# C-25 Tender



## weaverc (Jan 2, 2008)

The C-25 tender has a dry compartment in the rear for R/C components with switch mounts under the lid to the water filler tub. Also, there is a dry tube from the compartment to the front of the tender for servo wire passage. Entrance to the compartment to install R/C components such as the receiver, batteries and switches is not intuitive and a mystery. Anyone know how to enter the compartment? Luckilly, the cab is large enough to hold all the R/C components.


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Carl, 
Sounds like the EBT Mike - on which the whole top lifts out. It is tight, so it may not be obvious. (P.S. How do you know it has one if you can't get in ?)


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## weaverc (Jan 2, 2008)

Pete, you can clearly see the wire tube and the switch mounts. Also there is a wall between the water bath and the compartment. The top does not lift out.


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## Dr Rivet (Jan 5, 2008)

May have to unbolt the whole tender shell from the frame, just like putting in batt/RC in an electric. That becomes a PITA


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

you can clearly see the wire tube and the switch mounts 

Hmmm . . .Accucraft found another way to confuse us and make it difficult. 

I recall the C-16 tenders were a hassle - unless you got the old-style 42 which had the body shell bolted to the frame and a floor in between, making it easy to access the rear compartment. The guys with the tall tenders conplained they had to cut a hole in the floor to access the empty space, as their tender didn't have a separate floor - it was soldered on tight. 

I assume Cliff hasn't offered any suggestions? Does the tender body come off the frame?


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## jfrank (Jan 2, 2008)

What I did with the C25(and C16 etc.) is buy an RC plane fuel tank of the right demensions and just cut off the top and put it with the RC gear in the tender behind the fuel tank. It's water proof and works just fine. Or you can use whatever other container you might have that is the correct size to fit. I have even seen the RC gear in water tight baggies. On my SP#9 I put everything in the cab. Battery glued to the roof and receiver agains the back cab wall. On my K28 I put that stuff in the 'dog house' on the tender. There are as many ways to do this as there are people doing it. I never even noticed the water tight tube on the C25 or the non-removeable tender top as I never intended to put anything back there.


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

I have even seen the RC gear in water tight baggies 
John - my EBT #12 has the r/c gear in a baggie, as the water sloshes over the partition into the rear compartment! You also have to remember to drill a hole in the floor to let it out again. . .


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## livesteam53 (Jan 4, 2008)

I addressed this several times with Accucraft when we ran the proto type last year in Diamondhead and they where aware of the no access problem. 

So I was surprised that they do not make it accessible for us wanting to R/C. 

My answer on my own is to just install it in the tender with the fuel tank which I am going to do unless someone comes up with a better idea. 

Really liked John Franks install I saw at Diamondhead.


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## Chris Scott (Jan 2, 2008)

Maybe ...

*Bass Pro Shops. Fishing : Tackle Boxes & Fishing Bags*

 Plano® Small Waterproof Accessory Boxes: Size: 3-3/4" x 2-1/2" x 3-1/4"

Or

*Mobile City Online:* OtterBox 1000 Series Small Waterproof Box (Yellow)

*Exterior Dimensions: *4.837" (123mm) x 3.682" (93.4mm) x 1.652" (42mm)
*Internal Dimensions: *3.700" x 2.350" x 1.000" 


*Walmart *also carries a variety of small waterproof boxes in Sporting Goods Dept., Fishing Gear

Or...

If you want to remove the baffle plate. Torry Krutzke for his coal conversion would remove the tender baffle plate. I believe his technique involved heating the baffle plate with a torch just until the solder let loose. No damage or cosmetic effect to the tender epoxy paint. 



*Factoid:*
Originally the rear compartment was to hold the battery and electronics for factory installed sound in their electric locos. The hatch holes were for recharging plug and on/off switch.


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

I cut out an small opening in the tender under the doghouse on my K28, why not just cut out the water hatch on the C25 and stick it all through there. Looks like you can stuff a 6v pack through the hatch. I drilled from the bottom to feed the wired under the tender and out the opening and did all my connections out of the tender then stuffed it all in the hole, never to be seen again. I recharge the battery from a jack I wired in on the tender. You can install a charging jack and a switch under the tender. Prior to that install I did have it all crammed into the cab on the 28 with most of it mounted on a plate I attached to the front wall. The battery pack was on the lubricator side of the boiler spraybombed black and I insulated the backhead at the pack. I also have all the connections under the deck plate as I would not run it across the floor anyway


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## Larry Green (Jan 2, 2008)

Pete, when we get together next week, remind me to show you how to prevent the water from sloshing into #12's electrical compartment. Some styrene strips and mine stays dry now.


Larry


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## weaverc (Jan 2, 2008)

All,
I know how to install R/C in the tender and keep it dry because I've done it on both my K-27 and K-28. I was just curious why the electronic area on my new C-25 tender is not readily accessable whether it's to hold either R/C or sparky electronics.


