I have just had the pleasure of finishing off another RCS battery R/C installation in the Bachmann 2-6-6-2T Mallet.
By golly they are nice locos. Easy to get apart. Easy to work on and they run really well.
The first job is to take off the side tanks and boiler moulding.
Read up on the exploded diagrams to find the 4 x screws that hold the assembly to the frame, and the two (very tiny) screws that fit down through the headlight mounting bracket. Remove the two screws located under the headlight.
Then sit the loco upside down in the packaging and remove the 4 x screws holding the water tanks to the frame.
Then I removed the cab roof so that I could get at the screws inside that hold the air tanks onto the frame underneath the cab.
Once they are removed you can then access the 4 x screws that actually hold the cab to the floor. These are coloured white in the pic.
Then remove the 2 x screws that hold the bunker to the floor. These are shown as blue in the pic.
Although not really necessary, you may want to remove the 6 x screws that hold the cab floor to the frame. These are yellow in the pic.
The 2 x 7.2 volt ENELOOP NiMh hybrid battery packs were mounted in the sides of the water tanks with silicone adhesive. One each side.
The ON-OFF switch was mounted on a small piece of styrene to activate sideways. I would have preferred to have backwards and forwards on the switch but it simply would not fit.
I wired the connections up with plug and socket so that it made removal and fitment easier. The underside of the switch just clears the PnP socket board at the front.
I used a stock Phoenix 3" 2 watt speaker that mounts straight into the moulding in the metal chassis.
The only problem is the PnP socket pcb sits too low so I had to use spaces to raise it up a bit to clear the magnet.
Then I started work on the cab rear bunker which is able to hold all the R/C and sound hardware.
Remove the rear wall assembly from the cab floor and then remove the actual cab rear wall from the bunker.
There is a channel under the cab floor through which I wanted to pass the various system wires. Shown here with the cab floor not removed. I managed to slide the various wires through the space but removing the cab floor will make life easier. See Pic # 3 above.
Then came the actual installation of the various parts in the bunker.
Scraps of styrene were used to mount the parts. A bracket was fabricated to hold the P8 volume control, programming jack and the RCS programming pushbutton.
The four channel Planet Twister 2.4 GHz RX plugs in upside down on the decoder pcb.
Then I completed the wiring and basic testing before I reassembled the loco.
This pic shows how the Bunker is accessible by removing the ladder and coal load.
Although the charge jack is a bit obvious it will be disguised by painting it black and draping forest "junk" around it.
My PnP Adapter kit pcb plugs into the socket. The wires are tucked neatly down under the socket pcb.
The ON-OFF switch is conveniently accessible by removing the domes.
I buttoned it up and did the final testing.
Great performance and great Phoenix UINTAH sound.
By golly they are nice locos. Easy to get apart. Easy to work on and they run really well.
The first job is to take off the side tanks and boiler moulding.
Read up on the exploded diagrams to find the 4 x screws that hold the assembly to the frame, and the two (very tiny) screws that fit down through the headlight mounting bracket. Remove the two screws located under the headlight.
Then sit the loco upside down in the packaging and remove the 4 x screws holding the water tanks to the frame.
Then I removed the cab roof so that I could get at the screws inside that hold the air tanks onto the frame underneath the cab.
Once they are removed you can then access the 4 x screws that actually hold the cab to the floor. These are coloured white in the pic.
Then remove the 2 x screws that hold the bunker to the floor. These are shown as blue in the pic.
Although not really necessary, you may want to remove the 6 x screws that hold the cab floor to the frame. These are yellow in the pic.
The 2 x 7.2 volt ENELOOP NiMh hybrid battery packs were mounted in the sides of the water tanks with silicone adhesive. One each side.
The ON-OFF switch was mounted on a small piece of styrene to activate sideways. I would have preferred to have backwards and forwards on the switch but it simply would not fit.
I wired the connections up with plug and socket so that it made removal and fitment easier. The underside of the switch just clears the PnP socket board at the front.
I used a stock Phoenix 3" 2 watt speaker that mounts straight into the moulding in the metal chassis.
The only problem is the PnP socket pcb sits too low so I had to use spaces to raise it up a bit to clear the magnet.
Then I started work on the cab rear bunker which is able to hold all the R/C and sound hardware.
Remove the rear wall assembly from the cab floor and then remove the actual cab rear wall from the bunker.
There is a channel under the cab floor through which I wanted to pass the various system wires. Shown here with the cab floor not removed. I managed to slide the various wires through the space but removing the cab floor will make life easier. See Pic # 3 above.
Then came the actual installation of the various parts in the bunker.
Scraps of styrene were used to mount the parts. A bracket was fabricated to hold the P8 volume control, programming jack and the RCS programming pushbutton.
The four channel Planet Twister 2.4 GHz RX plugs in upside down on the decoder pcb.
Then I completed the wiring and basic testing before I reassembled the loco.
This pic shows how the Bunker is accessible by removing the ladder and coal load.
Although the charge jack is a bit obvious it will be disguised by painting it black and draping forest "junk" around it.
My PnP Adapter kit pcb plugs into the socket. The wires are tucked neatly down under the socket pcb.
The ON-OFF switch is conveniently accessible by removing the domes.
I buttoned it up and did the final testing.
Great performance and great Phoenix UINTAH sound.