Model Railway Forum

hi is there any one who has done a dcc conversion on an airfix 0 4 2 tank engine as i have a couple of them that are good runners on dc and are very good condition and if it is possible to do a conversion would like to have a try at this regards bob

I am pretty sure you will be able to convert to DCC. I think it probably has a ringfield motor, so searching for how to convert those would be a start.
I must say though I am now less inclined to convert old locos. I used to be very keen on this and liked the challenge. Now though I am happy to let the classic models sit on a shelf and take advantage of the latest developments.

The Airfix 14XX did not have a Ringfield. Here is the service sheet.

http://www.lendonsmodelshop.co.uk/pdf/A ... 20Tank.pdf

Walkingthedog wrote: ↑Tue Jul 20, 2021 9:49 pm The Airfix 14XX did not have a Ringfield. Here is the service sheet.

I stand corrected. My only previous experience of Airfix locos is with the 4F.

Yes I had one of those darkscot. Was the motor in the tender and all the tender wheels had tyres. The pickups were in the loco. Is that right?

Walkingthedog wrote: ↑Wed Jul 21, 2021 9:16 am Was the motor in the tender and all the tender wheels had tyres. The pickups were in the loco. Is that right?

Exactly. I bought mine at an exhibition as I thought it looked lovely. It was a nice model and ran ok, but was very noisy so I eventually sold it. I have the Hornby version (acquired is part of a job lot) which I think is derived from the Airfix one and that is just as noisy.

I can understand the desire to convert an old loco if it is a good runner and still has life in it, especially considering the cost of new locos nowadays.

darkscot wrote: ↑Wed Jul 21, 2021 10:25 am I can understand the desire to convert an old loco if it is a good runner and still has life in it, especially considering the cost of new locos nowadays.

Yep, if all you want is a loco that runs then older models are great. I have a growing collection of them ready and waiting for conversion. The cost of new models combined with the intricate parts that fall off if you look at them is not always for me. I've tried them, broken a few!

Looking at the service sheet that is going to need some very careful insulating of the two motor brush connections from the rest of the loco. These MUST be totally isolated before the Orange and Grey wires of decoder are connected to them.

This Youtube video might be useful?
https://youtu.be/HabCY15yzYA
The chassis is different, but it looks like the same motor.

The Airfix 14xx was designed to run with their own early DCC like system so is very easy to break the pick up to motor connection on it. The motor has to be removed and then the brush holders swopped round so that with the long prong that originally descended into the depths of the chassis is now on top and fits neatly into the dome when the body is refitted. The metal contact then fitted to the original top brush holder and rested on top of the chassis casting is discarded. A strip down of the chassis will be needed to access an appropriate soldering point for one of the pick up wires from the decoder; the other just being attached to a suitable location on the metal chassis. Is the loco actually running okay; the model was affected by the sprung plunger pick ups failing due to the current draw of the motor having the potential to exceed that which the springs could handle. Mine died as a result of this and I swapped the brush holders to allow a wired connection to pick up wheels fitted to its permanently attached autotrailer only for the gear wheel to strip