Purchased a Kato Sd38-2 yesterday and wanted to look at the board etc however was unable to remove the shell Do you need to remove any screws as the N scale shell would just slip of easily?
Paul while this does not specifically answer your question, you may need this info: http://www.tcsdcc.com/public_html/C...tion_Pictures/N_Scale/Kato/GP38-2/GP38-2.html Andy
Paul Yours being a six axle look at the TCS web site for the 4 Kato HO SD40 installations: http://www.tcsdcc.com/Customer_Content/Installation_Pictures/HO_Scale/HO_Search/search.html Scroll down to Kato. Here's what most had to say: "Grasping the shell at the center top of both sides (being careful not to crush the grills), lift the shell straight up and off of the chassis."
Hi! On all my Kato HO locomotives, four or six axle, the couplers have to be removed before the shell comes off. On the older runs, horn hook couplers are held in by friction fit plastic pins that pull straight out. The newer runs have the coupler boxes attached with phillips head screws. Remove the pins/screws and pull the couplers/coupler boxes through the slots. You should the be able to wiggle the shell off. Note, the walkway is separate from the shell and may or may not come off with the body. Original light boards on newer runs have an eight pin receptacle for a DCC decoder. Additional weights for these are screwed into the top of the shell. Older light boards have the weight on top of the light board. I just replaced all factory boards with AT style board decoders and used LEDs heat shrunk (?) to shortened light pipes. If the unit does not have wires going from the trucks to the board, you can improve electrical reliability by soldering flexible wires from the trucks to the board. Those without wires will have a contact strip arrangement that connects the tops of the metal sideframes with clips that attach to the motor contacts. Any gaps in the contact points results in the locomotive going nowhere.
Thanks for your help will give it a go when I arrive home, just ordered a tsunami decoder with speaker for it as well
Shell is all removed and wondering where is the best place to mount the speaker? it looks as though the speaker provided with the decoder is to large as it is 28mm diameter
Here you have a couple of options. As mentioned, I shortened the clear plastic light pipes, so that creates some room at the top of the shell. If you want to remove the upper weight entirely, you might be able to fit a rectangular speaker of your choice. I think I used a 16 x 35 mm in one unit (haven't opened it up in a long time). I also used a 20mm high bass speaker trimming the square frame to fit under the rear fans. I did not cut out the fan opening. I did cut some small pieces of styrene to form the front and back of an enclosure and used the shell as the sides. Sealing the gaps with Ailene's Tacky Glue kept the "back" sound from mixing and offsetting the "front" sound without melting the shell, styrene, or speaker. You could try the same toward the front of the shell, but behind the cab after removing the upper weight to move the PM and horn sounds closer to where they actually are located.
Doh here am I wondering where to install the speaker trying to fit inside the body then I find out there is provision made inside the fuel tank for a speaker lol, problem solved
