Convert Williams F3 locomotive to dcs

Only you can answer the question about the PS/3 conversion being cost effective.

Actually, if you run primarily conventional, series wiring of the motors in your F3 will really slow things down for you.  In addition, you can also use series diode pairs in the motor lead to further decrease speed at a given throttle setting.

There are a couple of things you could do here (besides converting to DCS, which is possible I believe, but may not be easy. If  you search on here, you can also wire the motors on the engine in series (there are quite a few descriptions/wiring diagrams on here on how to do it, or if you search on google bet you will find instructions), that will make it operate slower at full throttle. Another possibility might be to replace the bulbs in the car with lower voltage bulbs. 

You know what happens when we assume.   It's good that you posted before attempting a conversion.

Wiring the motors in series cost nothing, which makes it very cost effective,  and can be easily reversed.

Wiring motors in series:

The motors have two wires attached to them. They could be any two colors, but for purposes of this discussion, we will assume that each motor has one blue wire and one yellow wire, OK?

-take off the shell

-Follow the blue wire from one motor back to the board and snip that wire at the board.

-follow the yellow wire from the other motor back to the board and snip it off at the board.

-now you have one motor with a long unattached blue wire, one motor with a long unattached yellow wire and two wire stubs on the board.

-take the long unattached blue wire from one motor and connect it to the long unattached yellow wire from the other motor. You can connect them with wire nuts, or solder and heat shrink.

-put some tape or heat shrink on the stubs of wire on the boards if they can touch anything.

-test drive the loco before putting the shell back on.

That's all there is to it. Your loco will run more slowly and be less inclined to slow down in spots where the track voltage is low. The lights in the loco and the cars will be brighter.

There are other ways to do it, some that are more easily reversible, but this is the quickest/easiest way.

https://ogrforum.com/...s-in-a-williams-loco

If you want to migrate your layout to DCS, then this might be a worthwhile upgrade. 

But if your whole goal is to increase the lighting in the P Cars, then I agree with the others... Re-wire in series.

Here is a crude pic of what RoyBoy is saying.

It would cost you about $300 to convert your Williams F3 to DCS (including someone else’s labor).

Then, to run as DCS, you would need to buy and install the DCS system on your layout

You’re considering spending in excess of $500 just for a brighter bulb?

carpenterguy3 posted:

I have a Williams F3 locomotive that I would like to convert to dcs   Is it possible to do this and would it be cost effective? It will run on a dedicated track. My reason for wanting this is  I have a set of MTH passenger cars that I want to pull but the lights are dim because I can’t  run full throttle. I assume converting to dcs is the only way I can have lights and slower operating speeds. 

Converting to ERR/TMCC is easier and will achieve the same thing - in fact, with either 18V command system, your car lights will probably be too bright for you.