@Norton posted:Bruk, is that motor running on straight DC or an RCMC? 3rd Rail belt drives are very smooth right out of the box.
Pete
Pete,
Thats off the RCMC at speed step 1
Seems to me that the belt drive also has less friction than the worm gear/spur gear, thus the drive consumes less motor power.
MELGAR
Oh man, this topic is already a year old. I must have been sleeping. I can't wait to see how this comes out.
@MELGAR posted:Seems to me that the belt drive also has less friction than the worm gear/spur gear, thus the drive consumes less motor power.
MELGAR
MELGAR, the belt just connects the motor to the gear box, .....it’s still got worm gear and worm wheel,....the belt drive is just the coupler between the two,....
Pat
Update:
Because of the speed encoder I had to drop the rear motor mount. It was a little floppy afterwards so I needed to support the motor a little bit more. I also needed a switch panel. So I combined the two. This is how I did it.
I will use a zip tie in the end to hold the motor snug to the bracket.
Attachments
Images (11)
Very elegant solution. Great work.
Update:
As I wait for smoke parts. I needed to sort out the antenna.
So this is not a typical TMCC ERR upgrade where everything goes in the tender, then you run a tether to the engine. The RCMC board must go in the engine. So the radio receiver is in the boiler. So you all know that TMCC/LEGACY signal can not be entrapped in a metal house.
On the Brass T1 I did prior. I turned the entire boiler shell into an antenna. It worked perfectly. I decided to go another route for the mohawk........The Cab.....I thought this would be a good set up to give it a try. I had great success on my work bench.
In the 3rd photo I actually applied black tape down the walls around ceiling of the cab where the boiler shell touches.
Attachments
Images (7)
@RickO posted:Bruk needs to buy up all the old reliable tmcc stuff and upgrade it.
I have half a mind to dump my legacy h10 and replace it with an upgraded tmcc h9 . At least it would have a bullet proof gearbox as well as a Pittman motor to go with it.
I forsee some factory legacy power train failure posts in the future ,with that 4 gear gearbox. I've already had one on its way out.
Bruk has my Weaver PRR H10 as we speak to upgrade to Legacy. Despite all of the features on the Lionel Legacy version, I just didn’t like it enough considering what they sell for (only wanted the taller tender). Can’t wait to see how it turns out!
To anyone considering this type of upgrade, we are a ways off from a finished product, but Bruk’s communication with me in the process so far as a customer is second to none. That means A LOT to me in this world.
- Matt
Bruk has my MTH B&A Hudson. If successful he's going to get my other two MTH engines sooner or later. Only way a upgrade like this is worth it to me if I can get the parts half off at the warehouse sale.
Bruk is doing some great work on these Legacy conversions, something different from the run of the mill conversions, that's for sure! 
What he does is phenomenal .He will always listen to your request and will do it if possible!!! If not he will tell you. And boy his workmanship is superb. All at a very reasonable cost imho. We are lucky to have him!!!!
I pushed his boundaries a little on the Challenger, but it came out great, so obviously he had it in him! 
Flywheel:
I had to make a custom ground down flywheel for this conversion. It was a tight fit interfering behind the back head. I don’t own a lathe or have space for one currently (yet). So I got crafty.
I had a damaged pitman motor laying around, I hooked up to a dc power supply and spun the flywheel up at 12v. At the same time I took my Angle grinder and “machined” material down so it was balanced and even. This is the end results.
Attachments
Images (5)
@Bruk posted:I had a damaged pitman motor laying around, I hooked up to a dc power supply and spun the flywheel up at 12v. At the same time I took my Angle grinder and “machined” material down so it was balanced and even. This is the end results.
This amused me, I did the same thing with a flywheel that I had to cut down. In my case, I put it on an old motor and just got it spinning with 12V and used a coarse file to shape it, then a finer file to smooth everything out. Worked like a champ and solved my problem with clearance.
