DC to DCC conversion of GF (Poole) Class 08

[malc-c]

I'm in the process of rebuilding my N gauge layout which is set in the 1960's era with most of the locos in BR Green with small yellow end panels, and I've been on the lookout for a shunter in the same livery. I know some new DCC ready versions are due out later this year, but I still kept an eye on E-bay listings in the hope that something came up. Well the other week it did. An immaculate condition Class 08 with wasp markings in BR green was listed and I was successful in picking it up for just over £60 plus postage. I was really chuffed (no punn intended) with my purchase, having already looked at a few N gauge 08 DCC conversions which seemed an easy task, I dropped a friend an email to show him what I got. It was then that he told me that the videos I had been watching related to the later tooling as that had the external connecting rods, where mine was an original Poole made 08 that used a normal 0-6-0 loco chassis.

However, undeterred I set about exploring ways to convert this and found that the simplest way was to isolate the chassis pickup from the chassis itself as the alternative required the purchase of plastic brush holders and insulated clips, which tend to then rely on just the spring as the means of connecting power to the motor. After a few hours messing about with tape and the soldering iron I had the thing running (after I worked out that the used DCC decoder I had given to me had not been reset back to default and had an address of 77 !). The test track isn't flat and needed a good clean, but here's a quick video of it running at a normal scale speed, and then a crawl test....

There may be some other setting in the decoder as the motor sings a bit, but as I'm not really that up on decoder settings (swatting up on how to clear the programmed acceleration / deacceleration was a steep learning curve !) I'm leaving things as is, for now

 

[Cowley]

I'm in the process of rebuilding my N gauge layout which is set in the 1960's era with most of the locos in BR Green with small yellow end panels, and I've been on the lookout for a shunter in the same livery. I know some new DCC ready versions are due out later this year, but I still kept an eye on E-bay listings in the hope that something came up. Well the other week it did. An immaculate condition Class 08 with wasp markings in BR green was listed and I was successful in picking it up for just over £60 plus postage. I was really chuffed (no punn intended) with my purchase, having already looked at a few N gauge 08 DCC conversions which seemed an easy task, I dropped a friend an email to show him what I got. It was then that he told me that the videos I had been watching related to the later tooling as that had the external connecting rods, where mine was an original Poole made 08 that used a normal 0-6-0 loco chassis.

However, undeterred I set about exploring ways to convert this and found that the simplest way was to isolate the chassis pickup from the chassis itself as the alternative required the purchase of plastic brush holders and insulated clips, which tend to then rely on just the spring as the means of connecting power to the motor. After a few hours messing about with tape and the soldering iron I had the thing running (after I worked out that the used DCC decoder I had given to me had not been reset back to default and had an address of 77 !). The test track isn't flat and needed a good clean, but here's a quick video of it running at a normal scale speed, and then a crawl test....

There may be some other setting in the decoder as the motor sings a bit, but as I'm not really that up on decoder settings (swatting up on how to clear the programmed acceleration / deacceleration was a steep learning curve !) I'm leaving things as is, for now

That is very impressive Malc. I’m amazed at how slow it crawls without stalling bearing in mind that it’s quite an old model.

 

[malc-c]

Thanks,

Yeah, I'm quite impressed with the performance given its age. Looking at how clean the commutator was I don't think it had much use. The box it came in was pristine, sowing the model was well looked after.

 

[Cowley]

Thanks,

Yeah, I'm quite impressed with the performance given its age. Looking at how clean the commutator was I don't think it had much use. The box it came in was pristine, sowing the model was well looked after.

I do like the look of the new model (one of them was even an Exeter based loco). But blimey, not cheap…

 

[malc-c]

I do like the look of the new model (one of them was even an Exeter based loco). But blimey, not cheap…

I know, seems you need to have deep pockets these days to get into this hobby / pastime. I think there was a lot of people questioning the price tag of the new APT at almost £500 !

 

[Peter C]

I'm in the process of rebuilding my N gauge layout which is set in the 1960's era with most of the locos in BR Green with small yellow end panels, and I've been on the lookout for a shunter in the same livery. I know some new DCC ready versions are due out later this year, but I still kept an eye on E-bay listings in the hope that something came up. Well the other week it did. An immaculate condition Class 08 with wasp markings in BR green was listed and I was successful in picking it up for just over £60 plus postage. I was really chuffed (no punn intended) with my purchase, having already looked at a few N gauge 08 DCC conversions which seemed an easy task, I dropped a friend an email to show him what I got. It was then that he told me that the videos I had been watching related to the later tooling as that had the external connecting rods, where mine was an original Poole made 08 that used a normal 0-6-0 loco chassis.

However, undeterred I set about exploring ways to convert this and found that the simplest way was to isolate the chassis pickup from the chassis itself as the alternative required the purchase of plastic brush holders and insulated clips, which tend to then rely on just the spring as the means of connecting power to the motor. After a few hours messing about with tape and the soldering iron I had the thing running (after I worked out that the used DCC decoder I had given to me had not been reset back to default and had an address of 77 !). The test track isn't flat and needed a good clean, but here's a quick video of it running at a normal scale speed, and then a crawl test....

There may be some other setting in the decoder as the motor sings a bit, but as I'm not really that up on decoder settings (swatting up on how to clear the programmed acceleration / deacceleration was a steep learning curve !) I'm leaving things as is, for now

That is superb - the slow-running on that really is very realistic isn't it? Even without 'ideal' testing conditions that looks to work really well. Good work!

-Peter

 

[malc-c]

Thanks Peter.

I got the decoder from a friend. He runs an exhibition layout which is DC, and if he picks up a second hand DCC loco he sends me the decoder. This one had already been programmed as the ID was 77 and there were acceleration and deacceleration setting made. I managed to change them and have it so there was direct throttle response, but I have no idea if any of the other CVs are different form factory default as setting CV8 to 8 as suggested on various forums had no affect. My concern is that something has been set that caused the motor to sing the way it does in the video, which may cause motor issues. I must admit, the only reason I went DCC is to have constant coach and loco illumination, and having that flexibility of two locos on one track without isolation joints. I don't think I would really get into all the other functionality that even the basic 6 wire decoders have....

 

[Peter C]

Thanks Peter.

I got the decoder from a friend. He runs an exhibition layout which is DC, and if he picks up a second hand DCC loco he sends me the decoder. This one had already been programmed as the ID was 77 and there were acceleration and deacceleration setting made. I managed to change them and have it so there was direct throttle response, but I have no idea if any of the other CVs are different form factory default as setting CV8 to 8 as suggested on various forums had no affect. My concern is that something has been set that caused the motor to sing the way it does in the video, which may cause motor issues. I must admit, the only reason I went DCC is to have constant coach and loco illumination, and having that flexibility of two locos on one track without isolation joints. I don't think I would really get into all the other functionality that even the basic 6 wire decoders have....

Ah cool - that's quite a nice state of affairs re. decoders isn't it!
I did notice the motor in the video making a high-pitched noise - but whether that's just DCC or not I don't know because when running DCC on my layout, there's a high-pitched noise from the controller and the engines. I assume that's normal because it's always been like that - and apparently younger people pick up on higher pitches more easily!
That's the main reason I went for DCC really - the ability to have more than one engine on one track at a time without fiddling with insulating things and all of that. My electrical knowledge is only just better than that of your average snail so I can cope with putting a decoder in an engine and then then changing some of the acceleration/deceleration bits but that's about it! With the Hornby point clips, DCC (at least on a smallish layout like mine) is literally just two wires from the controller to the track. Makes it so much easier!

-Peter