Aristocraft FA1 DCC

J911 Sep 4, 2015

  1. J911

    J911 TrainBoard Member

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    Hey All,
    looking to convert my Aristo FA1 to dcc. I'm using a Esu xl v4.0 my question is, do the trucks need to be isonoticed noticede that there are two contact wires on the side of each truck. Do I simply clip them? Also if anyone knows what color wire is what that be great. Green does not look to be ground.

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  2. ScaleCraft

    ScaleCraft TrainBoard Member

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    How old is the FA?
    You need one with 4 wires from each truck.
    Then, depending on the wiring of the day, you need to insure they are internally isolated.
    BTDT.
    If dcc, you need dcc track voltage, which means cut NO wires from the trucks.

    Old school dcc:

    Two wires to track, two to motor, each truck, do NOT depend on Sanda Kan, Kader, or Aristo wire colours.

    You may find things are inverted...some, maybe all.
    Once you ohmmeter the wheels (after insuring isolated from motors) set RH wheels to wire up one truck to the other.
    Motors you can fix later.

    IF you have noise suppressors in the truck uppers, remove them, rewire direct to motors.

    Personally, I would use a much better wire to the trucks when doing it so you don't have to go back in later.

    Dave
     
  3. J911

    J911 TrainBoard Member

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    Pretty old. It's got 2 wires out from the motor Green and white. 2 out from the side of the trucks one black one red.

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  4. J911

    J911 TrainBoard Member

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    [​IMG]

    If memory serves me right the AA and Z labeled running wires in the block have to be removed and you will than have an isolated motor. Both Green and Red are for the motor and both can be wired in together into one wire for both blocks. Correct me if im wrong.

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  5. ScaleCraft

    ScaleCraft TrainBoard Member

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    Two wires..yeah, very old. Leave those wires for track pickup. Isolate the motor from them, add two new ones to the motors.
    Most of the stuff I've had to deal with the last 10 years it seems is 4-wire blocks. Oddly, your drawing shows a mid-range production with no journal stubs. I just did a set of one like that, but they had 4 wires. In a set of subway cars, no less.
    Screw on wheels, everything same as your drawing but 4 wires.
     
  6. J911

    J911 TrainBoard Member

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    Thats why im thinking of stripping everything and connecting my - and + to the motor and running it into the board.

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  7. ScaleCraft

    ScaleCraft TrainBoard Member

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    But where do you obtain your track dcc power?
     
  8. J911

    J911 TrainBoard Member

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    Ok so the 2 track lead wires to track power. The 2 other motor wires to my motor connection.

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  9. ScaleCraft

    ScaleCraft TrainBoard Member

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    correct. And on dcc, never cross track and motors!
     
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  10. J911

    J911 TrainBoard Member

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    Are the older Aristos easier to convert to RC?

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  11. ScaleCraft

    ScaleCraft TrainBoard Member

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    No, the newer ones are, because they had 4 wires already, into a plug. You just re-do the wiring into the circuit board and socket on the frame near the truck and you can still get the truck off for maintenance.
    Usually.
    When the Polks started doing their Train Engineer, seems most folks were clueless how to actually wire them, so they put a plug and pray socket in, and if the wiring was right, and you flipped the proper switches in the proper order, allegedly it would work.

    I used to do a lot of work on them, and gutted them anyway, as I didn't trust the quality of wire, the skill of the PRC assembler, or whether the wiring went the correct places (seems a speaker port was accidentally wired to track/battery power on some, for example), and you never knew if the lights would follow the direction of the wheels.

    You do two wires to motors, two to rails, as long as you have all the right side wheels same and left side same, you're okay. You can figure out lighting later.

    Dave
     
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  12. J911

    J911 TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks! This ones got that fancy circuitry board. One plug leading in with 2 wires to the motor, 2 to the side of the trucks same for the rear both have separate female ports that connect to the board.

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  13. ScaleCraft

    ScaleCraft TrainBoard Member

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    So how did you end up with 2-wire trucks on a 4-wire chassis?
    I learned to find the track input wires to the socket board, connect a relay output to that. Battery voltage on the input of the relay, triggered with reverse light port. Trim all the BS off the socket board (remove switches, hard wire jumper), and all unused wires into the socket board, siliconed the board to the side of the shell, and I have room for all the batteries, speaker that I could ever need, and don't have to depend on the PRC board for anything other than lights, which won't shut me down if it fails.
     
  14. J911

    J911 TrainBoard Member

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    Well you will love this lol. 2 wires one black and one green going to post of the motor. 2 wires one red and one black going to the side frames each side of the truck. Both feed up into the body and all 4 attached to a female connection which plugs into the board. You go to the rear, same deal separate port. I will add a picture when I get home. I've heard polk did some really interesting things when it came to wiring lol

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  15. J911

    J911 TrainBoard Member

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    Also may I add, the smoke unit and fan slips in on a back board connecting to the board.

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