# Bachmann "Annie" with standard can motor..but wiring?



## FlagstaffLGB (Jul 15, 2012)

Good morning to all you battery conversion enthusiasts....

Saturday and I'm back at day-two of my conversion of this Bachmann Annie to battery operation. Now, despite some earlier comments about electrical knowledge (I do rewire houses), the can motor in this baby isn't what I would have expected. I normally see a positive side (one color....like "red") and the negative terminal (well, black); so why does Bachmann attach two reds (one thick insulation and one thin and two black leads to the same terminal?) Would love to know if anyone has a wiring diagram of the Bachmann Annie that would explain what I consider some unusual wiring decisions. It even appears as if the one of the red leads is coming from the left side of a right side drive wheel and another from the left side front drive wheel....even for track power, that has to be wrong. Looks like I'm pulling the can motor out to see what is going on.

By the way, this train ran fine before I started surgery. Fingers crossed that I can get it back together and it will still run....Ha. Anyway, if anyone has suggestions, thoughts, diagrams, etc. Let me know. Thanks, Ed


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Ed: I recall that there have been comments here in the past basically saying that there are no standards for wiring. I think that what ever was handy was used.
LGB was consistent, but not many of the others were. Chuck


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## ththfxr (Dec 27, 2007)

I have added battery and sound to my Annie. In mine, which is this years production, there was a pair of pickup wires coming from the front truck, a pair from the drivers, and a pair of wires that head back to the tender for the backup light on the tender, and a pair of wires for the head light. The all came together. I just removed the pickup pairs from the front truck, and the drivers. Left the wires for the head light and the tender light. When I gutted the tender, I then used the original wiring for the tender light to feed power from the RC,battery control back to the motor. I don't use the smoke with battery, so I leave it off. And the NMRA switch is out of it, but if it runs wrong, turn the wire over at the output of the control. I have run this way alot, no problems.


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

By your description I would think that main track power goes to the motor, and the - smaller - secondary wiring feeds another item needing power - after/from the motor, but in a parallel fashion, like a headlight... Not much in a Anny loco .. 

You need to be able to feed your new battery power direct to the motor, with requisite protection and switches, from your battery supply and decoder of choice!! Use wires you like for color clarity to make it easier also!! Have fun and good luck!! 

Dirk - DMS Ry. 

....http://dmsry.blogspot.com/


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## Trains West (Oct 4, 2008)

and the power goes to the nmra switch in the boiler front not to the track ......


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Nice idea using existing wiring, but as was stated here, the tender light uses a lighter gauge wire, which may not be sufficient to carry the motor loads safely! 

Dirk - DMS Ry. 

......http://dmsry.blogspot.com/


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## FlagstaffLGB (Jul 15, 2012)

Still morning, I think that Chuck's comments are probably a lot closer to being right on for this "Annie". The wiring from the boiler switch (smoke unit) is really funky (my kids like that expression). I can follow the red and black wires to the six pole nmra switch OK. They appear to be correct. Then the smoke unit just used two green leads (same gauge and color....very interesting). I understand the comment about "eating batteries" and using smoke...so I may run those to the back tender and find a different power source later...just for grins and giggles. The head light is a lighter gauge wire...maybe 22 0r 25, but it is "red and white"....sigh. Looks like a lot of stuff was just grabbled from the table and used to wire this puppy. 

I did get the running gear back together and the engine still runs (track power for now). Found a broken front tab that was plastic and holds the piston chambers up and level...so of course that needs to be fixed. May try to epoxy the broken tab, but I bet it won't hold. May have to manufacture something. Does anyone provide a different set of gears (other than plastic) for these Bachmanns?...nothing broken yet, much most of the posts indicate that it will in time.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

What Chuck said... (hmm... seem to be saying that a lot lately)

Here's my page on the Annie wiring: *http://www.elmassian.com/trains/mot...#schematic*

But not all are wired the same.


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Ed: Barry at Barry's Big Trains (lives in the Phoenix area) makes replacement drive trains for the various Bachmann 4-6-0s and the 2-8-0. I had him rebuild the drive on my Connie last winter. It runs like a champ. I have not heard of anyone who has had any problems with his replacement units and if there should ever be a problem, very doubtful, he will stand behind it.
Chuck


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## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

Barry's work is outstanding. I've alway wondered though. Would Barry rebuild a loco with his drive sytems as a battery R/C unit?


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## TonyWalsham (Jan 2, 2008)

I have converted many hundreds of locos over the years but only ever done one or two Bachmann 4-6-0's. I simply don't get them to do. Purely by chance I will be starting a conversion today and will take the pics as I go. They will be published here asap. 
There are a number of ways to do them. 
1. I s an easy way with no rewiring other than disconnecting *all* the track pick ups. If the tender has a back up light just tap into the two wires in the tender that power that light close to the front of the tender. 
2. I am not sure, but perhaps the two pin connector at the back of the loco might be wired in even though there is no back up light. If so, it might only need wiring in a suitable plug to that lighting connector.
However,if there is no back up light you will need to run a two wire connector cable to what were the track pick up connections (now removed). 

