Hello Folks, I'd appreciate it if any of you could share your experience installing DCC in brass loco's. If you could point me to any resources, people, or sites that would be great too! Thanks, Martin
I have installed decoders in about 5 brass steam locomotives. I am not familiar with brass diesel locos. The first thing you need to do is make sure the motor is isolated from the frame. If the locomotive has an open frame motor, replace it with a can motor. Then decide where you want to put the decoder. I prefer the locomotive to the tender. The reason is that it reduces the number of wires you have to run between the locomotive and tender. If you put it in the locomotive, you only need to run wires to the tender for the back up light and power pickup. The power pickup is optional but it is more reliable than using the drawbar. If you put the decoder in the tender you will need to run 5 wires between the locomotive and tender: 1 for power pickup from the locomotive, 2 for the headlight, and 2 for the motor power. The main problems I have encounter are routing the wires between the tender and locomotive. You will need to drill some holes and do some filing to prevent interference. David
Martin: I've installed Lenz 521W decoders in two N scale brass diesels. The most important thing was isolate the motor from the frame. There was room for the decoder in the diesels after some minor surgery. I insulated the wiring to protect against any shorts. Each loco presents it's own set of problems. Stay cool and run steam....
