# Rewiring LGB Genesis motors and lights for installation of PnP [QSI] Radio Control.



## pimanjc (Jan 2, 2008)

*Rewiring LGB Genesis motors and lights for installation of PnP [QSI] Radio Control.*

For instructions and pictures on dissassembly of the Genesis, and speaker installation, please refer to a previous thread posted here: http://www.mylargescale.com/Communi...fault.aspx In that thread, a 10-pin plug was used to connect the LGB PCB to a QSI Magnum PnP adaptor. 
In this thread, the LGB PCB is removed. Motors, track pickups, and lighting are wired directly to the QSI Magnum board using connecting plugs. Extra care was taken to keep all original LGB plugs that connected to the PCB intact in case I ever want to re-install the PCB.
The smoke unit bulkhead was moved to the rear of the original LGB PCB seen here. The Speaker is installed. The LGB motor/pickup, and lighting connections can be seen in this picture. The LGB PCB is then removed.









A 4-pin JST plug from AllElectronics was modified to connect to the original two LGB motor plugs.









A multimeter was used to determine the left and right track pickups and motor feeds. The JSTs were connected to the LGB plugs. The wire tie shown just holds the two sets of plugs together. The Track and motor outgoing wires from the JSTs were connected in parallel from the front and rear trucks as shown in the picture.









The LBG lighting boards were traced/tested to determine what pins in the their plugs served which function. 









I decided to wire the front mumber boards/dash lights separately rather than plug them into the front light board. The biggest difficulty for me was finally realizing that LGB uses the positive [+] wires for the common rather than the negative [-]. Here is a wiring schematic I developed for this job. The five rectangangles at the top with dots represent the ends of the LGB plugs attached to the boards.








View of front light board w/ connecting 2mm plug and 1K resistors soldered in series.









The headlights, ditch lights, and rear red lights were all connected with white wires. The front red lights, and reverse lights were connected with yellow wires. Green wires were used for the cab, dash, and number lights which stay on all the time power is supplied. Red wires were used for all positives.

The incandescent 5v cab light was replaced with a 3mm warm white LED Christmas light and lens. A 1k resistor was connected in series.









View of LGB rear lights board w/ connecting plugs and 1k resistors before shrink tubing was placed.









A power distribution block was fashoned to connect all of the yellows, greens, whites, and reds, so that only one wire of each color would go forward to connect to the Magnum board.









A second power distribution block was made to connect the battery input plugs for either direct or series battery packs.









A DPDT center off switch was wired to connect either the battery inputs, or the track power inputs. The red center output post wire is routed to a 10A automotive fuse mounted on two female blade connectors. From the fuse, the red power feed goes to the track [+] terminal of the QSI Magnum board. The center pole black wire goes directly to the Magnum track [-] terminal. Motor leads from the modified JST 4-pin plug were connected, first making sure of direction orentation [used a 12v battery to test]. Red, green, yellow, and white lighting wires were connected per QSI instructions. Volume and antenna disconnect switches for the QSI/G-wire were mounted to the bulkhead which had been moved back in the chasis.









By moving the smoke mount bulkhead rearward, there is adequate space for even a large sub-C 19.2v NIMH battery pack inside the Genesis.









With this install, it is possible to run the Genesis with battery RC, track RC, track DC, or DCC. The lights function in prototypical form with RC or DCC.
I am very pleased with the results.
JimC.


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Rewiring LGB Genesis motors and lights for installation of PnP [QSI] Radio Control.*

I hope you did not get a lot of smoke on this project. 

All of the LGB engines I have seen have the motor power on the outside of the connectors and the track power on the inner connectors. 

Did you allow for this somewhere in your wiring? or is the genesis different?


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## pimanjc (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Rewiring LGB Genesis motors and lights for installation of PnP [QSI] Radio Control.*

Dan,
Thanks for catching the mislabeling on the 2nd and 3rd pictures. The labeling has now been corrected. If you look closely at the backside of the DPDT switch, it was correctly wired. No smoke was released.
JimC.


