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Engineer
Australia
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 Posted - 03 Feb 2007 : 18:10:45
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The Bachmann Heisler has been available for some years but this is the first one I have ever seen in the flesh. Let alone get to work on.
My first impressions were positive.
It is very well detailed and seems to be well made and assembled. It runs quite smoothly on track power.
I have actually had the loco for 6 months to do a battery R/C install for a good customer. The delay has been in obtaining the Sierra sound.
Anyway, follwing are some pics of what I did. This is not the only way of doing an installation in the Heisler. Just the way I did it.
The Heisler is definitely not a plug and play loco for battery R/C. It is (somewhat) DCC ready but the way it is wired is pretty well useless for our purposes. So most of the installed equipment needs to be removed.
That entails partially dismantling the loco to get at various components.
The roof comes off by removing six VERY SMALL Phillips head self tapping screws. For this you will need a very small screwdriver.
Four screws on the front and two screws on each side rear cab wall. Take great care not to lose these screws as they are likely irreplaceble.
Once the roof is off remove the "coal" load by undoing a small threaded screw from under the water filler hatch.
Then remove two more small self tappers from under the floor on the edge of each side.
You must drop the front and rear trucks from the chassis to access and remove the "suppression" pcb's and modify the wiring
Front truck, remove two threaded screws from either side of the frame in the middle of the bolster. One counter sunk the other raised.
The truck and bolster assembly will drop out.
The rear truck is the same except you have to remove just one screw from either side.
Incidentally, I always bag screws as I take them out with a description of where they came from.
There is one mechanical improvement Dave Goodson suggested I make to the motor assemblies.
In their wisdom Bachmann did not make the production versions of the brush end bearing of the motors accessible for lubrication. I drilled a 1/16th" hole in the mounting bracket. Do not try this unless you have a drill press and a way of holding the cast bracket steady whilst drilling.
The cast bracket was reassembled with the motor in the frame.
I soldered new wires to the motor terminals and lubed the motor bearing ends.
The assembled frame was completed by adding the top bolster. Be sure and remove the old plunger guides to allow the new wires to flex without catching.
Whilst the rear truck is off you need to remove the cable cover and lower firebox.
The 50mm square speaker I have glued straight in with silicone adhesive. Sorry about the pic quality. I am still learning how to do close ups with my new Cannon S3 digital camera.
I mounted the RCS RX-8 receiver part up underneath the top of the firebox with silicone adhesive. I drilled a small hole to allow the antenna wire to go up into the cab. I shortened the antenna wire and soldered it to one end of the U shaped handrail running along the boiler.
Bachmann have made life quite easy to work on the backhead. It comes right off with two screws.
I swapped over the LED's side to side on the flicker pcb so that I could use the Sierra firebox flicker feature. I added 470r ¼ watt resistors in the lines.
Whilst there is quite a bit of room in the tender it is just a smidgeon too small to easily fit AA cells along the bunker sides.
This entailed laying them flat across the floor. I fabricated two battery supports from scrap styrene so the truck bolster top cleared.
I am using the new Sanyo ENELOOP 2000mah hybrid Alkaline/NiMh chemistry AA cells made up into two 7.2 volt flat packs.
Once the silicone adhesive holding the battery packs had set I mounted the various electrical components on top of the batteries, also with silicone.
I installed the charge jack on the rear crossbeam by removing the plate underneath and drilling a suitably sized hole to accept the jack. I drilled another hole through the floor for the 3 wire cable.
I then replaced the lower plate. I know the jack is partially covered by the sandng line but that can easily be pushed to one side to insert the charger plug.
Although the wiring in the pic looks complicated it isn't really. If you add one wire at a time and double check everything as you go it will be just fine. I use very small cable ties to hold the wires in place neatly.
The ON-OFF switch and Sierra volume control were mounted in the front panel of the bunker.
Provided you use the measurements I show above, everything will clear in the bunker.
It easy to reach through the rear of the cab or the cab windows to operate the switches.
Dave Goodson mounts the switches through either side of the cab floor so they are hidden by the doors.
The front and rear headlights have 470r ¼ watt resistors in the circuit and are powered and switched by the RCS ELITE-3 lighting outputs.
