I did a quick test (w/o lights for now)..........and it works just fine My "homemade" PCB board (copper tape on 0.02 styrene) seems to resist solder just fine ! Quick question though: on this engine, what is supposed to be the front: Is it where the engraving is (17724L) or is it where I've installed the decoder?
Well, since the picture shows "L" in the engraving, I guess it means the front is where the decoder is......?
Ok, thanks....so now I need to find 3mm warm white leds Amazon has some, but it's a bag of 100 pces...I don't need that much My local microcenter didn't have any white led....a bunch of colors, but none in white!!!
Note that the sides may say L and R to help you put it back together, the real loco's "front" can be determined by looking at the shell. Usually there is a small "F" on the walkway's edge. That tells you how the prototype ran it in terms of which is front.
Here is how I did the rear light board.....copper tape (2 layers) over 0.02 styrene..... So far so good, it seems to work (i did try with 1 layer only, but the styrene melt !)
Done, finally. And........................it works I'm not using the common (blue wire). I will see if I keep it like that or cut it When I think about that DZ123 that I purchased almost 15 years ago and never installed......Well, I'm glad I kept it !!! That was my very first hard wired decoder installation actually