Aristocraft SD45 converted to RC

[Tankbear]

Hi Guys,

I’m new here so if this has already been covered I’m sorry (lots of reading!)

Basically bought a second hand SD45, have no railway setup but into RC models so thought best route was to RC the SD45. Little research on my part found the Aristocraft trains to be RC ready, although I didn’t know it meant specific RC equipment not the hobby grade stuff I’m use to.

So left with buying expensive kit to run one train very little or working my magic of RC knowledge into the SD45, I went for the latter. After some research I found a wiring diagram for the aristocraft trains. It looked like a could pull the DCC plug out and feed stuff into on board circuit there. I connected a 11.1v LiPo battery to the modular circuit feed off and measured the DCC pins and confirmed my theory.

Next test the theory with a battery and ESC.

I even squeezed in a simple sound unit

Videos (sorry haven't figured out how to embed them yet)

Overall very happy with the easy hook up to use cheap readily available kit.


Next to do a tidy installation, recharge port, custom train sounds.

 

[beavercreek]

Well done Tankbear.
The SD45 is a big beast and to add a cheap RC setup to it using the on board plug pins is an excellent way of easily getting control of the functions.

Just two points... The smoke unit seems to running all of the time...is it directly wired to the motor out feeds? Can you switch it off (in case it burns out if oil gets to low)

The battery is a 11.1v 2.2amh. As the SdD45 is a bit of a power hungry wee beastie (especially with the smoke unit running), you might need to either up the voltage or the amperage or both, when you are using it to pull cars and on a layout, especially if it has some gradient.

 

[Tankbear]

Thanks beavercreak.

The smoke is still operated through the original switch. The original wiring has it wired into rail pickup/battery supply.

Point taken on the battery capacity, I have some larger packs so will use them.

 

[Tony Walsham]

The 11.1 volt battery pack is a bit light on voltage.
The SD-45 works best with around 18 volts to get some sort of reasonable top speed.
Then the problem arises. Can the ESC handle 18 volts?
At best 2200 mah will run the loco for about 1 hour.

 

[Tankbear]

Thanks Tony,

I didn't know what voltage was best, and no that esc won't handle 18v but I do have others I can try with a bigger battery.

 

[Zerogee]

I find that 14.8v (a 4S2P li-ion pack, 5.2Ah) is perfectly adequate for a 2-motor LGB loco (in my case, a 2095 OBB BoBo), with a top speed still way in excess of anything that I'd want to run it at.....

https://www.gscalecentral.net/threads/building-the-multi-power-loco.309298/

Jon.

 

[Rhinochugger]

I find that 14.8v (a 4S2P li-ion pack, 5.2Ah) is perfectly adequate for a 2-motor LGB loco (in my case, a 2095 OBB BoBo), with a top speed still way in excess of anything that I'd want to run it at.....

https://www.gscalecentral.net/threads/building-the-multi-power-loco.309298/

Jon.

I think the SD-45 will be a bit hungrier

It all depends on the type of motor used - I've not had much dealing with LGB / Buhler motors (except the hungry 7-pole monster in my 2-6-2) Bachmann use Pitmann motors that are quite frugal. Not sure whose motors Aristo used, some again were Pitmann but to a different spec, and took quite a bit more current

 

[Zerogee]

I think the SD-45 will be a bit hungrier

It all depends on the type of motor used - I've not had much dealing with LGB / Buhler motors (except the hungry 7-pole monster in my 2-6-2) Bachmann use Pitmann motors that are quite frugal. Not sure whose motors Aristo used, some again were Pitmann but to a different spec, and took quite a bit more current

Yes, the Buhlers in LGB locos are very efficient and low-current - but I was mainly talking about the voltage, in that 14.8 volts should be sufficient for most suitable "scale" speeds. If we're talking current draw, Tony's comment above was that the SD40 would probably only run for about an hour on the 2.2Ah battery shown - so you could increase that to a good two hours plus with the 4S2P pack at 5.2Ah, which allows for a much better running session....

In the case of my 2095, that same pack should be good for 5 hours plus....!

Jon.

 

[Rhinochugger]

Yes, the Buhlers in LGB locos are very efficient and low-current - but I was mainly talking about the voltage, in that 14.8 volts should be sufficient for most suitable "scale" speeds. If we're talking current draw, Tony's comment above was that the SD40 would probably only run for about an hour on the 2.2Ah battery shown - so you could increase that to a good two hours plus with the 4S2P pack at 5.2Ah, which allows for a much better running session....

