# Work has started on "Thomas" for battery R/C + sound.



## TonyWalsham (Jan 2, 2008)

Early today Thomas arrived for the treatment. I must admit I was quite excited to see whether or not Bachmann has got it right. I gave it a quick backwards and forwards on the test track and was most impressed with how smooth it ran. 
But Hey!!! The gear ratio is all wrong again. *On 12 volts it is a Rocket Ship.* Actually, that is not going to matter much as 9.2 volts of batteries will fit a lot more easily than 14.4 does. The higher voltage takes up a lot of space. 8 Cells is going to work out just fine.


Resistance was useless. After I had finished my Sat am chores and rather pleasant lunch of Portuguese sardines, I simply had to pull him apart and see what was possible.

The first step is to remove all the 8 screws that hold the body to the chassis. 










Once apart it was possible to study the situation at length.
I have figured out how to fit everything inside the loco shell.
8 x "AA" ENELOOP 2000 mah Hybrid cells, RCS-BELTROL R/C, a 2.4 GHz 5 channel RX and a MyLocosound with speakers. Plus an installation kit to make wiring simpler.
The MyLocosound system has a very nice chuff and a very British whistle. Just right for Thomas. 

The bonus will be the charge jack which will be situated on the rear buffer beam. This will allow a trail car set of batteries to plug in and replace the loco batteries for an extended running time. 
More to follow as I progress.


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## TonyWalsham (Jan 2, 2008)

Back with a bit more to show.
Once apart I played around placing components. 
The first thing I decided to do was locate the speaker for the MyLocosound.
I had the option of a few examples but decided on a small oval speaker that Phoenix and Dallee both sell.
I could not mount it facing up as I needed the space below the bottom of the coal load area for one of the battery packs.
So I decided to mount it under the actual coal load facing down.
The first thing to do was cut the ends off the fake coal to let the sound out the sides.










Once they were removed I glued the speaker to the underneath of the coal load.










Then I built up a baffle box out of thinnish styrene. I hope it works but as yet I cannot try it out.










Anyway, it will not be hard to play around to get the best sound I can.
Once I had the speaker set up finished I drilled a small hole for the speaker wires and remounted the coal load into the body shell.










The other two wires coming from the rear of the body shell are connected to a 3 mm green LED I placed in the dummy lantern. I simply drilled out the lantern to accept the LED and then carefully filed down the base of the LED so it would poke through the lantern from the back. There is a 470 ohm resistor in series to enable the LED to work on 5 volts. I did the same to the front dummy lantern. Although not essential, having working front and rear lights makes operation much simpler. This loco is for children so the colour of the LED's does not matter. I would use Warm White LED's for regular scale model locos.

More to follow.


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## NTCGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

But Thomas has not sound...... I used a 9.6 the last year or so for mine.


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## TonyWalsham (Jan 2, 2008)

Thomas will have sound when I am finished with him.


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

That's a cool speaker.


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## TonyWalsham (Jan 2, 2008)

Phase three has taken place.

Next up was selecting the location for the sound system and which of the RX's I wanted to use.
Here is the MyLocosound which fits neatly between support pillars on the LH side.










Being slight behind the front pillar means that inserting the wires in the screw terminals before finally locating the sound card would be a good idea.

The regular RCS metal cased RX will fit easily on the RH side.










Here is the Planet Twister RX.










Then the E-Sky.










The Hobby King.










No pic of the SPEKTRUM AR-500 but it fits as well in the same place.

What really makes this a simple installation is the BASIC-3 (aka EVO-B3 & BTL AL-3R).
This is long, thin and low profile, so it mounts easily above the motor block under the top of the boiler.










I mounted the ON-OFF switch and charge jack in the rear buffer beam.
I made the assembly from parts that are easily available in most local electronic stores or from RCS.










I drilled a hole through the floor so the wires could go up to the top of the chassis.
There is a convenient space behind the motor into which the excess wiring can be tucked out of the way once the connections have been made.










Next up will be installing the two 4.8 volt rechargeable battery packs and completing the wiring.


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Tony, that is a very nice package for Thomas. I would certainly agree with the sound system you're using. It's just right.

Thanks for the progress images. 

I did a battery-R/C conversion on the original Lionel Thomas and it's alway a big hit at train shows and open houses.


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## TonyWalsham (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Stan. 
The only problem I am having with the sound is getting the voltage based chuff to sync exactly with the wheel rotation. 
It isn't helped by the loco having a slight bind in the drive that I am sure will rapidly disappear when the owners' grandchildren start giving it the hard usage I expect them to.


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By TonyWalsham on 22 Jan 2010 12:51 PM 
The only problem I am having with the sound is getting the voltage based chuff to sync exactly with the wheel rotation.


Yes, that is a bit of a problem. I've installed one in an LGB Mogul and it takes about 11 volts or so to "get the chuff" synched. It's double headed with another LGB Mogul with digital sound so it really doesn't make that much differnce. They blend nicely at just over 12 volts. 

