Brought home the Zephyr


ICG/SOU

ICG/SOU

HO & O (3-rail) trainman
I was able to pay off my Zephyr yesterday, and brought it home to set up on my temporary dining room table layout. To outfit a couple of locomotives (both Athearns with DCC quickplug), I had to buy the DH123AT (they were out of the others). I figured it was ok, since I have 5 or 6 analog Athearns (GP38s, GP40s, GP50s) to DCC, and could use the harnesses, and buy decoders when the shop gets more.

Well, aside from the crazy lack of detail in the instructions, I have some of it figured out, except for which end of the motor is the "brush end"?

What I've figured out is that I needed to remove the connector clip from the top, attach the harness clip leads to the tops of the trucks, but don't know where the copper clips go, or how to attach them. I've been told by one person that I need to isolate the motor, and by another person I didn't have to isolate the motor, so I'm confused. The Digitrax website wasn't that helpful.

Thanks in advance.
 
Trey, you're losing me on this. Are you attaching decoders to the engines with the nine pin plug already there or the ones with no plug? If it has the nine pin plug (or Quick Plug, as Athearn calls it), the motor is already isolated from the frame. The DHAT model is for Athearn engines engines that have no Quick Connect plug. If you're installing these in such an engine, you do need to isolate the motor from the frame and check continuity with an ohmmeter before applying power or you'll smoke the decoder. Go to http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu58pq...trains.com/download/dec-installation-hout.pdf for some better instructions on installling DCC decoders in standard Athearn engines.
 
yea the Digitrax site is pretty useless to me also. its all computer geek stuff to me LOL

I still cant find all the CV settings on line for my D163 decoders.

Trent
 
or the ones with no plug?
Click to expand...
Hi Trey, as a caution these might be older ones that are not DCC ready and the bottom strip on the motor will be grounded to the frame. There's a little projection on the strip that touches the frame of the loco. For DCC you'll have to flatten the little tip so it will no longer touch the frame. The brush end of the motor can be identified by the commutator, which is made of segments of horizontal copper strips where the brushes supply current to the motor.

Willis
 
you could also put a pice of electrical tape under the strip so that it cant make contact with the frame. that s what I do on all my Proto 2000 just for peace of mind

trent
 
Thanks for the help. 5 of the Athearns are purchases from this year, which are their standard one-light bulb non-DCC quick plug equipped locomotives. They, except for the shine of the newer engines, look like my 6th Athearn, a GP38-2 Blue Box kit from 1987 or so.

The -AT decoder set has the wiring harness for the DH123 decoder, so you don't have to do a lot of soldering. What I wasn't sure about is where do the clips go that are attached to the harness.

I'll review the link above, and come back if I have more questions. Thanks.

As an aside, has anyone put DCC in an Atlas Trainman GP38-2? I tried to today, but I must be missing a step since I can't get it to do anything. Here's what I did:

1) removed the shell from the locomotive, removed 8 pin jumper from board, installed DH123P harness with decoder, making sure everything was seated
2) removed all engines off the track except for this one (BN2150)
3) moved the track wires to Prog A and Prog B
4) turned on track power
5) Pressed Prog (on my DT400 throttle)
6) Clicked the right knob to get 4 digit addressing
7) Entered 2150
8) Clicked enter
9) Clicked Y
10) Clicked Exit

Nothing happened. When I moved the wires back to Track A and Track B on the Zephyr, no power seemed to go to the loco when I entered in the address (Loco, 2150, Loco).

I programmed 2 Athearns at the shop I purchased the unit from yesterday, so it is possible I've forgotten a step. I just can't figure out what.

Thanks,

Trey
 
Found the problem with the Atlas. I didn't have the track wires in all the way (using the old braided track wires I had).
 
I went to one of my local shops today with a Athearn CSX GP40-2 in hand, along with the 123AT harness. I had thought the whole isolating the motor from the frame step would be the most difficult, but as the tech was working on the loco, showing me how to do it, the process wasn't as hard as I thought.

I did, though, find out that adding DCC to those analog Athearns doesn't really require using the -AT harness. The technician ended up soldering things, removing the light and adding two LEDs for front and rear (with resistors), and the end result looks and runs just as good as my $90 DCC ready Athearns.
 
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