@gunrunnerjohn posted:This amused me, I did the same thing with a flywheel that I had to cut down. In my case, I put it on an old motor and just got it spinning with 12V and used a coarse file to shape it, then a finer file to smooth everything out. Worked like a champ and solved my problem with clearance.
It works!
I do a similar thing in my Dremel to remove the flange on 3mm LEDs and to make a screw head smaller.
@Bruk posted:It works!
I do a similar thing in my Dremel to remove the flange on 3mm LEDs and to make a screw head smaller.
Yeah, good solution for the LED, why can’t we get 3mm LED with out that darn flange?
@Bruk posted:It works!
I do a similar thing in my Dremel to remove the flange on 3mm LEDs and to make a screw head smaller.
Well, I do LED's the easy way, flangeless LEDs. 
@superwarp1 posted:Yeah, good solution for the LED, why can’t we get 3mm LED with out that darn flange?
You can, I have hundreds of them in all colors! Here's a picture, they're readily available, just search eBay for "flangeless LED". They slide in where 3mm incandescent bulbs go, very handy.
Attachments
@Bruk posted:It works!
I do a similar thing in my Dremel to remove the flange on 3mm LEDs and to make a screw head smaller.
Dude buy flangeless LEDs. I use them for headlight replacement all the time.
Work smarter, not harder 😉.
@Bruk posted:I do! But when it comes to LEDs.....I’m extremely picky to color and some of these colors do not come fangless.
I found some flangeless 3mm LEDs that are very close to incandescent bulbs in color output. I've got about 100, but I'll be ****ed if I can remember where I bought them. I believe eBay.
Attachments
Images (1)
LED's are so cheap that I just buy them in batches until I get the exact color I need. I have a large box of the "off color" ones, but I also have several thousand of the colors I typically use. I also found some great flangeless 3mm LED's that are a spot-on match for incandescent color temperature, but have a nice focused beam and make a great headlight. I haven't had a single complaint with those in my steam upgrades.
And there are folks on this forum who say young people aren't interested in O gauge trains!!
Bruk and Sid, you put most of us old guys to shame. John said you fellows have to roll your own on these conversions, and that doesn't even cover the half of it! Bravo!
@Bruk posted:It works!
I do a similar thing in my Dremel to remove the flange on 3mm LEDs and to make a screw head smaller.
I do the same. I use what I have on hand. It takes a few seconds once you've done it before.
Smoke update:
Due to space a DSMK was used. I modified the original smoke bracket to hold the dsmk.
Because of the lack of space, I made another custom funnel. this time it was a two part assembly. Where the top threads into the base. I’m very happy with the results of that.
Drilling the hole for the “whistle steam” was tedious. I couldn’t remove the detail part like I usually can. This prevented me to attack it from the top side so I had to go from the inside out. I had to be very, very careful not to drill into the whistle and for the hole to be located where I wanted it to be.
Attachments
Images (6)
Videos (2)
Looking great.
It's just so cool that the 3D printing has really opened up the customization possibilities, and you're using it to full effect, nice looking job! 
That's awesome!!!
@gunrunnerjohn posted:It's just so cool that the 3D printing has really opened up the customization possibilities, and you're using it to full effect, nice looking job!
It has made my life easier and the quality of my builds improve! As much as I enjoy crafting things out of brass this is the easiest way to be consistent.
@gunrunnerjohn posted:It's just so cool that the 3D printing has really opened up the customization possibilities, and you're using it to full effect, nice looking job!
Agreed. 3D printing sets Bruk's build apart. Some of the shapes can be machined but many would take expensive CNC machines and still not get the shape right without breaking it down to many smaller subassemblies.
Pete
Boy I bet the owner is very very happy!!!!!
Looks great.
THIS IS IT!
I'm wrapping this up literally.....
Another fantastic job Bruk! I am sure your customer will be very pleased.
Pete
Nice job BRUK!!!! LOVE ❤️ IT!!!
Excellent job!!
He be very pleased. !!!!!!😃😅😃😂🤪😜
Looks great, another masterpiece!
Awesome job Bruk, now on to other projects. Hint hint
