Converting Accucraft K-27 to battery r/c

John, Max, Tony...
John, it looks like it is the same and it seems to hook up the same but...... is this PWM/linear adapter board the same as the ones that you created, for me to go between the Revolution RX/ESC or a DCC decoder (plus RF system) under battery operation (18V)?

AND just in case I want to have the option of track power as well as battery...
Will the converter also operate if switched over to track power (DC or DCC)?... (I should imagine that DC track power will be the same as battery but need to be above the usual 8v or so for the Soundtraxx card to kick in as there would be no back-up battery.... this will mean the usual 'popping' sound until voltage reaches 8V or so.

Here is the photo showing the original Aristocraft/Crest PWM/Linear unit that they made for the Revolution system to work with Soundtraxx sound cards...
Below that, is John's fine incarnation of the same device

pwc converter with original.png
 
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Ahhh John .....three types.....
Am I correct in thinking that the new Revolution RF DCC system (hooks up to DCC decoder for use with battery power) will use the third type?

Is the labelling (below) of your photo correct? ..... and what about the possible use (using a DPDT switch) with track power (DC or DCC) ...what ramifications to hook up would that mean?

all the converters.jpg
 
So if using a DCC decoder (track or Revolution DCC battery powered) with the Sierra board, you will need the three extra boards:
A. 1 x simple PWM to Linear converter (top left in photo)
B. 1 x the larger square board (middle of photo)
C. 1 x very small function interface board (in the photo in post 64)

I am being really thick I know, but still not quite sure what board 'B' does, compared to the DIY board (pink resistor) which I think has this circuitry on board already???)

Are either the DIY board or the PN810111 boards a combination of board 'A' and board 'B'?

Can the DIY crest board be used on its own with the sierra sound card but then a 6v back-up battery (and associated charging system) would still be needed?


in your photo..what is the fourth board just below the multimeter... is it an adjustable DC regulator?

converter dcc.png
 
Hi John
Many thanks for that.
I can see that in the top diagram you show the regulator as half of the DIY board as the other half of the board is redundant with DCC as the DCC decoder supplies the 'speed' info to pins 8&7 on the Sierra board.

As far as the info on use of each board type with the Sierra soundboard:
The Aristocraft original 57090 (and your DIY version ) are for use with the Aristocraft (Crest) Train engineer Revolution DC (analogue) RX boards.
But...
...you also say that the Sierra PN 81011 can be used with Aristocraft Train Engineer.... does this mean that both types of boards are okay to use with the DC (analogue) Crest Revolution RX?

johns types annotated.jpg
 
Excellent sir... I salute you!
 
John could I order some more of the Sierra DCC adapter boards to go with the PWM/linear boards that you have already sent?
 
Well for what it is worth here, finally, is the install of all the bits - Sierra soundcard, Fosworks Cobra/RX-3/Pico switches and John's nifty card that sorts out the PWM issue with the Sierra. Hiding under that lot is the battery pack and its fuse, speaker and rear light voltage regulator (that is tapped into the 18v supply via the 18v input terminals to John's board). All the wiring has been carefully checked that is conforms to the schematic in post #55 with nothing loose or exposed that could cause a short. Famous last words.

Just got to bind the RX-3 to its Tx-2.1 Omni transmitter - I'll take the Sierra offline first ;). Then it is test that there is a variable voltage output for the motor (already made sure that the battery and power switch are alive and kicking) and the drivers are turning. Then it is the full switch on to make sure the Sierra is responding as it should :sweating:

I have removed the pick ups from the tender wheels (they are on one side only) but for the life of me I cannot fathom how the drivers on the opposite side on the loco are completing the circuit. Tender drawbar is insulated from the loco so the 2 wires coming out of the tender are now just feeding a variable voltage to the locos bus bar that feeds the motor and front lights (with their voltage regulator). I suppose as there is now nothing to complete the circuit then we shoul be good to go with the loco as it's wired for battery operation. Anbody seen any glaring foul ups I have overlooked ? Max

P..S. Provided eveything works as it should I may not need to make the trip round the M25 and up the M11 Mike.........unless.