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## SLemcke (Jun 3, 2008)

*RE: Rewiring LGB Genesis motors and lights for installation of PnP [QSI] Radio Control.*

Jim, 
Great pictures and descriptions. You make it look so easy. Thanks for showing us. 
Steve


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

*RE: Rewiring LGB Genesis motors and lights for installation of PnP [QSI] Radio Control.*

That's because he already released the smoke once, ha ha... 

Just a gentle ribbing JC! 

Regards, Greg


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## krs (Feb 29, 2008)

*RE: Rewiring LGB Genesis motors and lights for installation of PnP [QSI] Radio Control.*

Is there any place on the web that describes the prototypical lighting of a Genesis engine?
And to what degree does that vary between railroads?

The Via Genesis has these front lights:










I assume the two centre headlights are always both on and only get dimmed when entering a station.

But what are the two red lights on either side for? 
And are the two lights left and right of the VIA logo really ditchlights? Doesn't seem to make much sense to have ditchlights on a train running 160 km/h.
What about the yellow and blue - looks like covered lights - at the very bottom?


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

*RE: Rewiring LGB Genesis motors and lights for installation of PnP [QSI] Radio Control.*

Posted By krs on 20 Dec 2009 09:21 AM 










I assume the two centre headlights are always both on and only get dimmed when entering a station.

But what are the two red lights on either side for? 
And are the two lights left and right of the VIA logo really ditchlights? Doesn't seem to make much sense to have ditchlights on a train running 160 km/h.
What about the yellow and blue - looks like covered lights - at the very bottom? 


Two center lights are the main headlights. Not typically dimmed when entering a station. But they do dim them when approaching another oncoming train on double tracks.

The two red lights are markers for use when the locomotive is the last unit on a train (in the trailing position). Typically only seen in push pull configurations. There are similar red markers on the rear of the locomotive towards the roof.


The two lights left and right are ditch lights. They will alternately flash when the horn is sounded. These also are dimmed when approaching another oncoming train on double tracks.


You can't see it in the picture, but there are also four step lights where the four steps are. Two cab steps and two rear steps. These are typically lit all the time, even during the day. But always are lit at night.


Below is a link to a great photo showing two of the four step lights (the other two step lights are on the other side). You can also see the rear red markers lit in the linked photo below.

Amtrak P42 Step Lights 


The yellow and blue things are not lights. They are MU (Multiple Unit) and COMM (Communication) ports. Amtrak uses black and blue colors for these ports. The HEP (Head End Power) ports are smaller and red. You might notice one peeking out from behind the plow on the right of the photo.


So when running, here is how the lights should display. 



*First lead unit on a train:*

Front headlights lit, ditch lights lit, step lights lit.


*Second (etc..) trailing unit:*

No headlights lit, no ditch lights lit, step lights lit. 


*Last unit on a train rear facing rear moving backwards:*

Rear headlight lit, no front headlight lit, no ditch lights lit, step lights lit. 


*Last unit on train nose facing the rear:*

Front red markers lit (both), no headlights lit, no ditch lights, step lights lit.

*Last unit on train rear facing the rear (not very common out on the mainline):*

Rear red markers lit (both), no headlights lit, no ditch lights lit, step lights lit.

*Parked stationary in a yard:*

Front red markers lit (both), rear red markers lit (both), no headlights lit, no ditch lights lit, step lights lit.


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## BodsRailRoad (Jul 26, 2008)

*RE: Rewiring LGB Genesis motors and lights for installation of PnP [QSI] Radio Control.*

I have a question about this engine. I picked up a set at the fall show and on the box it says its DCC ready. I was under the impression that it would be similar to the Aristo DCC ready engines (though not as simple as their plug and play qsi boards) Is there not an easier way to make this engine DCC capable other than completely rewiring the thing, that does not seem DCC ready to me.
Thanks, Ron


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## krs (Feb 29, 2008)

*RE: Rewiring LGB Genesis motors and lights for installation of PnP [QSI] Radio Control.*

Posted By San Juan on 20 Dec 2009 11:13 AM 

So when running, here is how the lights should display. 



*First lead unit on a train:*

Front headlights lit, ditch lights lit, step lights lit.