These two methods only require removing the base plate and will simulate what happens under track power conditions. That is the the lights will brighten and dim with application of power. The lights will be off when stopped. If the loco runs backwards swap the NMRA switch position. 

The next two methods require some dismantling of the loco to get at the interior. 

3. Isolate the motor and power independently from the rest of the loco wiring. Power the stock wiring from the battery pack. This will leave the headlight permanently on. If the loco runs backwards swap the NMRA switch position. 
4. Isolate the motor and power independently from the rest of the loco wiring. Rewire the headlight only and control from the ESC lighting direction. Make sure the smoke unit is out of the circuit as it will blow the lighting transistors in the ESC.


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## FlagstaffLGB (Jul 15, 2012)

Quick thanks to Dave and Chuck....I have seen several postings about Barry's work on replacing plastic gear sets. Since we are going down to Phoenix area (Sun City) for the winter, I will see what he recommends and what he has to rework this Annie. Also appreciate the isometric schematic of the Annie from Greg. Amazing, it seems very much like what I have drawn out on a couple of napkins...Ha. I do want to add the color of the existing wiring (since my surgery table has three 100 watt CFLs to keep these old eyes working properly). I will probably do a little rewiring to keep things straight for me, but the rest seems rather straight forward. I will be adding battery power to this unit...[Airwire G2(900) decoder; Phoenix P8 sound and an Airwire T5000 transmitter. 14.8 volt lithium ion battery pack]. Since this is an experiment for me, I am also looking a methods to control the smoke unit and use a separate battery pack to run it....I'm working on photos. Still don't like the method of attaching pictures in MLS...but I may just become a paying member and then maybe it will work quicker. Thanks for all the suggestions. Ed


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Ed: Maybe we can meet up this winter. Nancy and I are out in Sun City for February, March and part of April. The Tucson Garden Railway Society usually has a weekend of open houses in March. It is well worth attending. We have gone down for the last two years and saw a lot of great layouts.

Chuck


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Ed - on picture attachment - have you tried using flicker? 

Dirk - http://dmsry.blogspot.com/


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Ed, on the "schematic" pay VERY careful note to the dots at the intersections of wires .... on mine, there was a connection between the motor and the wheel pickups INSIDE the boiler, not where you could easily get to it. 

In DCC, that will kill a decoder immediately. 

Greg


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## FlagstaffLGB (Jul 15, 2012)

Interesting comments. At Greg, one thing I notice on my "Annie", which is not dated (I think it might be 15-20 years old), but there doesn't appear to be any motor direction switch. There is one switch at the boiler plate (front) for the smoke unit. It also has power connections for the light and smoke unit... There is another switch at the rear cab and it is obvious for turn on and off the on-board Bachmann sound unit in the tender. And for Chuck, I know that either or both Stan Cornforth/Stan Cedarleaf have often talked about the Tucson club and I know they travel a lot to visit the various layouts. We are in the Sun City area from about mid-November until the end of March (my folks also live there). I have been exploring via the web some of the clubs and people that have "open houses", so I'm interested in meeting and swapping tales with the locals. My winter project is to convert at least two engines to battery operation and maybe do some repairs as they need it. Ha. Thanks, Ed


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## FlagstaffLGB (Jul 15, 2012)

From Dirks suggestion, I registered with Flicker. Lets see if I can post the link and get to the 13 pictures that I have taken of the surgery that I did on this Annie. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eds_big_trains/ 

Ed


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## FlagstaffLGB (Jul 15, 2012)

Good deal, that worked fine. So I will try and keep that "gallery" going for the various items I have found.


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Ed: there is a very nice layout at the SunCity Grand rec center. I don't know if it is operated by a formal club or just a group of like minded individuals. I'm hoping that they allow guest trains. It looks like a nice one to run on. I have run on the large scale layout at the Adobe Mountain Railroad Park. That is also very nice layout on Phoenix. Chuck


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Great link Ed... 

Now you can go to 'You' on flicker and view your pix, click on one to see it enlarged, click the link ( Share ) above and it will open, both pic sizing and the link info, check for sizing- not over 800x600, - then copy and paste the link in the box into your next post on your thread here, and we can see it right here with You!! Easy if you use 2 open tabs on the web, one for MLS and the other on flicker, then work back and forth...!! 

Dirk - DMS Ry. http://dmsry.blogspot.com/


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## Fred Mills (Nov 24, 2008)

Simply go to: www.ovgrs.org/ and lookup the conversion done by Paul Norton...simple and well documented...good pictures. 

Fr.Fred


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## Fred Mills (Nov 24, 2008)

Why worry about the colour of the wires....just use a multi-meter, to trace the wires....simple...why doesn't anybody think of these things ?


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

My guess is he wants to document the specific wiring in his loco... not a bad idea, just remember it might not match any other loco! 

Greg


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