Mark, in your case, I’d just nuke the socket board altogether, and wire everything directly. Most (all?) of the connections are labeled on the socket board, so you can tell which wire goes to what with just a little bit of tracing. Not that you really need the space in that cavernous tender, but if you can pull it and put in a big honkin’ speaker in there instead, why not?
Later,
K
I thought about that Kevin…Then I realized I was missing one of the greatest features with the Bachmann board (My opinion anyway)…The ability to run BOTH DC and battery. I don’t know why this failed to occur to me earlier. I can run battery at the club layout (where the power can be unreliable) or track DC at home. Or any combination!
Also if I forget to charge the pack I’m still good to go.
Mark.
If the REVOLUTION (or any other PnP ESC) is left plugged in, the BATTERY - TRACK switch simply selects the constant voltage method of powering the REVOLUTION. Battery power or constant voltage track power.
It does not allow you to select battery power for the REVOLUTION or normal DC track power operation.
Understood Tony…But in this case I took Paul Norton’s suggestion and left the Bachmann DC board in place and simply wired the “BATTERY” terminals on the Bachmann board to the output of the RX. The INPUT on the Rx then went to a DPDT switch. I then wired a battery and charge jack to the other terminals (battery going to the center two terminals). With the DPDT switch in the “OFF” position it should allow me to operate the loco on DC by selecting the “TRACK” position on the Bachmann selector switch.
Assuming of course that Bachmann got their wiring correct.
Yep.
I was referring to leaving the REVOLUTION plugged in.
Apart from the stock Bachmann chuff signal, which is the wrong way around for most sound systems, Bachmann have got the wiring correct in the K-27.
Thanks for the advice Tony…I also just realized I had the description of my wiring dangerously un-clear. Edited to fix. Don’t need more magic smoke!
Like when I wired a Connie for R/C and inadvertantly left the smoke selector in the “ON” position…Scared the begeezus out of me when it made a ‘pop’ and smoke came pouring out!
I think you will find that you will probably use the track-powered option on the loco less and less frequently, if ever at all. I wired my K that way (and a few other locos) about the same time I was switching over to Li-Ion batteries. With the compact size of these batteries, I never had the need to remotely worry about battery life. At shows, I get 4 hours run time out of a 2600 mAh battery pack on my K. With my packs being removable, I can keep running as long as I have charged batteries. (And they charge faster than they discharge, so if I keep one on charge while running the other, I’m good pretty much indefinitely.
If you’re installing your packs such that they cannot be removed, it’s still very easy in that tender to fit a 5200 - 7800 mAh pack, even a 10 amp-hour pack if you wanted to spend the money. That would give you 16 or so hours on a single charge! (I’d probably stick with the 5200 pack; 7 - 8 hours run time is usually ample for most operators.)
If you’re just wiring the motor output of the Revo receiver to the input of the B’mann board, then you’re not getting constant lights or those other goodies. (Granted, I find it annoying that the Revo turns off the headlight when stopped anyway, which is why I wire it to one of the 6 function outputs instead.)
Later,
K
Kevin Strong said:
…If you’re just wiring the motor output of the Revo receiver to the input of the B’mann board, then you’re not getting constant lights or those other goodies. (Granted, I find it annoying that the Revo turns off the headlight when stopped anyway, which is why I wire it to one of the 6 function outputs instead.)
Later,
K
Yep…If I decide to “kill” the “DC option” in the future I will likely re-wire the whole engine and dump the B-mann board. Just out of curiosity, what terminals do you wire your headlights to on the Rx? I assume #5 for lights and #6 for smoke?
Kevin Strong said:
BIG SNIP
If you’re just wiring the motor output of the Revo receiver to the input of the B’mann board, then you’re not getting constant lights or those other goodies. (Granted, I find it annoying that the Revo turns off the headlight when stopped anyway, which is why I wire it to one of the 6 function outputs instead.)
Later,
K
Turns off lights when stopped eh!!
Mine stay on when stopped. 
And apparently has to be controlled by the user, not auto direction.
Of course I have QSI… so I better shut up about DC, DCC, and Airwire…
As Kevin has mentioned, once you use battery power you will not go back to track power. Battery powered locomotives can tie crawl through switches and crossovers without a glitch. Battery powered locomotives also do not suffer from short circuits popping fuses and frying expensive or irreplaceable circuit boards if they derail, as they are isolated from track power.
I have spent over a month building circuit boards for a USA Trains F3-A/F3-B diesel set that had all the internal circuit boards fried derailing while running track power. All the track power wires now have self-resetting polyfuses and are run through hefty bridge rectifiers to the on-board Super Revolution receiver that powers both units and a Phoenix Sound P8.
The Revolution receiver does shut off the headlight when completely stopped, a feature I like because it saves battery power when sitting on a siding waiting for a meet. Although the Revolution does not have a built in dimming feature, having the LED headlights off on my diesels waiting for an oncoming train is good enough for me. The number board and other lights do remain on, but can be turned off if need be with the ASSIGN FUNCTIONS menu.
The lights will come fully bright with the first push of the throttle (1% power) because they are connected to the power source. The Revolution simply lifts the ground to turn them off. The lights are directional, although you can jumper the grounds if you want a steam locomotive’s headlight to stay on in either direction. Doug had me do this for his K-27.
If you want the lights on at a stop, use the ASSIGN FUNCTIONS menu to set the start speed to something other than zero. The locomotive will not move with the first push of the throttle, but the lights will come on fully bright.
I would not recommend removing the Bachmann PnP circuit board. It just has too many good features to be discarded. If you are going to remove the Bachmann PnP circuit board, I would recommend using a (non) Plug and Play Board (CRE 57078). The screw terminals on it will accept two wires, unlike the adapter board that comes with the Revolution receiver with sound.
I am not blind to the fact that track power has it uses. I help Tim McCabe maintain his locomotives for his overhead railways in the Freight House Restaurant in Ogdensburg. People using modular layouts for display purposes also need an endless power supply. Doug and I once calculating the battery power needed to run a long lighted passenger train, and decided track power would definitely be the better option.
Even if you are not considering DCC at present, you should be aware that a Sountraxx Tsunami sound board plugs right into the Bachmann DCC board. Ray, the Bachmann representative, demonstrated it for us at the ECLSTS. Very impressive!
What was that? Did I feel a disturbance in The Force? Paul Norton talking about the merits of track power and DCC! Heresy!
I will open another thread on the PnP Sountraxx Tsunami sound board to see if anyone else has some news about it, rather than derail this post.
Paul Norton said:
…I will open another thread on the PnP Sountraxx Tsunami sound board to see if anyone else has some news about it, rather than derail this post.
If you de-rail the post will it short the forum’s fuse?
I don’t mind a wandering post as it does fit the crux of the original problem.
I will always have DC available as I just have too many locos to convert them all, not financially practical. That, and I will forever forget to charge batteries as I forget to do so with my RC aircraft constantly. Still, really appreciate the fresh perspectives!
Mark, I don’t use the smoke, so here’s how I designate my functions:
1= whistle
2= bell
3= water fill (on the Phoenix)
4= grade crossing
5= class lamps
6= headlight
Not all my locos have controllable class lamps and headlights, just the ones that have been “modernized” with electric lights. On those locos, I do use the “directional” output of the Revo to power the light on the tender; I only want that on in reverse.
Later,
K