alainneke

Switches are automated with accessory decoders. These decoders come with multiple outputs (4, 6, ...) and usually send a configurable-length pulse to throw the switches. The grey-era LEGO switch motors rely on pole reversal to switch back and forth: I use an ESU SwitchPilot (with extension) to accomplish this. Wiring is a bit complicated, but described here

Thanks! The green stuff is (very short) artificial grass; you can buy it at most garden centers.

Thanks! Good point! The couplings were still at their original height on the pictures, but I had to lower them by 1 plate to match the height of my rolling stock Hehe, no problem (I've noticed that my 7866 is working very well, so someone is doing a good job!). I plan on turning some additional tires in the next week, so with a little help from my camera I should be able to make a nice tutorial. Oh, and by the way, the loco is able to pull about 3 double-bogie carriages from set 7740 (these carriages are equipped with the old high-friction wheels)

Thank you, thank you! The wheels have surprisingly good grip on the tracks: when running full speed and reversing, the wheels spin for about 1/2 when braking and accelerating again. I will try to add some wagons this weekend, but I first have to go to LEGOworld in Utrecht!

Thanks for the kind words, everyone! I tried blackening steel wheels some time ago, but it was messy and didn't look very good. Also, I don't know of any chemical that blackens aluminium without altering its electric conductivity. The BBB wheels are unmodified, straight from the parcel they came in! The tires are made on a small lathe, from a 35mm rod of aluminium. Basically, I drilled a large hole through a piece of rod, used a boring bar to make that hole the same size as the BBB wheel and machined a small flange on the outside. After chamfering the edges and rounding the flanges with a file, I pushed in the BBB wheels (they're held in place using plain friction). It took me the better part of the afternoon to make the six tires, but it could be done significantly faster with some more practice Actually, the locomotive is fitted with 2 12V light bricks, but I forgot to turn them on when taking the picture. Good idea on the sound though; I've just ordered a sound decoder that's the same size as my current (soundless) decoder! The pickups are of-the-shelf components from ESU, with a little hot glue to hold them firmly in place.

Hi all, ever since the original 12V motor of my 7760 burnt out, I've been looking for a suitable replacement motor. I could have fitted a PF train motor, but my wishlist made it a bit more complicated: - power pickup from the 9V tracks, as all my trains run on DCC - 3 axles - moving siderods - minimal modifications to the original locomotive I decided to fit BigBenBricks medium wheels with custom-made aluminium 'tires', and use Zephyr's custom rods for the finishing touch (I haven't had time to apply the stickers yet, but they do look great JopieK!). The part holding the wheels is essentially plug-and-play: it has the exact same shape as the old 12V motor bogie 7760 with BBB medium wheels by alainneke, on Flickr The locomotive is powered by an old-style 9V engine (http://www.bricklink....asp?P=43362c01), which was the only motor I could squeeze in without rebuilding the whole thing: 7760 with BBB medium wheels by alainneke, on Flickr 7760 with BBB medium wheels by alainneke, on Flickr (the missing brick on the back allowed for an external power source, which is no longer needed: I've fixed it since taking the pictures) Power pickups by alainneke, on Flickr Here you can see one of the pickups. The locomotive is equipped with 4, so it can cope with the dead spots on a switch: Power pickups by alainneke, on Flickr ... and to show you that it really runs: EDIT: now with stickers applied: Finished! by alainneke, on Flickr Thanks for watching!

Sure, just watch out with the heat...

I also ran into this problem when adding PF LEDs to my 9V Maersk train. The distance between the bogies on this train is bigger than with other LEGO trains. When you put a 9V connector on top of the 9V engine, it's studs will interlock with the train baseplate and the bogie will be prevented from rotating. My solution was to use the 9V cable with thin connectors (http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=5306ac015). The connectors on this cable are only 1 plate high, so they don't catch the train baseplate: Maersk train power connector by alainneke, on Flickr Maersk train power connector by alainneke, on Flickr

Thanks. I managed to get them of with a gear puller, which I bought some time ago. Alternatively, you could use a hammer and a 1,95mm drift pin to drive them of. I'm still working on the axle btw, which is a little too short and moves back and forth when applying power to the motor.

Like these? :) I use a track voltage of 15V, and have both 9V and 12V trains on the tracks. The 9V motors are driven with PWM (my DCC chips support a voltage reference value, so if the track voltage varies, the motors always receive a maximum of 9V). The 12V motors get the full output of the DCC chips (approximately 14V). All motors have been running fine since I fitted the DCC chips, but the performance of the 12V motors is a bit disappointing (they draw > 1A and I cannot get them to 'crawl').

Nice mod, 'zephyr1934'! The train looks a lot better with side-rods. I also tried this myself, but ran into trouble with the front wheels. Removing one of the axles is a clever idea!

Wow, you're a really fast builder! I always have to take my stuff apart about 10 times, because 1 or 2 bricks are just not quite right... I'll surely take a look when I'm at LEGOworld!

Very cool!

'Hey Joe', great layout! Being able to reach all tracks is very smart: trains always tend to derail in spots which you cannot reach! You can make the 'crossovers' more natural by removing both sections of curved track (see http://www.brickpile.com/track-layout-geometry/#crossover)

Congratulations!!

The wiring is 36 AWG stranded (decoder) wire from ESU.

Thanks for the clear explanation, 'legoman666'! The back-EMF value is used on some DCC decoders to measure the speed of the motor and helps the decoder to let the motor/train run at a constant speed. For the record, the free spin/loaded/stalled values of most LEGO 9V motors are listed at http://www.philohome.com/

That's right!

No; you should divide this number by the voltage you're operating your trains at: 8VA will give you 0,9 Amps at 9V, or 8 Amps at 1V This is what LEGO did to limit the output to 4,5V: by fitting the black knob the other way round, it couldn't be turned all the way and the output voltage was limited There is indeed some resistance when turning the knob

The 7864 transformer has three outputs: - sec I: 0-12V DC (as noted by Bricktrix, the maximum voltage is actually 16,5V) - sec II: 12V DC (also actually 16,5V) - sec III: 13V AC The maximum load for I is 8VA The maximum load for II and III combined is 8VA If you want more amps, you could take a look at transformer 740: - sec I: 0-13V DC, 11VA - sec II: 16V AC, 16VA - sec III: 3,6V AC, 6VA

I managed to get it running, by 'reversing' the carbon brushes. The other side of the brushes is smaller, so I suspect that it has something to do with their size. I'll try to fit the brushes that came with the new motor, and see what happens. It does run smooth btw, because of the five poles! As for the worms: they appear to be made out of brass. Heating them didn't change the grip on the axle, and hammering/pulling them only results in damage, so I guess I'll have to make some new ones.

Sorry to bump this old thread, but I've recently come across a motor with a similar problem. Instead of trying to repair the commutator, I've decided to try and fit a readily available motor. It's still a WIP and also doesn't work yet, but I thought I'd share it with you. LEGO 12V train motor repair (1) by alainneke, on Flickr The axle of the motor (Motraxx 265) is 56mm, or 4mm shorter than the original one. If this causes problems, I'll probably fix it with some plastic bushes on each end of the axle LEGO 12V train motor repair (3) by alainneke, on Flickr Here you can see the axle mounted using the original LEGO magnets and housing LEGO 12V train motor repair (4) by alainneke, on Flickr So far so good, but I still have to figure out: - how to remove the worm wheels from the old axle? - the correct position for the carbon brushes: the motor will not run with the brushes in their original position, but it does run when I push some wires against the commutator

Very nice!!! Don't tear it down, but just move the furniture somewhere else instead :)

Very nice! The valve gearing and detailing on the tender really stand out!