Conrad

Ps Didn't know you could add to existing post.

[peteski]

Your own posts can be easily modified.  That means, you can modify their contents in any way (delete and add things).  There is a small icon on the top and bottom right of your every post: and also a "Modify" link on the top right. Click on any of those and it will bring the contents of your post into an edit window (just like you use when creating new post).  When  done, you just hit "Post" button and the modified post is updated.

As far as lubrication goes, you are correct that plastic gears do not need lubrication (however I usually add a tiny amount of white grease with Teflon).  But where the plastic gear meshes with the brass worm I highly recommend using some grease. I use the same Tefon-bearign grease.

I also agree that the axle-bearing cups should be lubricated slightly, and Conducta-Lube is a good choice (even thought it is not electrically conductive.  I use Woodland Scenics light oil. I fill the cups with oilwhiel they are on my workbench, then roll up a piece of Kleenex into a point and stick it into each oil-filled cup, to soak up most of the oil.  I like to just keep the moistened with oil.

I'm not sure what you mean by "More serious were the 3 wheels that spun on the gear shaft."? Do you mean that the wheel's half-axles were freely spinning inside the plastic gear/axle-tubes?

[conrad]

Peteski,

"As far as lubrication goes, you are correct that plastic gears do not need lubrication (however I usually add a tiny amount of white grease with Teflon).  But where the plastic gear meshes with the brass worm I highly recommend using some grease. I use the same Tefon-bearign grease.

I also agree that the axle-bearing cups should be lubricated slightly, and Conducta-Lube is a good choice (even thought it is not electrically conductive.  I use Woodland Scenics light oil. I fill the cups with oilwhiel they are on my workbench, then roll up a piece of Kleenex into a point and stick it into each oil-filled cup, to soak up most of the oil.  I like to just keep the moistened with oil."

Over the years I've lubed and NOT lubed plastic.  Some say yes and some say no.  When I do, I use Labelle 106 (grease w/ teflon).

I guess I'll lube the worm.

"I'm not sure what you mean by "More serious were the 3 wheels that spun on the gear shaft."? Do you mean that the wheel's half-axles were freely spinning inside the plastic gear/axle-tubes?"

Yes, 3 of the truck wheels were loose on the plastic whatchamacallits that have the final truck gear.  They weren't exactly spinning but I could slide them out.

conrad

[Steveruger45]

Bet your wondering now why you were So concerned about milling the frame. 
Did you try putting chalk on the file?
WRT the wheels and axles, If all else fails you can change those for Kato wheels, search TRW for this, there has been much said on this subject.  New Atlas wheel sets would be easier as the Kato ones need the axle ends pressed inward a tad.  That said the Kato wheels do make a marked difference for the good and they don’t seem to get as dirty as quickly.
Would recommend to reassemble and test on dc before you put the decoder in to be sure all is mechanically a ok.  Would also recommend to mark which way the worm bearings go in With a dab of paint or similar.

[jdcolombo]

Nice work, Conrad!

Welcome to the sound decoder installation club!

John C

[conrad]

For Steve:

"Bet your wondering now why you were So concerned about milling the frame."

Concern is not the word.  I pictured myself as a German machine shop apprentice, 8 hours a day filing a rectangular block.  Turned out not to be so bad.

"Did you try putting chalk on the file?"

No, neither my wife nor I could find any in the house and we don't go into any stores.  Even groceries are delivered.    The "file card" did the job.

"WRT the wheels and axles, If all else fails you can change those for Kato wheels, search TRW for this, there has been much said on this subject.  New Atlas wheel sets would be easier as the Kato ones need the axle ends pressed inward a tad.  That said the Kato wheels do make a marked difference for the good and they don’t seem to get as dirty as quickly."

What does WRT mean?  Remember I'm old.  Still working on meaning of FYI.  Of course I know BYOB.

"Would recommend to reassemble and test on dc before you put the decoder in to be sure all is mechanically a ok."

Yes, that goes without saying.  Not in parts photo is my collection of DC boards or I could just put back Digi decoder.  I will also test the 73100 on my decoder tester.

"Would also recommend to mark which way the worm bearings go in With a dab of paint or similar."

Too late for that but will do on next install.  In decoder installs over the years I've tried to keep them in the same orientation but little parts have a habit of flying around.

For John:

"Welcome to the sound decoder installation club! "

Thank you.  I am only an ESU sound decoder/mill frame newbie.  I actually have installed 9 sound decoders mainly in 2009: (no laughing please) 6 MRC's, 2 Digitrax and a replacement Tsunami in my Challenger.  No frame mods, only some shell pruning.  The Athearn Challenger was a hoot.  Original MRC decoder shorted and melted the connector and the top of the tender.  Luckily for me Athearn had replacement tender shell and most importantly, the connector.  As I remember, all Athearn's wiring was color coded black.

