I have a Bemo V51 loco which I use for pulling cleaning cars etc around the layout (I am using a CMX Clean Machine, which is another story) and this is the only loco that I have which is not DCC. It is not a big issue as Lenz allows me to control this one loco using address 0, but it does mean that I cannot leave it on the track when finished due to the DCC buzz you get on DC motors :-\
I have looked at fitting a chip (Lenz Silver) but discover that the motor is not fully insulated and that the chassis acts act as the return path. All the advice on fitting DCC chips says that the motor must be fully isolated, which it is on all other locos, and I wonder what will happen if I fit the chip on this loco?
Any comments, views or suggestions - especially if you know a way around this.
Iain
For DCC, the motor must be fully insulated. This may mean that the holder of the brush on one side of the motor be installed in a plastic collar.
Remember that the pickup wires go to the chip and the orange and grey wires go to the motor. If you are unable to convert, may I suggest yous send it to
http://www.detailmatters.co.uk/ (http://www.detailmatters.co.uk/)
the guy is based in Ireland and runs a very good turn around service.
JdF
The motor in the V51 *is* isolated from the body. Certainly the whitemetal casting is live to one rail, but one of the screws holding the PCB is screwed onto a trace, which connects one side of the PCB to a rail, and if you look carefully, the motor is fed on both sides from the PCB on top of the body. If you cut the traces on the PCB leading to the motor then you have isolated it from everything. One you have done that you solder the input side of the decoder (red and black) to traces which come from the rails, and the output (orange and gray) is soldered to the clips which feed power to the motor. You need to trace the various feeds on that PCB, and with some filing to remove the traces, you can solder the decoder into place.
Here's some photos of one of my V51s. I have four, and they were the first locos I converted to DCC. Working out the wiring was easy - finding somewhere to fit the decoder was the tricky part, and I finished up cutting a slice of the white metal casting.
(https://forum.009society.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi164.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fu23%2Fduttonbay%2FDutton%2520Bay%2520Tramway%2FBemoV51_1.jpg&hash=10b2f8fd97150f9e96b29128e1a46e2df9fa22c5)
(https://forum.009society.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi164.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fu23%2Fduttonbay%2FDutton%2520Bay%2520Tramway%2FBemoV51_2.jpg&hash=ffcdcfb69240865bdb4d2c80fc994cfc9d399a13)
(https://forum.009society.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi164.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fu23%2Fduttonbay%2FDutton%2520Bay%2520Tramway%2FBemoV51_3.jpg&hash=e7673dd0118adbec751b174cc098a38e7e944ee2)
In this last photo I have labeled the four decoder wires. The red wire comes off the PCB where the screw connects it to the frame. Above that you can see the wire which comes from the other side of the bogie, the one which is not "live" to the frame. Further above is the decoder's black wire, which is fed from the bogie wires at each end. The output from the decoder goes to PCB traces attached to the motor clips. Ultimately you have four independent, isolated, sections of PCB, two connect to the rails, and two the motor. Once you have done that adding the decoder is easy.
Apologies for inserting full-sized images into the post. I don't know how to do the neat thumbnail view that others manage.
John
John,
What more can I say other than THANK YOU :angel:
I will follow what you say this evening and hopefully will have it working quickly. I am hoping to fir the chip in the cab area and cover it with tape rather than cut up the chassis - but I may well end up there!
I wonder if I can ask another question on this loco? Two of the wheels on my model (I bought it 2nd hand from the society stall) have a rough band (almost like a tyre) on them which I wonder if they are meant to be there for traction - or if it just years of dirt that has hardened onto the wheel - I don't want to clean it off in case I end up damaging the wheels, especially if it meant to be there, but i will take it of if it is not meant to be there as I am sure it affects the pickup.
Iain
Quote from: wimorrison on February 20, 2009, 15:01
I wonder if I can ask another question on this loco? Two of the wheels on my model (I bought it 2nd hand from the society stall) have a rough band (almost like a tyre) on them which I wonder if they are meant to be there for traction - or if it just years of dirt that has hardened onto the wheel - I don't want to clean it off in case I end up damaging the wheels, especially if it meant to be there, but i will take it of if it is not meant to be there as I am sure it affects the pickup.
They are traction tyres and are suppossed to be there but over time they dry out and crack, they also pick up a lot of dirt from the rails. On my V51 they have dried up, cracked and fallen off and I have yet to obtain some replacements so the loco runs with 2 very small grooves in the wheels but this does not seem to hinder good running.
Darren.
Yes, traction tyres. Those wheelsets were replaced as soon as I could get spares, so all of my V51s run with *real* wheels, without traction tyres.
Quote from: duttonbay on February 20, 2009, 22:56
Yes, traction tyres. Those wheelsets were replaced as soon as I could get spares, so all of my V51s run with *real* wheels, without traction tyres.
I don't suppose you happen to recall the part number for the replacment wheelsets, do you?
Iain
Quote from: wimorrisonI don't suppose you happen to recall the part number for the replacment wheelsets, do you?
Sorry, far too long ago. I actually think that only the very first loco came with traction tyres, and the later locos were not so equipped. I have a friend who works at Bemo in Germany - I will drop him an email and see what he says about replacement wheelsets, but it might take a week or two to get a response.
Quote from: duttonbay on February 21, 2009, 11:11
I will drop him an email and see what he says about replacement wheelsets, but it might take a week or two to get a response.
I would be very grateful if you could get some information from your friend - is there an official BEMO email contact address as I find that when you write that it is many weeks till you get a reply, if you get one at all. I have also tried Winco for some parts but without a part number they are unable to help :(
Many Thanks
Iain
Hi Iain,
Thanks for the reminder. I totally forgot - have just emailed him now so now we wait for a reply.
John
Here's the brief story about the Bemo V51 wheelsets, I think, as the email to me was written in English by a German.
Initially for the first 2-0 years of production, the locos were delivered with "silver nickel plated wheelsets" with rubber traction tyres. Bemo then switched to "black nickel plated wheelsets" and removed the rubber tyres for a better rail contact. However silver plated wheelsets without the traction tyre give better (much better) contact than the black ones.
The part number for the plain silver plated wheelsets is 1001 000 431 (1001 000 432 = with rubber tyre if still available)
John,
I have contacted WINCO and asked them to order the part for me as dealing with BEMO direct involved a bank transfer which in UK is very expensive :(
Thanks for you help on this
Iain