# pin out diagram for Revolution



## Brandon (Jul 6, 2011)

I've looked through every thread on here and even used google but I can't find a pin-out diagram for the 10 pin and 12 pin sets on the revolution, 

Has anyone seen something that shows what each pin is for? 

Thanks


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## Jerry McColgan (Feb 8, 2008)

Brandon said:


> I've looked through every thread on here and even used google but I can't find a pin-out diagram for the 10 pin and 12 pin sets on the revolution,
> 
> Has anyone seen something that shows what each pin is for?
> 
> Thanks


This should help. 

http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/je...Revolution/Aristo-Craft Revolution Manual.pdf

http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/jerrymccolgan/Aristo-Craft Revolution/Inside_The_Revolution_TE.pdf

This information may or may not be current.

*I believe you will find that the short 10 pin set is a dummy - just to align the board.*

Jerry


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## Brandon (Jul 6, 2011)

I had read through those and didn't see info for all 10 and 12 pin sockets, but with your post I found out that the 12 pin is called a DCC/RCC design and from that I found the info I was looking for on Gregs site with the search "aristocraft dcc"

http://www.elmassian.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=562&Itemid=682


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## Jerry McColgan (Feb 8, 2008)

Glad you were able to find what you were looking for.

Alls well that ends well.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

A word of caution, normally Aristo only used the 12 pin side, but on occasion there were some things connected to the 10 pin side.

Usually it was the speaker, but be cautious when using something in the socket that might have something connected to the 10 pin side. A good example is a QSI which uses all the 10 pins. As you are using a revolution, you should be fine, my understanding is nothing is connected to the 10 pin "side" of the Revolution.

Regards, Greg


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## Brandon (Jul 6, 2011)

I thought the 10 pin might have the front and rear lights and speaker power plus horn, bell and maybe another sound trigger? 12 pin side looked like it was mostly truck pickups and motors, maybe some running lights?

I'm using a C.H.I.P. for control/sound/io(led relays) and a pololu 18v7 simple motor controller and lipo. I was using a r-pi but the better price of the chip plus onboard storage and wifi for $9 is hard to beat. I'm still using a r-pi for my 58 solenoid valves controlling points though, since that was already working great and I only need one of those.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

I guess you did not find the page with the pinout, here it is:

http://elmassian.com/index.php?opti...c-socket&catid=19:trainelectronics&Itemid=682

everything is on the 12 pin side, the 10 pin side was never used except as noted.

Greg


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## Brandon (Jul 6, 2011)

Can someone confirm that pins 5, 6, 7 and 8 are fully isolated on the jumper board? To me it looks like on the factory jumper, pins 1, 2, 3 and 4 are soldered together and 9, 10, 11 and 12 are soldered together, but the other 4 are not. It's a little odd pin 6 (V+) and pin 7 (Ground) are isolated?

Just want to make sure before I turn on my RC unit that if I solder the one lead for the speed controller to the pins 1-4 set and the other lead to 9-12 that this is correct. 

http://elmassian.com/index.php?opti...c-socket&catid=19:trainelectronics&Itemid=682


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

the jumper connects the track pickups to the motor, and powers the lights.

sounds like you are still confused, why would you want to connect the track pickups?

aren't you using battery? you should not be using the jumper plug wiring.

yes, the power and ground are not used by the jumper plug.

Greg


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## Brandon (Jul 6, 2011)

I'm building my own 12 pin header that will plug in, so yes you are correct that I wouldn't want to connect 1-4 all together. 

I should be wiring the motor controller to pin 3 and pin 10. 

I also purchased some of these: http://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/7757555438.html?orderId=75850721814812

This will let me control pins 4 and 9 for directional lights. 

I was hoping to find something cheaper that would trigger a relay if a pwm signal was detected (maybe something like anything over a certain pwm value (controlled by a pot) would turn the relay on, but I can't find anything that was a cheaper option.