And again, yes. I can imagine that the grandchildren won't even be aware of the synch. As long as it runs and "makes noise".


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## TonyWalsham (Jan 2, 2008)

The final phase is complete, and THOMAS is up and running.

As Thomas is such a race horse on 12 volts I determined to use 9.6 volts. The RCS-BELTROL ESC I used can work down to 7.2 volts. So 8 cells s ideal.
I opted for two 4.8 volt packs AA size packs of rechargeable cells which are available over the counter from most hobby shops in the two different shapes needed.
My battery supplier has them with ENELOOP AA size NiMh-Alkaline hybrid batteries in the two shapes I need for them to fit in Thomas.








.

The two packs fit like this in the body.










The brick shape fits in the bottom of the coal bunker at the back. The flat pack fits under the cab floor.
The packs came with regular JR servo type connectors so I fabricated a cable set to put them in series from a couple of servo extension leads. Normally I would just wire up the two wires that are fitted to the regular batter packs I get made.
Be careful not to mount the flat pack too far forwards. If you do it will foul the rear of the motor.

The wiring was finished off thus.










I put plugs and sockets on all the wiring that goes between the body shell and the chassis. It is not really necessary to do that and in fact does increase the odds of a failure at some stage. I do it mainly because it allows me to more easily take photos as I progress.

I charged up the batteries and then bound the PLANET RX to the TX and calibrated the system as per the regular BELTROL instructions.
Everything fits in easily but be vary careful assembling the body to the chassis not get any wires under the screw holes and make sure they are clear of any fittings that would prevent the body sitting down snugly on the chassis. 
I do advise removing the face from the front of the body shell. Doing so makes relocating the little plastic "sticks" behind the eyes much easier.
Once the body is back on the chassis and Thomas has been tested, hold the face in two hands with the eyes held in place by your thumbs. Locate the two little pegs on each side of the slider on the motor block front and gently push the face back into the boiler until it clicks home.

Thomas performs well except for a small bind in the mechanism that I expect will disappear with usage.

I will do a follow up soon with a list of the parts that can be used for the installation. 
Thank you for your attention.


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## nkelsey (Jan 4, 2008)

Tony, did you remove the circuit board mounted on the back of the motor? I am getting a high pitched tone from my MyLocoSound board using Aristo TE Revolution and wondering if this board could be the source. Thanks


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## TonyWalsham (Jan 2, 2008)

Hello Nick. 

Thanks for reminding me. I forgot to mention the motor in the write up. 
I *did not* remove the pcb from the end of the motor. I did unsolder the track pick ups from the pcb terminals and tucked them out of the way. I then soldered two wires to the pcb which connect to the MyLocosound and the RCS ESC. 

Unfortunately I cannot advise you as to what the problem might be with the REVOLUTION. 
My advice would be to contact Peter ate MyLocosound. I am sure he will be glad to assist you.


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## nkelsey (Jan 4, 2008)

Tony, I have been in touch with Peter, and he has identified the source. It is not the PC board on Thomas and not the Revolution. Peter's support through this has been excellent! Quick response to questions and good suggestions for trouble shooting.


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## Pathfinder834 (Jan 8, 2009)

Hi Tony,
I am a new poster here and have been watching this thread with great interest. I bought my 3 year old son the Thomas for Christmas and recently received your AL-3r esc from Switchcrafters and a new HK 2.4g radio. I also have a MyLocosound unit and would like to duplicate your install. I downloaded your instructions for wiring and setup but am a little confused on the sound card hookup. The instructions show two modules that are not identified or shown in the Thomas install. Could you show us how you went about wiring up all the units? I also can't find what the 7 pin connector does. Is there a more detailed drawing showing the pin-out for the esc?


Thanks,
Rick


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## TonyWalsham (Jan 2, 2008)

Hello Rick. 

I took a short cut with the way I did the install and eliminated the two small pcb's shown in the diagram. 
I was intending to publish how I did it, but, as the response has been a bit underwhelming I didn't bother. 

There is plenty of room to install the extra bits I show in the instructions for the MyLocosound with Al-3R so I would do it the way the instructions show. It will actually make it easier to install the lights front and back plus the sound trigger wire stays the same terminal. 
The parts come as a kit with the seven way cable included.


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## Pathfinder834 (Jan 8, 2009)

Thanks Tony,

Is THIS the 'bits' that you are referring to? I cannot find the one(s) you reference listed on your site.


Rick


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## TonyWalsham (Jan 2, 2008)

Hello Rick. 

You need the # UPGRADE-A" kit. 
The thumbnails at the BELTROL website are not working but the link to the bigger pic is. 
I should be able to fix the thumbnails later today.


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## Pathfinder834 (Jan 8, 2009)

Thanks, I'll give it a try. 
Rick


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