Add DCC/Sound to Life-Like E8

[freescopesdad]

I am trying to model the IC City of New Orleans. I haven't been successful in finding either of the DCC equipped BLI or Kato units, but the older (20 plus minus years) Life-Like units are plentiful. Has anyone been successful in installing a sound decoder in these locomotives? I've checked YT but haven't found anything really helpful in n scale. Thanks.

[peteski]

Like the one described in http://spookshow.net/loco/lle678.html ?


If you have the older one like in the above photo, those old-school models with plastic frames, large lead weights, and a jumble of wires should be fairly easily retrofired with pretty much any sound decoder and a speaker in a good size enclosure.  You'll have to remove or trim one of the weights, and probably make covers for the worm bearings case (so the worms don't pop out).



If you have the newer version, then you will have to do some chassis hacking to fit a sound decoder.  I have never handled or even seen the new chassis.

I would suggest to bite the bullet and get Kato locos - they are *SO* much better runners.  Still, some chassis hacking (for the speaker/enclosure) will be needed there too.

[GGNInNScale]

I agree with Peteski.  I have a ConCor E8 and a Kato E8/9.   The ConCor was a real challenge- I tried a couple of TCS decoders first.  The Kato- some cuts here and there, a bit of filing, and Kapton tape.  A few wires to solder and it works great.
I did a LifeLike GP a couple years ago.  I used a TCS CP-GN.  Because of the plastic frame and lead-alloy weights just kind of sitting on the frame, it took a lot of work and rework to get it all fitted.  Now, it does really run well, but it took a lot of hours...

[freescopesdad]

Thanks Gents... I "think" I have a line on an IC Kato E8 (hopefully from the 2014 release). Seems there are plenty of YT videos out there on installing Digitrax, Loksound and other sound decoders. I'll know more next week.

[Doug G.]

The Life-Like plastic-framed E units do NOT have a jumble of wires.

Doug

[peteski]

The Life-Like plastic-framed E units do NOT have a jumble of wires.

Doug

Yes, you do have a point. The motor leads are soldered to the truck pickup strips mounted on the plastic frame. Only the headlight bulb has wires.

While (mainly due to the stout motor) they are decent runners, they are not Kato.  Kato makes good models. Sometimes over-engineered, but still good.

[jdcolombo]

Photo of sound install in LL PA-1 with the honkin' lead weights:

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=40264.msg496229#msg496229

8x12 speaker in the nose, decoder in a cutout on the rear weight.  Hard-wired the headlight and Mars light.

The lead-weight E's shouldn't be much different.

John C.

[freescopesdad]

Both my Kato DCC-Ready E8 and my Digitrax DCC card (no sound) are both scheduled to arrive today, and hopefully running before the sun sets.

[peteski]

Both my Kato DCC-Ready E8 and my Digitrax DCC card (no sound) are both scheduled to arrive today, and hopefully running before the sun sets.

"Cards" is a new one for me. While few out there (usually in Europe) call them "chips", most widely used term is just a "DCC decoder".

Important thing in this install is to make sure the motor leads are insulated from the truck pickup strips.  While using just Kapton tape is recommended by manufacturers, I go one step further and I grind notches in the pickup strips to make absolutely sure there are no accidental shorts.  But then again, I'm one of the "belt and suspenders" kind of a guy.



I assume your decoder will look like the one in my photos.  If the decoder has motor pads on the bottom, I also show an alternate routing of the motor leads into the inner slots of the motor cradle. Using that method you don't need to notch the pickup strips or ever worry about them shoring the motor leads.

More info is posted in https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=38373.msg464202#msg464202 (and the rest of that thread).