PS, I'll have to post photos, but I have a very clean cut hatch on my u25b that is plenty large enough to fit batteries in. No need for a trailing car!  I also found a pololu 18v7 for $20 online and it supports BEC so that and a $25 2.4ghz transmitter and receiver (hobby king version) and the led light controller for $5 means for $50 I have a fully RC enabled locomotive (and I guess $15 for a lipo). Now bad. The pololu also was configured via usb to have acceleration, deceleration, brake, and wait time between direction changes all programmed in. So if a kid slams the stick up or down quick, it won't derail cars. I'm still working on automation, but I wanted a "hands on" way for kids to control a locomotive since handing them my phone was likely going to end up with a broken or lost phone.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

if you want to run a relay from a certain level of pwm, why not filter it with a cap and a resistor, to get more to "average" voltage".. are you thinking off the motor drive?

Greg


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## Brandon (Jul 6, 2011)

I was hoping to use a 12v regulator off of my battery pack and then pwm that 12v with a solid state relay controlled by a pwm signal from a RC receiver. I'll probably settle for that $5 RC relay to control a 12v regulator with a pot to fine tune brightness.

On the 12 pin header... Are some aristo locomotives wired differently for the 12 pin header? On my u25b the 2 pin connector wires to connect locomotives appear to be hard wired to the wheel pickups. Switching the track/battery switch to battery causes pins 1+2 and 11+12 to not pass current. I would have though maybe 1 and 12 were wheel pickups and 2 and 11 were locomotive consist wires. I know I've seen some guys running battery packs in a trailing car and a revolution in the locomotive but I don't see how they could have done that without modifying the locomotives wiring or if there are different wiring setups that came from the Aristocraft factory for the 12 pin header?

And for the front/rear lights, is aristo just reversing polarity on the revolution to control if front or rear light is on? I don't see a ground wire that's active, pins 6 and 7 don't appear to go anywhere for lighting???


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

wiring inconsistency is a hallmark of Aristo. The battery / track switch cannot be trusted, even within the same model. A voltmeter is your friend.

Again lights were not wired consistently.

Greg


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## Brandon (Jul 6, 2011)

Were there different versions of the printed board? The consist wires for example are connected to the "Batt" connectors on the board so that's not "wired wrong" but maybe it's a bad board design? Or is the problem in the wiring harness/switches? 

In your pin out, I don't see any of the 12 header pins listed as Batt so I'm guessing the battery/consist wiring was never meant to go to that header? 

And what does the battery switch usually do (or how do most people like to have it wired?)


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Yes there were various different versions of some boards, but not many. But many of the same boards were wired differently.

The definition of the socket never included any extra definitions of battery/track, and this example is the one of the most variation in Aristo wiring.

I would physically disconnect the track pickups, which should have connectors. Then you could feed the battery into one of them and leave the track/battery switch in track.

You can find the mating connector on allelectronics.com, or search my site under "connectors".

Greg


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## Brandon (Jul 6, 2011)

Thanks for all the clarifications Greg, you're a huge help when it comes to electronics on loco's.

I picked up 20 pairs of the connectors on Amazon for $6 and prime shipping: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00T2U76V0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


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## Brandon (Jul 6, 2011)

I think I'm trying to over complicate things.

To run battery I think (and am asking if this is correct) I just:

Connect one wire of the motor controller to pins 1,2 and 3 and the other motor controller wire to pins 10, 11 and 12. (This will send power to the pickups but the pickups will not be in the circuit if the "Battery/Track" switch is set to battery. This also sends power to the MU connector which is ideal if a second locomotive has Battery selected and it will be powered from the motor controller and lights will work (though they will be based on the motor controller voltage).

Pin 6 gets a standard 5v (from a BEC)

Pins 4 and 9 will be controlled with two relays that connect ground to those pins depending on the lamp I want lit.

Is this it? 

With this setup I believe as long as I don't have a battery/motor controller connected the locomotive will function on track power _if_ Track is selected. And I need to never have Track selected if I'm running from battery.