249670


The spare bits

249671
 
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John S said:
Loco wheel connection? only thing I can think off, is, was this not connected to and part of the original feed for the voltage regulator as part of the front/cab light circuit?
Click to expand...

Thank you for the compliments John, it's a lot tidier than my first effort with my GRS L&B Exe using a mixture of Fosworks and Brian Jones supplied parts :D

I'll take a look down the boiler barrel to see where the wiring to the cab light goes. The last time I looked there were 2 wires running back from the voltage regulator that I assume are the ones that are attached to the loco's terminal bus in post #1.

All the wiring for the front and rear lamps appear not to be grounded through the chassis as far as I can see. When the front circuit board with voltage regulator failed the loco and the rear lights still worked fine so it does not seem to play a part in completing the electrical circuit for the loco. At least all the wheels must be insulated .

The wiring for the motor and the front voltage regulator/lights terminate on the block pictured in post #1, with the lights and motor sharing connected/siamesed terminals each for + & - . The 2 centre terminal posts are for the motor and the 2 outer for the lights. I wonder if on one side only there is something gounding those terminals to the Loco's chassis ?

I assume I will just input the variable voltage via the installed wiring from the isolated tender to the loco's motor/lights terminal block. I'll clip on an input from my TE power supply just to check that this will work. Pity Accucraft at that time did not require the factory building these loco's to provide a wiring diagram, a la Bachmann :banghead: Max
 
Update to post #75 above - The 2 pairs of wires going back towards the rear of the loco- 1 pair rise up to the cab area, so I presume these are for the cab light. T'other pair head back around the motor, so I presume these are the ones attached to the "power bus" terminal under the firebox (see picture post #1) with the motor leads and provide the current to the voltage regulator board up front.

Also found 1 of the mar.....sorry, "classification" light bulbs was non functioning (and messed another up trying to re-solder a connection and insulation shrink at its base) so need to to get some spares. Just going to run with the headlight for the moment. This little exercise is teaching me a lot about this loco (every cloud has a silver lining, as they say :) Max
 
So went for the big switch on today :( After 3 attempts I got the transmitter to bind. Not quite as simple as it seems, the timing sequence is a bit tight :rolleyes: Checked that the battery's full 18.4 v were reaching the ESC, John's bridge rectifier(?) and finally the Sierra - all ok. All the right lights lit up. The sound card came to life immediately giving its blower and generator, and after a while at rest, the coal shovelling sounds :) Then I tested the variable voltage output from the ESC.....nothing, either to the bridge rectifier or loco connections (ok, a steady +.4v irrespective which way the regulator knob was turned, + or -). Not even a toot, or two, from the Sierra's whistle function to tell you whether you're going to go backwards or forwards or the sound of the air pumps confirming you you have dropped the voltage and come to a stop - part of the Sierra's functions when an initial voltage is put through it on the voltage controlled side and then reduced to nil :eek:

Before you ask - How can I be sure the transmitter is bound properly ? When I pressed the #3 button on the transmitter assigned to start up the Sierra's bell sequence it worked. That and the way the lights only gave a steady flash when the whole lot was powered up with the transmitter switched on. When I pressed the #2 button, assigned for the grade crossing whistle......nothing. Or even the #1 button that i was told was not. :wondering: Hmm.... I even altered the "power" curves available with this ESC to the "linear" option, it was set as supplied with a "prototypically" correct slow start, just incase the voltage delay might be confusing me or any other bit of the set up. Still no luck.