Two years ago I stumbled on ESU and I installed 5 lokpilot nano's.  This and of course you guys at TRW, piqued my interest in LokSound.

Conrad

[RBrodzinsky]

“WRT”=with respect to.   

Others that may crop up
IMHO = in my humble opinion
IIRC = if I remember correctly
FWIW = for what it’s worth

[peteski]

“WRT”=with respect to.   

Or "with regards to".

Some members here like to use "TWSS"= that's what she said. 
Don't worry, I've been around here for a while and some acronyms still puzzle me.

[rodsup9000]

  I use a round mushroomed toothpick with toothpaste in a Dremel to clean and polish the axle cups and a brass wire brush to clean the axle ends. Then add a minute amount of NO-OX to them. I've been doing this for years and it work a lot better than when I was using Atlas conduct-a-lube.

[conrad]

Rodney,

Toothpaste sounds good.  I also used a rounded toothpick to burnish the bearing caps. 

As you can see, my "Dremel" is old school.  It's actually a Dietzgen model 3394 electric eraser (ca 1950) with a chuck on the end.  Very high speed and somewhat unwieldly.  I've used it to route out some loco shells but stay away from cutting frames.



Note the lack of GP40-2 parts.  I've reassembled the loco with the Digi decoder and am running on my door layout.  73100 expected Friday, 9/25.

conrad

[conrad]

Wired motor.  Used ESU wires from previous LokPilot Nano installs.  73100, speaker and enclosure in the mail.  Sorry about missed focus.

If ESU doesn't come will use ultrathin, white knockoff instead:)



Conrad

[conrad]

GP40-2 progress report - Received 73100 yesterday.  Speakers and enclosures came today.

Installed without speaker, tested on programming track, programmed, and ran on layout.  Rear truck was noisy and had a slight bind/click so disassembled gear train and cleaned.  May order new trucks for 22 year old loco as “bearing” holes in truck frame look a little worn. Also, gear case is spread a little with gears kind of floating a bit.  Learning the quirks of ESU – no head/rear lights connected (provided though).  Aux 1 & 2 have led’s installed. Strange (for me) function mapping.  Non NMRA standard accel/decel settings.

Back to decoder install:

73100 fits width and lengthwise but PC board is just a little too thick to fit the power pickup slots.  I had to gingerly file the slot entries and upper nubs to get a nice tight fit.  Note that electrical connection is only in the front.  The board thus tilts upwards towards the rear.  This leaves more room for the speaker but the board may be pushed down when the shell is installed.  Could be a cause for board to speaker short (more on this later).

Motor pads on bottom of decoder do not line up with the motor’s contact fingers.  As shown I wired the leads to the topside motor pads.  The orange lead is mighty close to one of the motor driver chips.  I should have soldered it further to the rear end of the pad like the gray lead.  Better to leave well enough alone.  Gray lead/motor connection insulated with liquid electrical tape.



Speakers (CUI 9x16) and enclosures (ShapeWays SD40 encl) arrived today.   Had to lightly sand sides of enclosure for slide fit into shell.  Now I need to decide on sealing technique.  On hand is liquid electrical tape (messy), Scotch High Performance Repair Glue (a white glue, non-brittle bonds), Scotch Tacky Adhesive (non-stringing), bathroom silicone caulking, general silicone sealer and maybe more.

This photo shows speaker resting on molded in rails.  This places speaker top below top of enclosure leaving nice gap between decoder and enclosue.



This photo shows speaker elevated in enclosure, maximizing volume but reducing gap between decoder and speaker.  Could be a risk of shorting when shell is installed.  Maybe a thin piece of paper, tacked to the underside of the decoder would work.



Some afterthoughts on the progress so far: 

The ESU 73100 is a marvel.  Great motor control out of the box.

Need a watchmakers apron that attaches to the work bench.  Can’t tell you how many times I dropped a screw, nut, spacing washer, bearing block, and contact strips.  I’m now an expert at crawling on the floor looking for small parts. 

Boy that orange lead looks bad.  I'll probably move it aft.

Speaker should probably sit on the enclosure rails as designed

Conrad

PS Next is a test of the sound functions and installing the speaker.

[Steveruger45]

Looks a very neat install.  If you decide to put caps in too it looks like you might have enough room forward if you use the onboard led for the light.