Help needed: Massoth LS into an analogue pigsnout railbus....?

[Zerogee]

Today a BIG box arrived from Luxembourg, containing the 21660 green/yellow Jagermeister railbus that I had purchased from Pugwash (thanks Puggy, it's very nice!). This colour version was a one-year-only (1998) non-catalogued variant that was made right at the end of the main run of 20660 red/cream 'buses; unlike the later re-issued 22660 (MTS chipped), these earlier ones were of course analogue-only, but they did have the special "EAV" circuitry which means they won't start to move until about 5 volts minimum is present on the track.

Now, I have an LS all ready to go in this, complete with the lovely chuggy petrol motor sound file. I'm wondering if anyone on here has direct experience in chipping one of these older analogue railbuses, in particular where and how to connect the decoder wiring to the unique circuit board that these have - the square one with central gap that sits around the motor in the underframe. Obviously I will need to bypass most of the factory electronics, because I need to take the EAV circuitry and voltage stabilisation out of the picture - but as the circuit board itself forms part of the motor locating hardware, it is not a simple job of ripping the old board out and discarding it completely.
There is also a relatively complicated lighting setup in these, with both a red and a white bulb at each end for the directional head/tail lights (through the same lenses, using clear plastic prism "light guides") - so any advice on how to rewire the lights would be appreciated.

Mike's old post in the DCC fitting compilation thread doesn't actually help much with this one, because that is just for piggybacking sound onto a later-model railbus that already has factory MTS fitted - I need to do a sound and driving decoder install from scratch.

So, can anyone help please?

Jon.

 

[muns]

When I put an XLS in my old twin LGB railbus (same as the pignose without the nose) I stripped out all of the components, rewired the board so that power and motor connections went up the 4 poles (interior handrails) to the roof pcb and connected the decoder there. I also had to re-route the lower light connections.

I do have an old analogue pignose that needs chipping but i have not managed to get to it yet.....

 

[Zerogee]

Thanks Mark, that is useful. Did you find the push-in connections between the handrail posts and the PCBs top and bottom were solid and reliable enough to run the power connections (as opposed to just feed the upper lighting as they were designed to do)?

I've not yet decided whether to put the LS in the roof as you did, or on the floor between the seats. What size and type of speaker did you use, and where did you locate it for the best sound results?

Jon.

 

[muns]

Hi Jon,

I have had no problems with them but I think I tightened them up a little.

I think i will attempt to put the LS in with the motor on my next attempt and possibly use realy small speakers (28 dia 8241050) in the actual "snouts" - still undecided.

I used the 40x40 square speaker (8241040) as it came with the decoder and hung it from the roof. I will try and post some pics....

 

[dunnyrail]

I have done around 6 of these both old and new. As Muns says I have never had any problems with the connections to the Motor other than to be very carefull not to 'Pinch' the wires as you put the bottom plate back on. I have mostly put the seaker in the Cab behind the driver making a Plasticard Box to disguise it somewhat. The chip has always gone on the Roof being covered in a replica Tarpaulin. One even has a GWR '0' Gauge one. Don't ask. I use a Black Drinking Straw to pass the wiress up through the driving cab. On one I even modified the circuit bard by cutting out runs to solder new connections so that the lighting worked OK. Think that this was on an old one. They have all been done differently to preserve the lighting so please don't ask for specifics on this. Rest assured that the lights do work on all the ones that I have moded.

Good luck with the conversion, these are lovely beasts and run better than all other LGB 4 wheelers due to the Compensation located within the way that the Motor is mounted. Why they do not tip to one side is due to some kind of LGB Magic presumably.
JonD