The Bachmann LYN gets RCS R/C & battery power

Tony Walsham

Manufacturer of RCS Radio Control.
25 Oct 2009
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Casino, NSW
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At long last I have had a customer send me a sample of the latest version of the Bachmann Lyn for conversion to battery R/C.
The Lyn is one sweet little loco. It runs really smoothly and is quite easy to pull apart.
There are a couple of ways to install battery R/C and this is the way I have done it without sound.
It is quite small and there are some left over mouldings from the previous version inside the boiler which have to be removed. Plus it is necessary to remove the smoke unit to get access to the boiler insides to remove the offending bits of plastic.
To start remove the four screws holding the chassis to the body.
The chassis simply drops out in one piece, making life very easy.
01.jpg

I then removed the stock Bachmann pcb from the chassis. To get the chassis top as flat as possible I cut off the four pcb mounting lugs with side cutters.
02.jpg

The two part RCS # PRO-3 ESC sits snugly down on the chassis top held in place with non metallic silicone adhesive.
03.jpg

Next up was removing the plastic mouldings inside the boiler. I did this with a long hacksaw blade via the front of the smoke box, finished off with a sharp hobby knife.
04.jpg

Just about the only place for the ON-OFF switch, charge jack and programming push button is between the firebox and cab wall. These parts were mounted through the floor of the cab and are unseen from outside.
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Access to the switch, jack and pushbutton is from the underside. I will space them out a little further next time.
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I used two 7.2 volt packs of ENELOOP hybrid NiMh - Alkaline made up three cells wide by two cells long. These are mounted one in each water tank. To do so you must remove the weights and the plastic weight locating stanchions. I did that with side cutters.
07.jpg

The batteries will only fit if you cant the over slightly when gluing them in.
08.jpg

14.4 volts provides a nice top speed to compliment the smooth running of the loco. I am amazed at how much traction it has. 8 pieces of scratch built bogie rolling stock on the flat.
Nice one Bachmann.
The Lyn comes fitted with a speaker mounted behind the rear of the cab. It also has a proper mechanical chuff timer as well.
Although my customer didn't want sound I thought I would trial fit a MyLocosound, but there is not quite enough room under the boiler for it as well as the R/C equipment.
I have figured out another way of doing it using Li-Ion batteries mounted in the boiler instead of the side tanks. That will free up the two side tanks for the sound in one and the decoder in the other with the actual motor driver part in the smoke box. That will be done with the next one that is coming shortly.

In the meantime I have also installed battery R/C and sound in the new Baguley Drewry. Plenty of room under the hood for batteries, R/C and sound. Watch for it in the next day or so.
 

spoz

What do I do? What I'm told by SWMBO
27 Oct 2011
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Adelaide, South Australia
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Thanks Tony, that's my next project after the Indy performance is done (I'm about halfway) although I'd like to be able to include sound so I'd be interested in seeing how you actually do that. I haven't taken mine apart yet - too much else on the go, so I've just running it around on analogue track power and it's certainly a great little performer. But I'm a bit surprised you didn't go for a PnP; Bachmann certainly advertises that it has a non proprietary interface. Not enough room?

Steve
 

Tony Walsham

Manufacturer of RCS Radio Control.
25 Oct 2009
2,221
50
Casino, NSW
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Country flag
Steve, the first pic shows the stock Bachmann pcb. It has a standard H0 PnP board designed for DCC decoders.
I test mounted the MyLocosound pcb above the RCS ESC up under the inside of the boiler. Unfortunately there was not quite enough vertical room for the two components to clear each other vertically when the chassis was fitted to the body.
I have not tried it yet, but I have been advised the MyLocosound pcb will fit in the smoke box once the smoke unit, switch assembly and plastic mounts have been removed. The Phoenix P8 sound pcb will easily fit up under the inside top of the boiler.