I tried ohm'ing out all the various wires and connectors but never really seemed to make sense of what was connected to what (with certainty). That's why I'm wondering if I can put the motor controller right on 1,2,3 and 10,11,12 and pretty much be done (minus led's). The DPDT switches for battery/track doesn't seem to actually "select" battery as much as it just disconnects track power. I really don't see how there's a "Battery Input" anywhere in the locomotive wiring other than the MU is connected to pins 1,2 and 11,12 (regardless track/battery switch) and motor is on 3 and 10 so I think there's no harm in sending motor controller power to 1,2,3 and 10,11,12. This also means MU shares pickup AND battery power depending on how the switch is set.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

First rule of DCC decoders, NEVER connect the track pickups to the motor... NEVER, you are basically shorting the output transistors.

Now, I realize you are talking about the socket. 

the controller needs to be connected to the motor, pins 3 and 10... 

as was stated before, you cannot trust the wiring, so why would you power the track pins?

stay away from them, unless you are prepared to rewire the loco so the battery switch does something sensible.

yes you are indeed complicating things. stoppit. 

Greg


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## Brandon (Jul 6, 2011)

The pickups are disconnected from the circuit when the Battery/Track switch is in the Battery position, I obviously will never have a battery connected while the switch is set to track. The reason to power pins 1,2 and 11,12 are because the MU wiring is connected to the pickup circuit on my locomotive. And since I find it potentially useful to have the motor controller sending power to another train over the MU this seems ideal. Also it requires no modification of wiring in the locomotive.

I'm also having problems with track power (my stainless track from SSVR apparently has iron deposits that even after cleaning quickly rust) so if I want to run track power I better have 2+ locomotives connected via MU connectors so when one locomotive loses connectivity it can pull it from the MU wire. This gives me the most flexibility based on if I want to run trains myself, or just run track power because I don't want to deal with batteries or long run days.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

No problem Brandon, but to beat this point home, especially for those reading this, you MUST verify the wiring of the battery/track switch on EVERY Aristo product before relying on it being what you think it is.

Normally the switch merely disconnects the track pickups, and the "mu cable" (the small connectors at the end of the loco) remain live.

Sometimes it only disconnects one of the track pickups, sometimes it disconnects the battery.

You would think that being (normally) a double pole double throw switch, that it would alternately route "power" from either the track pickups or the "battery" inputs (which also vary), but that is not the case.

Sounds like you have your particular loco figured out.

Interesting about the rust on the surface, it's is possible you have the situation where the production process on the rail embedded some ordinary steel into the surface of your SS rail... it should go away pretty quickly, it should only be on the surface... Try using a green scotchbrite pad on a pole/drywall sander 

Regards, Greg


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## Brandon (Jul 6, 2011)

I started off with soft pads, heat, stronger chemical cleaners, and even metal sandpaper. I removed about 1/16 of the rail head (in a couple test spots on extra rail that I didn't put in but has similar issues) and the iron is still there in sports at high concentration. It's pretty obvious it's a defective batch of rail but I bet most SVRR guys don't notice since they run steam. I haven't called them about it though, it was about 3 years ago when I made the purchase.

I'll check every locomotive, and agree they all need to be checked out carefully each time. I don't know who designed their wiring and PCB's but it seems like it was someone who overcomplicated things quite a bit. Either he was told there was too much wiring and just removed or rerouted traces on the boards at the last minute or he didn't know what he was doing. I finally pulled the switch board off the back of the locomotive last night because the wiring to/from it just made no sense and once it was off I could see that the pcb was just a mess and had no reason to use anything other than DPST to simple cut track pickups and same went for the smoke and lighting switches. Just a mess.

Thans for confirming that the track/battery switch /typically/ just disconnects the track pickups and/or MU. If I run into other locomotives in the future I'll adjust their wiring to be like this one, after all it makes the most sense for my use that the MU wire is in the same circuit as the motor (by shorting 1,2 to 3 and 11,12 to 10) and the track/battery switch just disconnects the track pickup from pins 1,2 and 11,12.

I also don't like that they run 5v and it's the ground they connect/disconnect, that's just bad EE work. I swear they made these locatives wiring as confusing as possible just to scare people. I wonder if there's a market for "throw away the stock harness and here's a board and wiring that simplifies everything" for $20 or something.

