Opening up a LGB Stainz

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Sleeping Signalman

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I want to convert a Stainz to battery power, but have fallen at the first hurdle. - I cant get it open to get to the wires.
So, rather than just unscrew anything that moves, has anyone any useful tips ?
 
Sleeping Signalman said:
I want to convert a Stainz to battery power, but have fallen at the first hurdle. - I cant get it open to get to the wires.
So, rather than just unscrew anything that moves, has anyone any useful tips ?
Click to expand...
You'll pretty much need to unscrew, tug and twist everything anyway, but here's another guide to getting into the beastie. http://shop.waltonsmodels.co.uk/Stainz.php
There's not a huge amount of useful space inside a Stainz for batteries. I ended up converting mine to work with a trail car. Removing the large weight in the boiler seems an obvious thing to do, but you'll greatly reduce the useful hauling potential of the loco.
 
whatlep said:
I ended up converting mine to work with a trail car.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I had in mind. I just need to get to the wires to do a bit of re-plumbing.

I'm thinking about having it switchable between track and external battery. - What do you think, and where would you mount a switch - it the cab ?
 
Isn't it possible to use the accessories plug on the back of the cab, after disconnecting the track power?
 
Sleeping Signalman said:
whatlep said:
I ended up converting mine to work with a trail car.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I had in mind. I just need to get to the wires to do a bit of re-plumbing.

I'm thinking about having it switchable between track and external battery. - What do you think, and where would you mount a switch - it the cab ?
Click to expand...

Well, if you use the accessory socket on the back of the loco, you don't need to do the dismantling. Unless of course it's a cheapo starter set Stainz (like mine) in which case you may not have a socket fitted.

You can put a DPDT switch in the cab: I would use the hole in the boiler backplate where the 3-way switch normally fits if you have a starter set cheapo loco. That said, I'd avoid trying to mix track and battery on the same loco. Even though the DPDT switch would avoid the nasty possibility of feeding current back to the track, you'd still have the drag from the pickups and - worst of all - the skates. Remove those and you'll be amazed how much extra haulage power you get from your battery loco. As another GSCer nicely put it, it's like stopping trying to ride a bike with your feet dragging along the ground.

P.S. If you follow my earlier link to dismantling (cited by a later poster too), you'll observe that there are 2 rather small hexagonal bolts to unscrew. Exercise great care with those! They're easy to burr and/or strip the plastic into which they fit.
 
Thanks,

Mine is a cheapo starter set Stainz without a socket fitted.

Thanks for the link (http: //shop.waltonsmodels. co.uk/Stainz.php), I'll give it a go tonight and see how I get on.

Ultimately I would like a tender to house the speed controller/batteries in, but for now, just an open wagon will suffice. A tender changes the appearance of a Stainz and makes it look like a much classier loco. Its just a matter of building one.
 
Sleeping Signalman said:
Mine is a cheapo starter set Stainz without a socket fitted.

Thanks for the link (http: //shop.waltonsmodels. co.uk/Stainz.php), I'll give it a go tonight and see how I get on.
Click to expand...

As yours is the simple Stainz, only minimal disassembly is needed if you decide to go battery only. Mixing battery and track is not too difficult, but you'll need to acquire some connectors suitable to attach to the chassis block pins. To access the innards, you unscrew two screws at each end which are partially hidden by the couplers, plus the hex bolt linking the valve gear to the chassis (1 each side). HINT - remove the whistle from the cab roof before starting. Otherwise you will very likely bend/ break it (ask me how I know.....).

The chassis can then be tugged clear of the complete body, but it will still be attached to the body by the internal wiring which ends in a large plug. For battery only running, all you now need to do is solder your two battery feed wires to the middle two solder pads in the row of 4 on the front edge of that plug. Feed the wires out through the hole in the boiler backplate and through the cab to the hole for the accessory socket. Simples!

The advantage of attaching the wires this way is that the loco's lights will still work, without any rewiring. The sole downside is that some commercial battery control systems seem to put out a form of pulsed AC which defeats the directional control diodes, so all lights are alight irrespective of the direction. I solved that by the crude, yet efficient means of removing the rear bulb altogether!

While the loco is disassembled, take the bottom plate off the chassis block and remove all pickups/skates if you go for battery only.

Good luck!
 
Sleeping Signalman said:
A tender changes the appearance of a Stainz and makes it look like a much classier loco. Its just a matter of building one.
Click to expand...
I tend to agree! Especially running tender first.
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This was the cheapo 30th Anniv set version. Converted much as Whatlep describes.
Also, it's on 32mm gauge.
 
and one thing to bear in mind
never use force

LGB stuff fits easily together-no snapping fit (with the exception of some passenger car roofs)
if your forcing something, you havent determined the correct sequence of fitting

i learned this over the course of many disassemblies of different locos-

the stainz has a lot of stuff to deal with for such a small loco-even with experience, i sometimes need to do it two or three times to get everything perfectly situated,

patience, uninterrupted time, working over a towel and a low caffeine level are good ideas
 
stevedenver said:
patience, uninterrupted time, working over a towel and a low caffience level are good ideas
Click to expand...

Good tip. A white dustsheet on the floor around where I'm dismantling a loco is a standard "tool". Saves hunting for teeny, tiny springs & screws in carpet pile! :wits:
 
Also the above destructions show a newer Stainz, the older type are also held together by the funnel which has a nut on the base of the locomotive.
 
MRail said:
I tend to agree! Especially running tender first.
This was the cheapo 30th Anniv set version. Converted much as Whatlep describes.
Also, it's on 32mm gauge.
Click to expand...

Err MRail, is that two different locos in those pics ?
 
MRail
where did you get the tender from?
I want to battery convert my stainz
 
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