BLI Light Mikado

[jjb62556]

I have had nothing but trouble with this loco. i would like to replace the sound decoder with a non sound decoder. i love how it runs when it does. Don't care about sound . the trouble is I can't find a wire diagram to tell what wires do what...Anyone that can help would be great!  thanks, Jim

[SkipGear]

It's not too hard to probe the wires. I haven't looked at mine closely yet, are their 6 or 8 wires?

6 Wires will be - Right Rail, Left Rail, Motor Positive, Motor Negative, Light Positive, Light Negative. Probe for continuity between the frame halves and wires to determine left and right rail pickups. Check continuity on the remaining 4 wires to pair them up, one pair will be motor, one [pair will be lighting. Apply 3v to each pair to see which is which.

If there are 8, the additional 2 wires are for the RPM sensor.

[jjb62556]

There is eight wires

[Sokramiketes]

This seems to be part of the lifecycle in owning a BLI engine.  Pretty good looking, pretty good running, ruined by terrible electronics that are hard to program correctly on DCC/JMRI.

I keep thinking I'm going to be able to go from shelf to operating with BLI engines, and keep coming around to the fact that DCC/Sound from the factory is not a head start.

[jjb62556]

Yeah, At this pointI don't care about sound, just want to get it running. Tried to down load the diagram from their website, but it would not work..Just trying to figure out what wire is what. Jim

[SkipGear]

What is the actual issue with the loco? I have a heavy that has a dozen or so hours on it, just running around a test loop in my office for background noise. Haven't seen any issues yet. I do hate with Paragon2 stuff with a passion, very fragile decoders, but the Paragon3 stuff I have so far has been very good.

[jjb62556]

Bought a refurbish one....tried to run it on address #3....sound. but no movement....Tried a reset CV8 to 8..nothing...Tried the reset button over and over ...no go. Downloaded the each number on the CV list to factory numbers. It started to run! Ran for about ten minutes than stop...No sound or movement. Tried both resets...No go.....Gave it up For Lent!! It's now pack in the box it came in waiting to hear for BLI...Sent a Email on Monday morning, have not hear anything from them yet!  Jim disappointed in Minnesota....... First and last BLI engine!

[SkipGear]

They will take care of it. Response from BLI isn't always instant, I think there are only a handful of people that work in the office, but I have never had an issue with them taking care of things.

[jjb62556]

Good to here..I will wait and see. Thanks, Jim

[Cajonpassfan]

I have four of the Mikes. All are excellent runners, although I don’t have a lot of miles on any of them.
The pic below is the P3 decoder, which I happen to like, and its wiring courtesy of John Colombo.
Hope this helps.
Otto K.

[peteski]

But that is only 6 wires where the OP mentioned 8 wires?

Maybe the extra 2 wires are track pickups in the tender?

[SkipGear]

But that is only 6 wires where the OP mentioned 8 wires?

Maybe the extra 2 wires are track pickups in the tender?

If there are 8, the additional 2 wires are for the RPM sensor.

[peteski]

If there are 8, the additional 2 wires are for the RPM sensor.

Oh, you mean "chuff cam"?  I never heard it called RPM sensor.
Or is this one of those odd BLI decoders that uses the motor/flywheel RPMs for synchronizing chuffs?  I just recently learned that BLI used that technique in some decoders.

[SkipGear]

There is only what I can guess is a hall effect sensor above the worm shaft. I was surprised when I stumbled across it also. There is a magnet in the flywheel that it reads.

41 is the sensor board, 51 is the magnet.

http://www.broadway-limited2.com/support/N%20Heavy%20Mikado%20Locomotive%20Expl%20View.pdf

[peteski]

There is only what I can guess is a hall effect sensor above the worm shaft. I was surprised when I stumbled across it also. There is a magnet in the flywheel that it reads.

41 is the sensor board, 51 is the magnet.

http://www.broadway-limited2.com/support/N%20Heavy%20Mikado%20Locomotive%20Expl%20View.pdf

That is an odd design, but then again, we are talking about BLI, so it is not all that surprising.  I guess it was easier to install the magnet and sensor at the flywheel than on one of the driver axles.  Not sure why they aren't using motor's BEMF for chuff synchronization (like it is successfully done in other sound decoders).

Also interesting it the depiction of the coupler.  It again shows the coupler head to be the RMR (Vlk) coupler, but the shank is of the McHenry or Accumate type (plastic whisker spring).  I wonder if the actual coupler on the model has the RMR head, or does it look like MTL coupler.