Thanks again Greg.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Wow, never heard that about their rail, but clearly you have been through a lot.

If you think Aristo wiring is overcomplicated, you have not lived until you have worked on a Bachmann K-27, there's miles of wire in that thing. Luckily you can connect to the main board in most cases.

The color of red for positive is also not consistent within the locomotive, often it is reversed. What we have found was that the wiring from the track pickups to the main board and then to the motors, with connectors along the way is not consistent, and apparently they wire these all up, and then if the loco runs backwards on DC, they just swap a couple of wires ANYWHERE.

This makes the loco run the right way on DC, but they often reverse the wiring to the socket... Aristo NEVER apparently tested the sockets for proper polarity themselves, they were always tested with the "shorting plug" in place.

Greg


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

Also in the Bachmann locos the wires are fragile and break if bent near the circuit board.


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## Brandon (Jul 6, 2011)

Locomotive movement power has been working great so I moved onto lighting. I noticed something odd though.

Counting pin 1 as the pin with the triangle pointing to it, if I connect + to pin 6 and - to pins 4 and 9 the front and rear direction lamps build up in brightness, stop, and build again as though there's a capacitor in that circuit. If I connect + to pin 7 both direction lamps turn on and stay constant brightness. 

Also, pin 4 turns on the rear lamp and 9 turns on the front, backwards from what the pin out diagram shows on Gregs site. I'm certain my +/- are not reversed as I'm using a bench variable DC power supply and if I pin + on pin 3 and - on pin 10 the locomotive moves forward.

Is this normal? It doesn't seem to make sense, but the direction lamps work in the correct way under track power.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Typical, when they build these, they wire them up, if the loco runs backwards, they swap wires ANYWHERE convenient. This can screw up the socket. 

Greg


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## TonyWalsham (Jan 2, 2008)

I know exactly what you mean Greg. 
Part of the reason I doubt anything other than the really simple locos being brought back any time soon by anyone. Let alone Bachmann.


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## Brandon (Jul 6, 2011)

Is it also normal that the cab light is connected to the motor circuit? I'd like to be able to have it on when a battery is connected and not just when the locomotive is moving (and not dimming based on voltage to the motor).

Also, is there anything that can be damaged if I start testing wiring by adding 5v and ground to any of the pins and/or swapping what should be ground and 5v? I'd think not since there seem to be a number of diodes and the locomotive is kind of meant to have power applied in both directions to the main header.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Yep, although I don't use the word "normal" often with Aristo ha ha.

Yes, you can start blowing stuff up by what you are saying in your last sentence.

Here's a bit of good advice:

1. either figure out the circuit yourself.
or
2. disconnect everything from the motors, track pickups, lights, smoke, and wire directly.

Your middle ground is the most likely to cause damage. There's no free lunch here.

Greg


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## Brandon (Jul 6, 2011)

I've decided to just use pins 1-3 and 10-12 that will receive power from my pololu motor controller (which are the pins for the motor and MU wiring) and that's all I'll connect on the header. As for the lights, I hate the fact that the cab light is based on the motor speed so to get away from that I'm going to unplug the front and rear light headers from their pcb and make my own wire+headers that those can plug into so I can feed it the power I want and without it going through any of the locomotives potentially unique wiring per locomotive. 

I'm a bit stuck though because I can't determine what the header is. Can anyone tell me what this 3-pin header type is so I can order some? I'll note that this header is not from my locomotive but is the same type and I believe aristocraft uses pretty much as a standard on all their locomotives since the early days to current?


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## Brandon (Jul 6, 2011)

bump for the question


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## lotsasteam (Jan 3, 2008)

Brandon,sent a pic to West Valley Hobbies(Mike)he will tell you where to get those plugs!


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## VictorSpear (Oct 19, 2011)

Brandon,
How are your experiments going with the C.H.I.P? 

I've had intermittent power problems with the thing shutting down on temp conditions reaching a certain value while using a powered USB port for additional devices. Will reflash and try some other power combinations, but clearly the micro USB port allowing 500 mA is insufficient and using CHG IN with 2.0 amp is probably the way to go.

Vic


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