As the stock Bachmann chuff contacts are useless and there is nowhere reliable I can mount a reed switch and magnets, I had to use the auto chuff feature of the Sierra. First time ever and I can't understand the Sierra instructions on how you adjust it.
After reassembly I tested the Heisler on the bench only until I can get up to Gordon Watson's place for proper range and track testing. But so far so good.
I have also recently done an old LGB 2019 Mogul. I will get that article ready asap.
I hope you enjoyed the above.
Questions are welcome. |
Edited by - on 03 Feb 2007 18:12:08
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Engineer
1st Class Member
USA
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Posted - 03 Feb 2007 : 19:27:17
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| Looks great Tony! I'll be sending my Heisler to Dave to be converted sometime later this year and it's really interesting to see how you did it! Thanks for all of the detailed pictures of the process! |
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Engineer
USA
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Posted - 04 Feb 2007 : 01:32:00
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Tony,
Far be it from me to teach the master ... but ... as to programming the auto chuff, how it's supposed to work is easy. Put the engine in program mode, and advance to step 3 (assuming you've already selected "auto chuff" at step one.) With the locomotive in this programming step, start slowly turning up the throttle until the engine just begins to move, then hit the volume up (+) selector once. Then power off, or hit volume down (-) to get out of program mode. All this does is ensure the engine won't start chuffing before it starts moving, as it sets the "move/voltage" threshold.
Next to step 3 ... get to programming step 3 and then start the locomotive running. If you need a faster chuff adjust it upwards by pressing up (+) or slower adjust it downwards by pressing (-) ... this is really just what it looks like vs. what it sounds like to you. Traditionally, waiting too long or pressing (-) would take you out of program mode ... but as long as you are above the "move threshold" voltage you just set, this particular programming step will stay live and let you adjust it up or down. Very "seat of pants."
Again, if this is profound discussion of the obvious to you, I apologize!
Matthew (OV) |
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Engineer
Australia
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Posted - 04 Feb 2007 : 02:23:08
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Thanks Matthew.
Problem is this old brain is used to using a mechanical chuff timer.
I guess the procedure is like adjusting the start voltage for Sierra diesel.
I can't work that out either.
Why can't they do it like LGB which also has a timer for setting the dismal engine speed? No guesswork involved.
I'll leave this to the owner to figure out.
Thanks for trying to explain it to me.
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Engineer
Australia
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Posted - 04 Feb 2007 : 05:02:43
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My apologies Matthew.
That was way too defeatist of me really.
I have trouble will computer type instructions. I just don't get them like some do.
However, even though I can't figure out the instructions perhaps if I asked specific questions of you, maybe you could answer them in terms us dummies could understand.
Here goes.
1.) The sound starts chuffing just slightly before the loco starts moving.
Q.) What do I do to make it start chuffing at the same time?
2.) The sound starts chuffing after the locos has started moving.
Q.) What do I do to make it start chuffing at the same time?
That would do it for me and would likely cover the dismal settings as well.
I look forward to a contribution. |
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Engineer
USA
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Posted - 05 Feb 2007 : 02:26:05
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The biggest problem here is making this work correctly assumes that the loco will start moving at the same voltage every time.... or that you can close the switch at the exact moment the loco starts to move.
Then you add a train ... and "poof!" everything changes again, as the locomotive will likely start moving at a higher voltage, and if you've got it exactly right, the chuffing will start before the loco does.
As far as I can tell, the best you can hope for is "close" ... which is why I like the mechanical chuff timers much better. Usually if you get to the correct programming step, and turn your power supply up in as small increments as you can manage... there's a point where the loco only just starts to crawl... when it does, reach in and hit the switch ... and then try it. After two or three tries, it'll be as good as it gets most of the time.
I had the opposite problem with the Phoenix 97 ... you had a tiny pot to tweak... I always seemed to get it so the brakes would screech after the locomotive stopped, but would release just before it moved ... or would screech just before the locomotive stopped, and release just after it moved ... but never correct on both.
Good luck... are you SURE there's no good place for a reed switch?
Matthew (OV) |
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Foreman
1st Class Member
USA
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Posted - 06 Feb 2007 : 03:20:55
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| I hope this helps. On my Climax I glued the magnets to the universal joint and the reed switch to the under body. Chuffs beautifully and never misses a beat. Nick Jr |
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BM Heisler + Battery R/C + Sierra sound. (long)
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