Fred60188

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Hello all, I'm new to G Scale. So apologies in advance. My G Scale DCC upgrade experience to date has been to upgrade 2 used Starter sets, 72243, PRR 2-4-0 Steam Model#20231.2 with eMotion L and eMotion S in the tender and Starter Set 72323, AT&SF 2-4-0 Steam Engine Model# 20231.1 with an eMotion L. Very easy upgrades once I got the Engines open.

Can someone help me with how to add DCC and Sound to a LGB Yellow Tram #2035.
What little I found so far is that the motor in the block needs isolation and a 4th wire on the motor.
If anyone can share instructions, decoder/speaker placement recommendations, pictures, etc I would be grateful.

FYI, MY DCC System is a NCE PH-10R.

Again, sorry in advance if I have this in the wrong section.

Regards/Cheers,
Fred
 

dunnyrail

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There have been some threads about how to convert a 3 wire to 4 wire Locomotive somewhere in the Forum.

Put simply you need to separate the common wire setup so that you have 2 wires from the Motor and 2 from the Pickups. Some insulation is required to ensure that there is no feed over between the separated wires, normally some Heat Shrink would work for this. I would also make the wires compatible in colour code to that of the Chip so that no mix ups occur. You do not want to feed track current to the Motor side of the Chip. Zzzzzzwshhgrbbb will occur perhaps with some smoke if you do that, trashing the Chip.

You might need to be a bit inventive as to where the Chip is fitted as there is not much room in the Chassis. Perhaps the roof May take a smallish Sound Chip if you can get one. The Speaker should also fit that location as well, perhaps a Square or Oblong Bass Reflex type of Speaker may be a better option. Or this could be disguised as some kind of Electrical Box in the Footplate of the Tram.

Good luck with the conversion and please take pics along the way to show others how to do it.
 
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JimmyB

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idlemarvel

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That looks spot-on Jimmy, good find.
 

Paul M

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Welcome to the forum. Pictures are appreciated
 

dutchelm

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Just thrown this in as a similar job to a newer tram. Fitted Massoth LS decoder on top of the motor block & Massoths smallest speaker in the centre. I think the newer trams have a bit more clearance under the floor.

tram speaker _Medium_.jpg
 
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Fred60188

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All, thank you for your quick responses.
The motor block conversion looks straight forward.
Thanks for the picture of the decoder and speaker placement.
Is the eMotion LS in the grey Box? Manufacturer?

Next question, anyone know where I can get a eMotion LS (8201000) pre programmed for trolley sounds
in the US for less than $229.00 +shipping? Seeing at Massoth 134.95 Euro.
eMOTION LS Sounddecoder – Massoth Elektronik GmbH
eMotion LS.png
 

Fred60188

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Also, how about a keep Alive? needed?
On the two upgrades done to date, infrequently they hit a couple switches and stop.
I was thinking on making my own, any recommendations?
 

dutchelm

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All, thank you for your quick responses.
The motor block conversion looks straight forward.
Thanks for the picture of the decoder and speaker placement.
Is the eMotion LS in the grey Box? Manufacturer?

Next question, anyone know where I can get a eMotion LS (8201000) pre programmed for trolley sounds
in the US for less than $229.00 +shipping? Seeing at Massoth 134.95 Euro.
eMOTION LS Sounddecoder – Massoth Elektronik GmbH
View attachment 256235
The grey box is the tram floor & houses the motor. I bought the LS programmed with Historic Tram sounds from Mark (Muns) in the UK. I cannot help where in the US you can obtain this.
 

Dan

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For the single motor trolley, the Zimo MX645 is much less than the cost of what you selected, $85.00 US from trainli.com and it is much smaller!!
30 volt rating, 3 watt audio, check the specs at zimo.at