Milk car conversion to ERR Mini-Commander

I did the conversion about a year ago and as I remember, I programmed it as an Engine number. Very straight forward, just follow the instructions.

Never thought about doing it as an accessory. I really like the conversion. No longer need to have a special track, then having to line up the car in the exact position before you dump the milk cans. 

I have several milk platforms on my layout, so the grandkids can drop milk at a couple of different locations. 

Best of all, if I decide to change the location of the platform, no problem and I don't have to move any tracks around to make the change.

RAY

I just used ACC. Although it might be handy to switch engine numbers on the remote more easily and run an engine and then throw cans.

It's fun to throw milk cans where ever you want!

The project is coming along ok..... if I could get it to work.  I am not an electronics guy, but most of the time I can follow directions.  I took some pictures (see below).  Do I have this wired up correctly with the capacitor?  I received one capacitor in the kit.  Each end of the coil is attached to each end of the capacitor, along with the wires back to the board.  If you look at the picture in the instructions it looks like one capacitor.  Help.....   This current wiring will not work.  Do you need one or two capacitors on this project?

I did install a program - run switch.  When I place this for trial on the track, and fire it up for the first time, the instructions say the board is programmed for ACC1, AUX 1 and it should fire.  Should the program run switch effect the trial start up?   Also,  I tested the power coming up from the roller on the center rail and the board is getting power.  Any help would be appreciated.  Thanks in advance.

 Food for thought. I too modified my milk car. I also modified the platform to match Fastrack grade. I can now move platform anywhere on the layout! I also sand blasted and repainted in original colors!

USCGRET posted:

The project is coming along ok..... if I could get it to work.  I am not an electronics guy, but most of the time I can follow directions.  I took some pictures (see below).  Do I have this wired up correctly with the capacitor?  I received one capacitor in the kit.  Each end of the coil is attached to each end of the capacitor, along with the wires back to the board.  If you look at the picture in the instructions it looks like one capacitor.  Help.....   This current wiring will not work.  Do you need one or two capacitors on this project?

I did install a program - run switch.  When I place this for trial on the track, and fire it up for the first time, the instructions say the board is programmed for ACC1, AUX 1 and it should fire.  Should the program run switch effect the trial start up?   Also,  I tested the power coming up from the roller on the center rail and the board is getting power.  Any help would be appreciated.  Thanks in advance.

Hello Fellow Retired Coastie!

From what I see of the wiring, it looks correct. You stated you had power from the roller to the board. How about the ground? It's going to take a lot of heat to heat up the truck to attach the ground wire. This is where I would start to look. You may have a cold solder joint and the wire popped off. Next, Look at the Cap. is the polarity correct? You should only need the one Cap.

The instructions say for checkout, ACC + 1 + AUX1. You have to press, ACC, then 1, then AUX1. When you hit the AUX1 it should fire.

Good Luck!

Hey fellow Coastie and fellow forum members,

I hope I can bring this shallow water milk car to deeper water.  Although it may be aground, no leaks have been found. 

Now to a more serious note, I double checked the ground, and all is good there.  Just a thought, I have another accessory on ACC+1.  This accessory is run through my OTC (operating track controller) and all is connected through my TPC 400.   To get power to my milk car and to get it to fire, with the default ACC+1 + AUX 1 should I change my other accessory to another accessory ID (which happens to be an operating track unloader/uncoupler)?  I went through all the connections and re-soldered and replaced the capacitor with a new one.  Perhaps when I put it on the track and power up, I'm not getting it to initialize?  Here is the latest picture of what it looks like.  Please feel free to comment on the wiring and if it is correct.  Thanks.   Very frustrating.

I did the ERR install over a year ago. I just followed the instructions on the ERR installation manual. I coded my car as an "Engine", ID 72 (it's the Lionel number 3472 so I used just the last 2 digits as the ID). I use the AUX1 button on my Legacy remote and everything works. did a test just now. 

I assume you have 18 volts on the track. I have not opened up the car to see if my wiring is the same as yours, but if you followed the instruction, the car should fire up.

I am sure others may look at your wiring to see if there is something a miss there.

Ok.  I went over all the wiring, and did some re-soldering although I think everything was ok the first time.  I still could not get the car to fire.  On  a whim, I decided to trade out the board for another one I had.  After the install of the new board everything worked fine.  I will fine tune the power, and should have a sweet running milk car.  Thanks everyone for your help. 

Send the other board back to ERR, they're very good about replacing defective stuff.

Winger,

   Now that is a very nice re-engineering job!  Outstanding work.

PCRR/Dave

Thanks

Just a note on this install.  This was my first milk car install using the Mini Commander from ERR.  As I was following the guide, it instructs you well.  However,  it was not very clear (vague) on how to adjust the voltage or duration when depressed, using the Aux 1 key.  I stumbled across the mini-commander instruction manual on the ERR site, which explains a lot more detail beyond what the guide tells you.

My recommendation, should you elect to do the conversion is to print out the mini-commander instruction manual from the ERR website, review and then go forward.  "I can see clearly now" 

Good work!   The ERR Milk Car upgrade is one of the most fun things I have done on my layout.  I now have 3 platform around the layout where I can unload the milk cans without an activation track.

It even works off my DCS remote.