RailPro > Finished RailPro Installation Examples

Installing RailPro in a pair of Athearn DCC Ready Genesis GP38-2W's

(1/3) > >>

William Brillinger:
I threw RailPro modules into my 2 GP38-2W's yesterday to get them onto the layout for an op session today.
There was no speaker enclosure in these models so I skipped the sound.

That bothered me something terrible - so today I ripped them apart and did it right!



I used iPhone 4 loudspeakers for this installation.


* First I removed the body (again)
* and pulled up the stock Athearn Control Board.
* I removed the wires for the rear truck
* and took the weight out.
* I re-attached the rear truck wires
* I trimmed the unneeded wires on the 6 pin harness
* I attached the 6 pin harness to the RailPro module
* and slipped some shrink tubing on the 2 brown speaker wires
* I trimmed the ends of the speaker wires and tinned them.
* I drilled a in the flat tab on the speaker housing



* I soldered the speaker wires to the speaker
* and slid the shrink tubing over the tabs
* I touched the tubing with the hot iron to shrink it on just a bit.
* I installed the speaker and secured it in place with one of the screws originally used to hold the weight.
* You can just see the screw here:



* I clipped the control board back into place
* I secured the RailPro module with fresh kapton tape
* I secured the wires at both ends to keep them from being on top of the module and keep them out of the drive mechanisms







* At this point I loosely placed the shell on top, and put the loco on the track for a quick test.
* Sound works! so now I reassembled the locomotive and programmed the sounds.
Simple, eh?

The first one took me about an hour. The second one only took about 25 minutes,  yay!

KPack:
Excellent post Bill.  Good pictures and well-documented.  That is a clean and neat installation as well.  Can't wait to see more of these in action!

-Kevin

nodcc4me:
Nice installation Bill. I have installed two 5s speakers in separate locomotives, but the volume is low. I may have to change the way they're baffled. They are not screwed in, and that may make the difference.

William Brillinger:
Get some 4S speakers. The 5s speaker uses the entire phone as a baffle, without it, it has no "ooomph."

The 4s is fantastic.

Here they are at about 30% master volume and 50% prime mover volume...

nodcc4me:
They are a lot louder than mine, even at that distance from the camera. I guess I'll be looking on Ebay for some 4s speakers.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page