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Larry how about some pics of the tender fix for the water gettting into the other tender compartment? Later RJD


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By weaverc on 28 Jan 2013 05:22 AM 
All,
I know how to install R/C in the tender and keep it dry because I've done it on both my K-27 and K-28. I was just curious why the electronic area on my new C-25 tender is not readily accessable whether it's to hold either R/C or sparky electronics. 


Carl, Looks as the water bunker is a sealed tank even the back wall, If you unbolt the tender from the deck I bet you will find that the rear section has no floor where the water tank does have a secondary floor. Or you can cut a hatch into the rear wall and seal back up so you don't take it apart.


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

If you unbolt the tender from the deck I bet you will find that the rear section has no floor where the water tank does have a secondary floor 
As I mentioned, the C-16 tenders had a one-piece continuous floor that sealed the water bath and covered the bottom of the rear compartment. There was a lot of grumbling about having to cut a hole in it to gan access - but a lot of folk did so. 

Carl - have you taken the frame off the tender shell to see if there is a sub-floor?


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Pete any pic of an R/C install on the EB&T. 
Larry Green how about some pics or info on the fix for the tender or is this a secret.







Later RJD


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By aceinspp on 31 Jan 2013 08:15 AM 
Pete any pic of an R/C install on the EB&T. 
Larry Green how about some pics or info on the fix for the tender or is this a secret.







Later RJD


I did a write-up on the r/c install for Steam-in-the-Garden [ *Vol. 22, No. 4; Issue 122; July/August 2012 **[url]http://www.steamup.com/inde...6*[/url] steamup dot com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=115&Itemid=106*]* - this pic is the throttle servo. There are a few photos here, and somewhere there is a pic of Kevin's neat water pump servo.













And the Johnson Bar servo:











And here's how you run the cables through the water bath.


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## weaverc (Jan 2, 2008)

Pete, I was asking about access to the cavity for another reason. For my C-25, I made a styrene tray to fit under the coal load that holds the receiver and battery pack. Wires to the servos in the cab run through a new hole in the forward wall, then down the corner post and out the existing wire exit. This is the same method I used for my K-27 and K-28 and works well. Both this one and the one in my K-28 have slots for the pump handle. The strips forward of the tray are to keep the coal load level. In this case I used a small AR6000 park flyer receiver and power it with 4 AAA lithium engergizer batteries in a Radio Shack case with an on/off switch. This combination keeps the components small. When I install lights, there is still room for the R/C on/off Pico switch, which will be in the open lower left corner. The Pico will be controlled with the gear switch on the transmitter.


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## Larry Green (Jan 2, 2008)

My mike is buried right now (we are on the road), but I'll let Pete take a picture this weekend when he is checking it out. Very high-tech: two, or was it four, pieces of styrene strip. 

Larry


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Pete and Larry. Mine should be showing up next week and I wanted a heads up on what I will need to get the project going. Pete just curious as to why the use of a chain drive? Later RJD


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

just curious as to why the use of a chain drive? 
When I did my first conversion (Accu C-16) I used a regular rod and lever arrangement, but there was some debate about how much the throttle needs to be opened on an Accucraft loco. 
Time has shown (me at least) that 90 degrees is adequate. 

However, with the chain drive, you get the gear ratio of the chain sprockets to multiply the action of the servo. In theory, a strong servo could use a 3:1 ratio (16 tooth on the throttle, 48 tooth on the servo) and can turn the throttle 270 deg. In practice, I use 16:20 (4:5) so I get 120 deg of throttle on a relatively ordinary 90 deg servo. 

P.S. I have since found a 180 deg servo for $3.40 at Hobbyking in HK, so we'll see what that does.


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Pete: Hobbyking of HK is where? This looks like it might be worth trying. Later RJD


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

RJD,

Two answers - sorry it took so long.

Hobbyking is in Hong Kong, but ship (sometimes) from a US wharehouse but usually by post from HK. I've had no problems doing business with them.

Larry's solution to the water slop problem:












The red arrow points to a strip of plastic he glued under the lid. Why? Glad you asked . . 











He found the back vertical panel is 3/16" lower than the top of the tender that covers the water bath. I added the blue line and red arrow above. His plastic strip seals the gap between the top and the back, reducing slop ! Ingenious.

You might also notice the clip for the water pump lever behind the upright panel and the battery pack for the lights. What you don't see is all the detailing on the tender and the owl . . . Wait a mo, maybe I have one of them. . .


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## Dr Rivet (Jan 5, 2008)

RJD 

HobbyKing makes unauthorized "knock-offs" of Spektrum products. Typical HK entrepreneurs. Patent infringement does not deter the average hobbyist.


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## Andre Anderson (Jan 3, 2008)

So has anybody unbolted the tank from the frame to find out what is going on under there? 

Andre


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks for the pics Pete. My EBT showed up Thurs and of course I was not able to fire it up. Throttle valve broke off so Cliff sending new one. I did round up the R/C ewuip to start that project. Stay turned as I got maybe another way to do. Later RJD


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