Lima Class 47

Scale:
HO Scale


This installation uses the following decoder:

T4X



This installation of TCS T4X Decoder is for HO Scale Lima Class 47 and was performed by Robert Lewis of Tilehust, Reading, United Kingdom.

This is a Lima class 47 diesel locomotive, installation took about 30 minutes from start to finish. It is fitted with a TCS T4X, which will give me plenty of scope to fit lights in the future. To remove the body first remove the 4 buffers, then pry apart the body in six places as arrowed to clear the retaining lugs, the shell should then lift clear.
Remove all the existing wiring and the capacitor across the motor terminals. Use one of the long lengths of the removed wire and solder to the brass pick-up strip on the motor bogie, take this wire to the other end of the chassis and join (splice) to the red decoder wire.
Solder the red decoder wire to the un-powered bogie pick up, ensuring to take the wire through the hole in the chassis. Solder the black decoder wire to the brass clip retaining the un-powered bogie. Solder the orange and grey decoder wires to the motor brush contacts. Sleeve all the unused wires. I have bundled all the wires using short lengths of rubber sleeving. Use insulating tape to secure the wiring to the ballast weight. Test the installation and then re-fit the body shell.

Important Soldering Tip

Please do not use any flux either liquid or paste on the mother board. Over time, the acidic properties of liquid or paste flux will begin eating away at the fiberglass PCB and will damage it. Use only Rosin-core solder or no-clean flux approved for electronics use.

TCS recommends the use of Kester "44" Sn63 Pb37, .015" diameter Rosin-core solder. Kester part number 24-6337-0007.

You can order this solder from the following retailers:
Digikey - PN:KE1110-ND
Techni-Tool - PN:488SO6775

Other solder tips

When stripping wire, only strip a tiny little bit of the insulation. Strip no more than a 1/32 of an inch. When the wire gets tinned with solder, the insulation will shrink back more. Try to not expose any more wire than half the length of the solder pad at most. In no case should solder or exposed wire wire ever be outside the boundary of the the solder pad you are attaching a wire to.
Click here for important information on properly Stripping and Tinning wire