In the case of my 2095, that same pack should be good for 5 hours plus....!

Jon.

It may also depend on the gearing then. I'm not an electrickery expert, and have to rely on experience(s). The early Aristo 'brick' from the C16 2-8-0 not only drew a heavier current (made my LGB 1amp cotroller melt) but also needed to run at a high controller setting, I assumed therefore also asking for a higher voltage.

My monster Buhler on a 50:1 gearbox also requires a higher controller setting - and I run my trains at fairly slow speeds - so again, I have assumed it needs a decent voltage from the battery pack.

However, the Bachmann 45 tonner (with twin motors) runs for a good few hours on 14.4v of AA packs, rated I seem to remember at 3000 mAh

 

[Greg Elmassian]

The Aristo 3 axle motor blocks run significantly more slowly than an LGB for the same given voltage.

Also we are not talking a narrow gauge loco or a switcher whose prototype top speed might be 45 mph, but a road locomotive that runs up to 71 mph (look it up")

Of course there is no law that a model locomotive must be able to achieve prototype scale speeds, but all my locos do, and that is why I changed from 21 volts to 24 volts on my rails. It made a huge difference on my Aristo E8... from 64 smph to 92 unloaded.

Greg

 

[dunnyrail]

Aha that old chestnut speed, depends on what you want. I feel that in most relatively modest Gardens a slower speed allows you more time to enjoy your expensive purchases. Where additional power might be more appropriate would be in the grunt required to pull a largish load. But again with a modest load less ought to work out fine. All my Battery Conversions (the ones that I can adjust anyway) have been adjusted to a Max Speed of a scale 40KPH which is I think still a little over the top as the prototype I model is 20KPH Max. So more work to do on refining everyhing for me!
JonD

 

[Rhinochugger]

Yerst, and there's another issue with battery power - it takes a while for my old brain to untangle all these things. I seem to remember that batteries don't like providing low down grunt, they are happier when the motor is spinning. You can make a battery powered loco stall if the gearing is too high in relation to the voltage.

When I first made this loco using the early IP gearbox, which I think was about 1:25, the 7.2v battery pack was not enough for the weight of loco and a couple of wagons. Increased to 12v, and the loco had less of a tendency to stall, but didn't run for long. With a revised, handmade gearbox at around 1:35, the loco performed happily (until I dismembered it to try and install sprung horn blocks )

 

[Zerogee]

The Aristo 3 axle motor blocks run significantly more slowly than an LGB for the same given voltage.

Also we are not talking a narrow gauge loco or a switcher whose prototype top speed might be 45 mph, but a road locomotive that runs up to 71 mph (look it up")

Of course there is no law that a model locomotive must be able to achieve prototype scale speeds, but all my locos do, and that is why I changed from 21 volts to 24 volts on my rails. It made a huge difference on my Aristo E8... from 64 smph to 92 unloaded.

Greg

In that case, if you need the "full speed" option, two of these in series:

https://www.rapidonline.com/ansmann-2447-3050-01-battery-pack-li-ion-3s2p-11-1v-5200mah-18-4125

That would give you 22.2 volts (provided you have an ESC that can take it!) and still give you a big enough capacity (5.2Ah) to run for at least a couple of hours......

They're not cheap, admittedly, but they are serious industrial grade battery packs with built-in protection boards, meaning that you shouldn't need to open the loco and take them out for safety reasons every time you want to recharge them.....

Jon.

 

[Rhinochugger]

In that case, if you need the "full speed" option, two of these in series:

https://www.rapidonline.com/ansmann-2447-3050-01-battery-pack-li-ion-3s2p-11-1v-5200mah-18-4125

That would give you 22.2 volts (provided you have an ESC that can take it!) and still give you a big enough capacity (5.2Ah) to run for at least a couple of hours......

They're not cheap, admittedly, but they are serious industrial grade battery packs with built-in protection boards, meaning that you shouldn't need to open the loco and take them out for safety reasons every time you want to recharge them.....

Jon.

Nice kit - I haven't ventured into Lion land yet, having stuck with NiMh and NiMh LSDs ................................so far