Never got round to hooking up the loco, for obvious reasons Methinks we have a problem with the ESC or the ESC's ability to communicate with the transmitter and also a possibly duff (1 of 2) pico switch too. Checked again everything is wired in tight and correct (JohnS had kindly taken the time to enlarge and trace my picture to make sure there are no obvious errors and gave it the ok) and tried 4 more times to see if I could get it all to function. Looks like I will be making a call to a supplier on Monday for further "diagnostics". Max
 
maxi-model said:
So went for the big switch on today :( After 3 attempts I got the transmitter to bind. Not quite as simple as it seems, the timing sequence is a bit tight :rolleyes: Checked that the battery's full 18.4 v were reaching the ESC, John's bridge rectifier(?) and finally the Sierra - all ok. All the right lights lit up. The sound card came to life immediately giving its blower and generator, and after a while at rest, the coal shovelling sounds :) Then I tested the variable voltage output from the ESC.....nothing, either to the bridge rectifier or loco connections (ok, a steady +.4v irrespective which way the regulator knob was turned, + or -). Not even a toot, or two, from the Sierra's whistle function to tell you whether you're going to go backwards or forwards or the sound of the air pumps confirming you you have dropped the voltage and come to a stop - part of the Sierra's functions when an initial voltage is put through it on the voltage controlled side and then reduced to nil :eek:

Before you ask - How can I be sure the transmitter is bound properly ? When I pressed the #3 button on the transmitter assigned to start up the Sierra's bell sequence it worked. That and the way the lights only gave a steady flash when the whole lot was powered up with the transmitter switched on. When I pressed the #2 button, assigned for the grade crossing whistle......nothing. Or even the #1 button that i was told was not. :wondering: Hmm.... I even altered the "power" curves available with this ESC to the "linear" option, it was set as supplied with a "prototypically" correct slow start, just incase the voltage delay might be confusing me or any other bit of the set up. Still no luck.

Never got round to hooking up the loco, for obvious reasons Methinks we have a problem with the ESC or the ESC's ability to communicate with the transmitter and also a possibly duff (1 of 2) pico switch too. Checked again everything is wired in tight and correct (JohnS had kindly taken the time to enlarge and trace my picture to make sure there are no obvious errors and gave it the ok) and tried 4 more times to see if I could get it all to function. Looks like I will be making a call to a supplier on Monday for further "diagnostics". Max
Click to expand...
OK, as chief numpty, I would be tempted to bind the ESC first, without the sound, and ensure the loco responds.

Then hook up the sound.

I haven't used a Fosworks ESC, but I have used Peter Spoerer's earlier version of it, and there's usually a flashing LED that will go constant when bound :nod::nod:

Check Fosy's instructions or start a conversation with Jon (Dunnyrail) as he's used a few of the Fosworks' ESCs
 
Rhinochugger said:
OK, as chief numpty, I would be tempted to bind the ESC first, without the sound, and ensure the loco responds.

Then hook up the sound.

I haven't used a Fosworks ESC, but I have used Peter Spoerer's earlier version of it, and there's usually a flashing LED that will go constant when bound :nod::nod:

Check Fosy's instructions or start a conversation with Jon (Dunnyrail) as he's used a few of the Fosworks' ESCs
Click to expand...

You have usurped me as "chief numpty" ? A palace revolution ? I progressed exactly as you did at the start. The ESC light settles after a few seconds to give a steady single flash rather than a continuous on, after the initial rapid flash when switched on and once it has bound (and indicating it is set for a linear power curve )I have followed the ESC's initial set up procedure. I have followed the supplied instructions to the letter (reading, re-reading and practising several times)

Should have mentioned that the Sierra card goes through all its time, rather than voltage dependent, functions fine as well as the tender wheel driven chuffs. Anything voltage dependent sequence though, e.g. directional whistles do not function. ?
 
maxi-model said:
You have usurped me as "chief numpty" ? A palace revolution ? I progressed exactly as you did at the start. The ESC light settles after a few seconds to give a steady single flash rather than a continuous on, after the initial rapid flash when switched on and once it has bound (and indicating it is set for a linear power curve )I have followed the ESC's initial set up procedure. I have followed the supplied instructions to the letter (reading, re-reading and practising several times)

Should have mentioned that the Sierra card goes through all its time, rather than voltage dependent, functions fine as well as the tender wheel driven chuffs. Anything voltage dependent sequence though, e.g. directional whistles do not function. ?
Click to expand...
OK, still bouncing along on the bottom - does the loco need to be connected, i.e the motor need to be in circuit for the ESC to start chucking out the necessary stuff?
 
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