Large Scale Central

Bachmann Lyn gets RCS R/C & batteries

Electronics Power and Sound
#1

At long last I have had a customer send me a sample of the latest version of the Bachmann Lyn for conversion to battery R/C. The Lyn is one sweet little loco. It runs really smoothly and is quite easy to pull apart. There are a couple of ways to install battery R/C and this is the way I have done it without sound. It is quite small and there some leftover mouldings from the previous version inside the boiler which have to be removed. Plus it is necessary to remove the smoke unit to get access to the boiler insides to remove the offending bits of plastic. To start remove the four screws holding the chassis to the body. The chassis simply drops out in one piece, making life very easy.

I then removed the stock Bachmann pcb from the chassis. To get the chassis top as flat as possible I cut off the four pcb mounting lugs with side cutters.

The two part RCS # PRO-3 ESC sits snugly down on the chassis top held in place with non metallic silicone adhesive.

Next up was removing the plastic mouldings inside the boiler. I did this with a long hacksaw blade via the front of the smoke box, finished off with a sharp hobby knife.

Just about the only place for the ON-OFF switch, charge jack and programming push button is between the firebox and cab wall. These parts were mounted through the floor of the cab and are unseen from outside.

Access to the switch, jack and pushbutton is from the underside. I will space them out a little further next time.

I used two 7.2 volt packs of ENELOOP hybrid NiMh - Alkaline made up three cells wide by two cells long. These are mounted one in each water tank. To do so you must remove the weights and the plastic weight locating stanchions. I did that with side cutters.

The batteries will only fit if you cant the over slightly when gluing them in.

14.4 volts provides a nice top speed to compliment the smooth running of the loco. I am amazed at how much traction it has. 8 pieces of scratch built bogie rolling stock on the flat. Nice one Bachmann. The Lyn comes fitted with a speaker mounted behind the rear of the cab. It also has a proper mechanical chuff timer as well. Although my customer didn’t want sound I thought I would trial fit a MyLocosound, but there is not quite enough room under the boiler for it as well as the R/C equipment. I have figured out another way of doing it using Li-Ion batteries mounted in the boiler instead of the side tanks. That will free up the two side tanks for the sound in one and the decoder in the other with the actual motor driver part in the smoke box. That will be done with the next one that is coming shortly. In the meantime I have also installed battery R/C and sound in the new Baguley Drewry. Plenty of room under the hood for batteries, R/C and sound. Watch for it in the next day or so. Edit notes. Corrected spelling.

#2

Super sanitary install as usual Tony!

Greg

#3

Very nice install. Neat and clean.
Couple questions, i’m an airwire user so pardon my ignorance on the RCS system, but is the red button for programming? Also, have you ever had a problem using a SPDT switch and having batteries still die off? I ask because I had a similar set up switch wise come to me and my friend said his batteries would go dead in a very short time while sitting on the shelf. Batteries were new. I don’t know who did the install but they used the same switch set up as you. By putting in a DPDT switch and shutting the negative lead off the problem went away. I’m not knocking your work, i’m just wondering if we fixed the problem or put a band-aid on it.

Terry

#4

Hello Terry.
It doesn’t matter what R/C system you use.
As long as the switch disconnects either the positive or negative lead the control system cannot receive any voltage. If you cannot measure any voltage on the output side of the switch, the circuit is being broken by the switch.
When I use an SPDT I break just the positive battery supply. When I wire a loco using my BIK-U3 installation kit which uses a DPDT switch it actually breaks only the negative lead.
I would suggest that the problem you are facing is you had a faulty switch, or more likely the battery pack self discharging. That is quite common with regular NiMh batteries.
For smaller lowish current draw locos, I only ever use the ENELOOP hybrid NiMh - Alkaline batteries which were specifically designed for digital cameras where rapid self discharge was a common problem.
For pretty well all other installations I still use Sub-C NiCd packs which IMHO opinion here in Australia provide the best value for money in terms of current delivery capability and longevity, as in the number of recharges that can be achieved.

#5

Sorry Terry.
I missed the question about the button.
Yes it is for programming. Usually it is not necessary to use, as I send out all systems preprogrammed. It has two purposes.

  1. When turning on for the first time it is used to set the stick parameters. That is, the stick extremities are analysed to set maximum and minimum throws. Once set correctly should likely never be used again.
  2. At any time after switch on, the pushbutton is used to change and embed nine different operating features.