N Gauge Forum

Hi all,

Prob wrong thread but need advice soon as seen a loco on ebay that I like but it has had adjustments made. It says that the motor had problems so been converted to DCC with a tomix motor on original chassis.

Don't know anything about DCC so can it be converted back? Also says only runs on one bogie but can still pull stuff fine. I'm obviously DC so should I not bother? Its a reasonable price at the moment but would it cost loads to adjust to DC.

Know its hard to answer as no one has seen it but any help with the principle of the thing would be great.

Thanks Weave.

Obviously i  dont  know what the loco is  but it  sounds like the Tomix  motor though it works isnt  ideal for the chassis   as the conversion  hasnt allowed both  drive  shafts to   power both  bogies.


Converting it back to  DC   should  work  fine  if the track pickups are good & you  wire  things up  correctly  if it's a loco  with a board PCB   any alterations that have been  made  could affect DC  running.

Thanks upnick (truly),

Unfortunately thats what I was afraid of as I have no idea what you're talking about regarding the DCC. Don't know much about DC neither  :dunce:. Not saying what it is as you more technical boys (and girls) might snap it up.

Will look up more about DCC as have a few days before bidding ends but any more help very much appreciated.

Thanks again upnick.

Weave.

Hi

Always a bit of a gamble with something like this. Generally converting back to DC is a task that falls into two categories. Either "Drop in PCB" or Hard Wired. Wired in decoders are normally easy to sort with a small amount of soldering. Changing a "Drop in PCB" is a case of changing the board - a straight swap. Can usually be found quite cheaply.

However have you asked the seller if the unit runs under DC as a lot of decoders will support both modes. If you can find out what decoder is fitted you may be able to determine this. If this is the case, no modification may be necessary or it can be a simple change made to a CV in the decoder.

As for the single running bogie - agree with Upnick comments. However its hard to determine what level of load this unit may cope with. I have bought Ebay stuff like this and some good, others have just become spares. I have a single driven Rail car that runs poorly and struggles on gradients, whilst one of my locos with a single working axle  still happily pulls a 6-8 freight load.

Some bargains are better than others !

Forgive me if I'm brutally honest here, but |I would suggest passing on it. Better to wait for a more appropriate piece of kit.

Hi,

Thanks for replies. Contacted seller and he replied;

"Loco has a digitrax chip with flying leads. These could be connected to each other in order to restore loco to dc by following the colour coding. I'm not sure whether it will work as is, apparently nrma chips should"

Once again completely, mentally lost so again any help.

Prob should call it a day but loco very nice.

Thanks again for bearing with me,

Weave

If Digitrax there is a good chance it will run under DC with the chip fitted (may need prg adjustment), otherwise it will be a case of cutting and piecing out a few wires to achieve what you want. the chip could then be removed and sold on if not required or used to barter with and get someone to do the work.

Would consider helping but too far away ! Maybe someone else on the forum will help

Digitrax DCC chips on DC work if set that way but as with all DCC chips only on smooth DC not pulse or fancy controllers, and can be damaged by things like a track cleaning unit.

The wiring is indeed coded so you can tell which wires to join to remove the decoder pretty easily providing no other components were removed.

Hi,

Once again am blinded by science, need to retire and go on several courses!

Don't know difference between smooth dc, pulse or what's fancy but just have a Gaugemaster Model D double controller if that helps or matters.

Thanks Weave

Model D should be just fine.