Battery R/C for the Bachmann Climax take 4.

Tony Walsham

Manufacturer of RCS Radio Control.
25 Oct 2009
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Casino, NSW
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I recently installed another RCS battery R/C and MyLocosound in a new version Bachmann Fn3 Climax. This is the 4th version of how I did it.
I have done a few of these excellent locos since they came out. This is the is just the second one where I have been able to have everything on board.
There is no chopping and cutting of bodywork or changes to the existing Bachmann wiring.
The secret is fitting the Li-Ion battery pack up in the roof. Once again, the Australian Sanyo distributors made me a special 2 part 4s 1700 mah Li-Ion pack with wiring between two parts, so they could fit up under the Climax roof.
The Bachmann Plug'N'Play socket is featured as the easiest way of wiring the loco.

1-Climax-bat.jpg


The specially made pack fits neatly either side of the ventilation hatch in the roof.

It looks like this when mounted correctly.

Climax-cab-roof-03.jpg


The packs need to be placed as shown so they clear most of the Bachmann Cab fittings.
The red cable above plugs into the JST in line socket shown in the next pic.
Once the roof is replaced, the cabling is virtually invisible.
The slide switch was glued under the rear edge of the cab roof and is easily operated by large fingers.

Climax-cab.jpg

A small decorative component needs to be removed to clear the battery packs when re-fitting the roof.

The Red power cable runs under then cab floor and then up into the tender comportment. Black heat shrink disguises the cable.

Climax-under-floor.jpg


Climax-socket.jpg


The stock dummy PnP plug is removed and will be replaced with the # Battery-PNP kit.
In between the PnP socket rows there is enough room to mount the # MRW-SSTS sound trigger card.
There is only one wire added to the stock circuit card, That is the the sound system chuff wire to pin # J1-5

Remove the 4 x pcb supports in the coal cover,

Climax-under-coal-load-01.jpg


A styrene sheet is cut to size to fit under the coal load,
The various components are mounted to the styrene sheet.

Climax-ESC-Rx-MLS.jpg


The styrene sheet with components is mounted in the coal load with thin double stick foam tape.
The main # Battery-PNP plug is almost shown on the above pic..
The Fosworks RCS OMEGA-10 is exactly the same size as the Centre OFF COBRA-260, so can be used for Low OFF control.

Climax-under-coal-load-02.jpg


The # BATTERY-PNP kit is an integral part of using this method of converting the Climax to battery R/C.

BATTERY-PnP-b.jpg

The kit uses correctly colour coded wires for a Bachmann installation. It saves a lot of wiring.
Aristocraft locos got the socket wiring back to front so they need swapping around.

(Edit notes. Extra information added).
 
Last edited:
8 Mar 2014
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Armenia
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Another great installation Tony, wires dressed, everything!

I made a reference to this thread, and linked your website and credited you with the picture on my site if that is ok Tony (let me know if using the picture is not ok)



Greg
 
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Tony Walsham

Manufacturer of RCS Radio Control.
25 Oct 2009
2,221
50
Casino, NSW
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Thanks Greg.

No problem using any pics. They are all marked copyright anyway.
I actually had this installation done a couple of months ago before my computer ate itself.
It is only now that I have had the time to process the pics and upload them.
Like pretty well every hobby business Worldwide, mine has been booming since Covid-19 struck.
 

miniboB

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Thanks Greg.
thanks
No problem using any pics. They are all marked copyright anyway.
I actually had this installation done a couple of months ago before my computer ate itself.
It is only now that I have had the time to process the pics and upload them.
Like pretty well every hobby business Worldwide, mine has been booming since Covid-19 struck.
 

miniboB

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Union Grove
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Thanks for sharing. My climax is my next R/C and sound project. The cab roof idea is a good one. thanks boB
 

LFOCD

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5 Sep 2020
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Hi All,
So for a real newby but wanting to do the same thing, can I get a part list and manufacture's list of where I can obtain the various batteries and receivers etc to convert my brand new Climax to radio control please? thank you, it looks very nice.
 

Tony Walsham

Manufacturer of RCS Radio Control.
25 Oct 2009
2,221
50
Casino, NSW
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Hello LFOCD.
If you drop me a line I can give you an estimate on the parts used.
I can also supply the battery pack but may not be able to ship OS.
If you were thinking of adding battery R/C to the existing equipment already fitted, that will not work using my RCS R/C.
 

LFOCD

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HI Tony, thank you. I will email from your site. Much appreciated.