Red Ball Trainmaster

Scale:
HO Scale


This installation uses the following decoder:

T1



The installation is for HO-Scale Red Ball Trainmaster. It uses T1 decoder and was performed by Jean Lacroix.

This model is a brass import model. The body is attached with normally 8 screws located underneath the locomotive. There are 2 screws that retain the front truck bolster and 2 more for the rear truck bolster. Four (4) more screws are keeping the motor platform in place. Just removing all the screws will release the body free.
All the wires connected to the motor should be removed from it. The motor has to be unscrewed from its location since it could create an electrical short in dcc mode. To prevent that, install on the floor of the locomotive, where the motor was, a rubber pad or a piece of plastic tape large enough to isolate the motor from the frame.
The motor should be glued in place using Goo, double-sided tape or silicone, taking care to avoid any moving parts. Pay special attention to align the drive shaft and the motor sprocket.
The orange and grey wire from the T1 harness should be soldered to the terminals located on both sides of the motor, at the top. Then connect the red wire to the top of the front truck the black wire that should be attached to the rear truck.
The decoder was installed on the ceiling of the locomotive body as shown in the picture.
The LEDs used for lighting were installed directly in front of the headlight holes. This has the advantage to prohibit wires to get entangled around moving parts of the drive train. You now have to reinstall the body and the screws that hold the body.

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