Large Scale Central

7/8n2 Tootle critter install

Electronics Power and Sound
#1

This week I had the opportunity to install an RCS battery R/C system in a Tootle Engineering 7/8n2 critter. There is plenty of room under the bonnet/hood for the batteries and R/C control system. I chose to use 4 x 1500 mah Li-Ion cells wired in series to give 14.8 volts. I made up a styrene sheet on which I mounted the battery pack. Above that I made some more styrene supports for the ECL-3r ESC & decoder assembly.

The resulting “brick” is 65 mm x 55 mm x 60 mm tall. The owner had me fit the regular Hobby King 6 channel RX which simply plugs in upside down on the decoder part. No servo leads needed.

The block ends up looking like this:

Then I added the 4 way cable between the decoder and the ESC.

If you want to use an Spektrum AR500 RX it looks like this:

The assembly is connected by pre-made plugs and sockets and simply drops into the bonnet/hood space.

The red plug shown poking up is for the charger. It does not matter where the antenna is located. All wrapped up and ready to go.

The TX will give a size comparison. The critter is quite big and runs superbly.

#2

Tony,
Does heat from charging the batteries do any long term damage to the electronics above the batteries?

#3

I have the same 4 x cell Li-Ion pack, in a different configuration, in my LGB # 50 diesel. The batteries do get warm when charging but not excessively

I am using an Observer 4 Li-Ion charger powered by a 12 volt regulated DC supply.

I previously had a 12 cell pack of AAA NiMH batteries in the # 50. Those did get so hot once they melted the pack wrapping and did some minor damage to the electronics. Made a mess more than anything. The body shell was slightly warped as well.

#4

Tony,
What is the 4 way cable between the ESC and decoder for? Nice compact installation.
Dave

#5

I visited the Tootle website, seems they no longer produce these cute little locos, shame, I’d love to have something like that in 7/8. Nice install as always!

cale

#6

Hi Dave.
I now have the system in two parts.
Part A. This is the decoder into which is plugged the RX upside down. Eliminates all servo cables and is the standard unit used with all hardware parts. This part has all the lighting outputs and the 4 x sound triggers.
Part B. The hardware part. This one is a 3 amp unit. There is a also a 6 amp unit and PnP version as well.
The 4 x wire cable provides battery voltage for the decoder part and transfers the PWM and direction controls to the hardware part.

I am gradually going over to SMD components and the decoder part is the first to do so. Makes for a much smaller overall package.

Hi Cale. Thanks for the compliments. I will be seeing Tim Bolton (Tootle) in a couple of weeks and will pass on the expressions of interest. He make really nice stuff.