*Second (etc..) trailing unit:*

No headlights lit, no ditch lights lit, step lights lit. 


*Last unit on a train rear facing rear moving backwards:*

Rear headlight lit, no front headlight lit, no ditch lights lit, step lights lit. 


*Last unit on train nose facing the rear:*

Front red markers lit (both), no headlights lit, no ditch lights, step lights lit.

*Last unit on train rear facing the rear (not very common out on the mainline):*

Rear red markers lit (both), no headlights lit, no ditch lights lit, step lights lit.

*Parked stationary in a yard:*

Front red markers lit (both), rear red markers lit (both), no headlights lit, no ditch lights lit, step lights lit. 

Matt -

That's great - thank-you.

One comment/question about

*First lead unit on a train:*

Front headlights lit, ditch lights lit, step lights lit.


I just completed a journey on VIA Rail.
The Genesis didn't have the ditch lights on coming into the station, so I assume that varies from railroad to railroad.
I also didn't notice any step lights even though it was dark and these lights seem to be quite bright. Maybe VIA Rail is to cheap to have them equipped.


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

*RE: Rewiring LGB Genesis motors and lights for installation of PnP [QSI] Radio Control.*

Posted By krs on 20 Dec 2009 08:32 PM 

Matt -

That's great - thank-you.

One comment/question about

*First lead unit on a train:*

Front headlights lit, ditch lights lit, step lights lit.


I just completed a journey on VIA Rail.
The Genesis didn't have the ditch lights on coming into the station, so I assume that varies from railroad to railroad.
I also didn't notice any step lights even though it was dark and these lights seem to be quite bright. Maybe VIA Rail is to cheap to have them equipped.

The information I posted was primarily for Amtrak. I know a bunch about Amtrak, but unfortunately next to nothing about Via. I bet the step lights might be a US (FRA) safety regulation.


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## SLemcke (Jun 3, 2008)

*RE: Rewiring LGB Genesis motors and lights for installation of PnP [QSI] Radio Control.*

Ron,
Check out both links. Also the first post in this thread. You can install the QSI magnum board into the Genesis with a connector from All Electronics. That is what I did and have not had any problems.
Steve


http://www.mylargescale.com/Communi...fault.aspx

http://www.mylargescale.com/Communi...fault.aspx


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## BodsRailRoad (Jul 26, 2008)

*RE: Rewiring LGB Genesis motors and lights for installation of PnP [QSI] Radio Control.*

Posted By SLemcke on 21 Dec 2009 07:13 AM 
Ron,
Check out both links. Also the first post in this thread. You can install the QSI magnum board into the Genesis with a connector from All Electronics. That is what I did and have not had any problems.
Steve


http://www.mylargescale.com/Communi...fault.aspx

http://www.mylargescale.com/Communi...fault.aspx

Thanks Steve for the reply. I really like how simple your instalation is. It seems all you did was buy the 10 wire adapter and then wire it to the QSI board and hook up the speaker, While Jim looks like he hardwired the entire thing? Did you have any of the light burnout issues that Jim did? 
I will be using the NCE 10amp system or posible the new 16amp Zimo system(thanks again Greg) and have no desire for battery power and want as simple an instalation as posible.
The other question what is the main advantage to using the Qsi board vs the LGB 55027 decoder that plugs right in (I have found it at several places for $97)?
I know the QSI has sound and the LGB does not, is there a sound system that will plug into the LGB setup besides the LGB's generic diesel sound one?
Thanks Again, Ron


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## SLemcke (Jun 3, 2008)

*RE: Rewiring LGB Genesis motors and lights for installation of PnP [QSI] Radio Control.*

Ron, 
I have not had my lights burn out. I have the Massoth 1210Z 12amp system adjusted for 20Volts to the track. I chose Massoth because of the ability to control my older LGB MTS engines and use some of my LGB MTS components. 
The main advantage of the QSI over the 55027 is the sound and then price if you have to pay for an LGB sound module too. 
You need to contact Axel Tillmann at Train Li USA about the Zimo system, they have sound decoders also. 

http://www.train-li-usa.com/ 

Steve


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