Set your browser left and right margins to 0.5" (File Page Setup) and print out this document. As each step in the installation is completed place a "X" or a check-mark through the bullet. All references to the frame are based on the front being at the top or away from you.
The RRR0809 retroframe contains some basic instructions (as do the other retroframes). Read the instructions carefully before proceeding, and check your work at every step you take. This is one of the easier installations.
In normal analog (DC) operation, the right motor brush connects to the right rail and the left motor brush connects to the left rail.
Begin by testing the Digitrax DN93 decoder for proper operation per the instructions provided by Digitrax
Cut the decoder wires as follows, then strip 1/8" insulation from the ends:
Red |
2½" |
Black |
2½" |
Orange |
¾" |
Gray |
¾" |
White |
2½" |
Yellow |
Note |
Note: The E8/9 does not have a rear headlight. It is suggested the yellow decoder wire be cut to ½", leaving a length that can be used should the decoder be later installed in another locomotive. For a B-unit, both the yellow and white wires can be cut to ½". There is plenty of room to store these wires in the RRR.
Note: you can optionally connect both the white and yellow wires to the headlight of an E8/9A unit, if you wish the light to be on when the locomotive is moving in either direction. You can turn the headlight on and off using the appropriate function key on the throttle.
Twist the wires that were cut together, and wrap a small piece of insulating tape over the ends so they cannot short against the metal frame.
Remove the E8/9 A/B shell and place aside where it will not get damaged. It is not used again until the final step.
Gently release the four (4) clips holding the fuel tank cover on the frame, then remove it from the frame and set aside.
Using a small flat-blade screwdriver, pry the square keeper in the center of the printed circuit board off, then slide the printed circuit board forward and remove it. Set aside.
Remove the copper contact strips on each side of the locomotive.
Using a small flat-head screwdriver, pop off the gray plastic covers over the top of the trucks, then remove the trucks. Set aside.
Remove the bearings, worm gear and drive shafts from the frame. Note that the grooved side of the bearings is face up, so you can replace them in the same position when reassembling.
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Remove the motor and saddle from the frame, and mark the bottom of the motor with a piece of tape, a magic marker or a drop of paint to ensure you can later replace it in the same position.
Next, prepare the RRR by removing any flash found upon the casting using files and a hobby knife with No. 11 blade. Do this very carefully with reference to the Kato frame, to ensure no mounting tabs or other needed metal are removed. If you are modifying the Kato frame yourself, rather than using a commercial retroframe, proceed now to the description about and prepare the frame.
Make sure the wire channels that run up to the area where the contact springs are, are smooth and clear. Enlarge the right wire channel slightly with a round file as it will carry both the red and white wires (or red, white and yellow wires if you chose to connect the headlight in this manner).
Check to ensure the shaft bearing blocks fit the RRR as they should, and remove material from the RRR as necessary to permit that to happen.
Check carefully, by placing the motor and saddle in the RRR, for any rubbing of the flywheels against the frame. File the frame as necessary to ensure sufficient clearance.
Before installing the decoder, re-assemble the mechanism using the Redi-Retroframe in place of the Kato frame. Install the trucks, contacts strip, etc. - everything except the body parts. Put the assembly on a test track and make sure the locomotive runs as it should on normal DC power, checking both directions, etc. When operating correctly, disassemble it again as described above.
The decoder will be mounted in the central area under the frame, and covered and held in place by the plastic fuel tank. Temporarily tape the decoder in place and route the orange wire through the wire channel hole on the right side of the frame. Route the gray wire through the wire channel hole on the left side of the frame.
Remove the motor brush contact strips from the brush caps.
Place the motor in the frame with the mark you made to the bottom and the brushes to the front.
Solder the orange wire to the edge of the right hand (positive) brush cap. Solder the gray wire to the edge of the left hand (negative) brush cap.
Note: always remove the motor brush caps before soldering to them. Then lightly sand them to get a good clean surface, and apply liquid flux. Finally, solder the wires to the brush cap.
Do not attempt to solder to the motor brush caps while they are still in place in the motor, as too much heat applied to the brush caps during such soldering may melt the plastic brush housing and permanently damage your motor.
After soldering the wires carefully replace the brush, spring and brush cap into the motor.
Very carefully place insulating tape around the motor brushes so they cannot short to the Retro-frame when the motor is mounted in its saddle to the frame, but still permit full seating of the motor in its saddle and the frame. This is the single most important step in this procedure.
Place the saddle over the motor (note that it has a front and back - the front is the smaller area when looking at it from the inside), and engage the locking tabs in the frame. Be sure the wires don't bend under the motor, preventing the motor from lying flat in the frame.
Replace the drive shafts, worm gears and bearings, making sure the grooves of the bushings face up and down into the frame.
Replace the trucks and snap in the gray tower covers. On an A-unit the truck with the coupler is the rear truck.
Re-attach the longitudinal contact strips and the printed circuit board to hold the contact strips in place. If working with an E8/9A unit, the headlight should point towards the front of the locomotive. Place the printed circuit board over the tab in the center of the motor saddle then slide the board to the rear. Replace the square clip to secure the board in place.
The RRR instructions recommend drilling a hole in each contact strip, running the decoder wires (red and black) through the respective holes and soldering them in place. However, drilling the contact strip deforms it, and requires careful bending back to shape. This method will not be used.
The red and black wires will be run up the side of the frame in their respective wire channels, then pass under the contact strip, then the bare wire bent over the contact strip and soldered to it.
Hold the red decoder wire in the wire channel on the right side of the locomotive. Pass the red wire under the contact strip, bend the bare, stripped wire over the contact strip, and solder to the contact strip. Do this carefully so as not to overheat nor bend the contact strip.
In a like manner, solder the black wire to the contact strip on the left side of the locomotive.
If the locomotive is an E8/9A unit, pass the white decoder wire up the right side wiring channel, route it under the contact strip and under the headlight wires to the left headlight wire, about ¼" ahead of where the headlight wire meets the circuit board. Wrap the bare stripped wire around the left headlight wire, at least ¼" from the circuit board, and solder to the left headlight wire.
If you intend to also connect the yellow decoder wire to the headlight do so now, following the same procedure as for the white wire. Solder the yellow wire to the left headlight wire just in front of the white wire.
With a pair of small side cutters, cut out a 1/16" piece out of the left headlight wire between the circuit board and the spot where the white decoder wire is soldered.
Check your work carefully. Use a continuity checker to ensure none of the decoder wires is shorted to the frame.
Snap the fuel tank cover back in place on the frame.
Take the locomotive to the layout and test both analog and digital operation. Resolve any problems and test again.
Carefully place the E8/9 shell over the frame and press down until firmly in place.
Test the operation of the locomotive on the railroad. It should operate just as if no modifications had been made. Resolve any problems.
Place the locomotive on the DCC programming track and set the DCC Command Station to the programming mode.
Program Configuration Variable "CV29" to "06" (for 2-digit addressing or "26" for 4-digit addressing if using a decoder capable of 4-digit addressing) then program the decoder to the desired address.
Carry out a final check of operation of the locomotive on the railroad.
Record the decoder CV's and address, and the reporting marks of the locomotive.
The conversion is complete. Enjoy your DCC-equipped locomotive.
