New member from France with Playmobil train question

[Mike Goodrich]

Hi, I'm a retired engineer living in France and have my son's 40 year old Playmobil train that I would like to modify to battery power and radio control for the grandchildren when they visit. It's a 4000 series and we have a fair bit of rail, some points and a 4360 crossing. I'm a mechanical engineer and although quite handy with a soldering iron I'm not too clever when it comes to electronics.
My question is, is there a description somewhere giving a list of necessary material and perhaps a wiring diagram?
Thanks in advance for any help.
Mike Goodrich

 

[Zerogee]

Welcome to GSC, Mike - we're an eclectic mix of track power, battery and everything else on here, I'm sure some of the Battery Boys will be along very shortly to give you all the advice you can handle!

Jon.

 

[playmofire]

A warm welcome from the North Yorkshire coast, Mike, from another Playmobil train fan (although I do run two LGB Spremberger 0-4-0 tank engines which go nicely with PM.

I can't help you with your question but there is a member on the forum, Xav204, who has done a number of such conversions.

If he doesn't notice your post (though I'm sure he will) I'll give him a nudge.

 

[HobbitFertang]

I converted a standard Playmobil tank loco (99501) to battery power, radio control & sound using Fosworks,

Radio: Planet T5 2.4 GHz (2 channel) + R6M (8A) receiver; 4 x AA batteries,

Batteries: 6 x AA NiMH pack in loco, Axtronics HO1440005-XX-D1 charger. Separate handset for controls sound effects (2 x AAA batteries). This was a few years ago, so maybe there's improved kit available?

 

[dunnyrail]

Welcome to the Forum there are plenty of Threads in the Battery section of the forum with a lot of information, even some by me.

Battery Power

This section is for all your battery powered related topics.

www.gscalecentral.net

 

[railaddict]

Welcome to the forum, Mike!

 

[Paul M]

Welcome to the forum. It's great to hear your PM locos have lasted so long, and you're not too precious about them to upgrade them! By the way, no ones warned you about the humour. Just beware

 

[Mike Goodrich]

Thanks for the welcome, I'll spend some time going through different threads to see if there's an answer somewhere.

HobbitFertang
Thanks for the feedback is there a thread on the forum about it? Is the 99501 the same thing as my 4000 tank engine?

By the way I'm a Brit living in France
Mike

 

[Mike Goodrich]

I've just answered my own question by looking at the engine it has 99501 written on the side.
Mike

 

[HobbitFertang]

Hi Mike, is 4000 the Playmobil Part No? The main problem I had was shoehorning the battery pack into the boiler (success) and tidying up all the other stuff & wires on the footplate (not success).

 

[dunnyrail]

Hi Mike, is 4000 the Playmobil Part No? The main problem I had was shoehorning the battery pack into the boiler (success) and tidying up all the other stuff & wires on the footplate (not success)View attachment 360439.

Black straws can be a help loosing wire in the cab but a limit how wires many can fit, the ones with a bendy bit can also he very useful. Roof top underneath can also hide a multitude of sins at times.

Noting that you have a a fusebox in the footplate, a false toolbox made out of plastic card fitted tight on top of it can loose that nicely. I have done that trick on a few of my engines. On one of my locs I have used that trick on the tank top to hide the on/iff switch and charging socket.

 

[playmofire]

Another route which would mean minimum alteration to the loco, and probably less work overall, would be to put the batteries and electrics in a goods van or truck with suitable electrical connections to the loco.

 

[HobbitFertang]

One of the worries when doing this sort of conversion is that you break the plastic body tabs off or strip the screw threads in the plastic, especially if you have to do it more than once.

 

[dunnyrail]

One of the worries when doing this sort of conversion is that you break the plastic body tabs off or strip the screw threads in the plastic, especially if you have to do it more than once.

Yes PM can be tricky to pil apart without breaking ghe tabs.

 

[a98087]

I’ve got a manual battery version, I fitted a toggle switch for direction on the one of the boiler domes, and the twist speed switch in the bunker.

This was very cheap, as only needed a new battery holder, switch, and a pwm speed controller

Dan

 

[Northsider]

Welcome to the Forum, Mike. As well as terrible humour we like photographs, so please let us see how your line progresses. Including a mug of tea will give us a sense of scale...

 

[Gizzy]

Yes, welcome Mike....

 

[Rhinochugger]

One of the worries when doing this sort of conversion is that you break the plastic body tabs off or strip the screw threads in the plastic, especially if you have to do it more than once.

The secret with screws into plastic is to back them off anti-clockwise until you hear or feel the click at the start of the thread - then you can do them up ........................... without overtightening them

 

[Madman]

Welcome aboard Mike.

Playmobil makes or made some robust trains. If I had to do it all over I would have given Playmobil more than just a glancing look.

 

[Mike Goodrich]

Thanks everybody, I have a proposal from Fosworks (thanks to this forum for learning that they exist) that looks interesting. I'll talk to them tomorrow about some of the details I'm not sure about and keep you posted.
Mike