Fitting decoders into OO Gauge Bachmann & Hornby 08 Shunters
By Chris Rix
By Chris Rix
Originally covered in the "Events Blog" during lockdown I make no excuse for including these short pictorials here as a member brought the subject up at a recent club night......
The Bachmann shunter was fitted with a plug and play non sound decoder obtained from Hattons. Even though the 8 pin direct (NEM652) decoder was small the circuit board containing the decoder socket had to be unscrewed from the chassis and allowed to float in order to get the body back on. The first picture shows the decoder position with the addition of some insulation tape to stop any short circuits. The model then received some weathering to give it an authentic look.
The Bachmann shunter was fitted with a plug and play non sound decoder obtained from Hattons. Even though the 8 pin direct (NEM652) decoder was small the circuit board containing the decoder socket had to be unscrewed from the chassis and allowed to float in order to get the body back on. The first picture shows the decoder position with the addition of some insulation tape to stop any short circuits. The model then received some weathering to give it an authentic look.
The Hornby model was fitted with an ESU micro 8 pin decoder with Next18 interface. This sound enabled decoder was from Legomanbiffo. You will see from the pictures that the connection to the decoder board is via a ribbon cable. This can be reduced in length by folding it over on itself thus aiding installation in a tight space. Other floating wires have been attached to the chassis using Uhu White Tack. The sugar cube speaker supplied is mounted in the front of the loco behind the radiator grill.
Since the 08 has a short wheel base a stay alive capacitor was added to avoid stalling on points. The Train-O-Matic Smart Power Pack was used with careful attention to the supplied instructions on how to wire it to the decoder. You don't have to fit the stay alive if wiring it up bothers you. The model should run perfectly well over points as long as the track and wheels are clean.
Further info here... https://train-o-matic.com/smart-power-pack.html