TOMIX 92963 Shinkansen 0-7000 Light Board Decoder help needed

[Spaceman Spiff]

Hi, I thought I would start a new thread as the previous one with my question strayed away from my question.

Attached are pictures of the Tomix 0 Series light board that I would like to attach a TCS FL4 decoder (as recommended by most folks on here).

How do I go about doing it? I am not very good at soldering so keep that in mind 

Cheers

Spiff

[The_Ghan]

Hi Spiff,

Ignore this post ... Iwas wrong.

[Martijn Meerts]

They're not actually LEDs, but rather regular bulbs.

[The_Ghan]

Ah, .... bulbs ... so they are ... in which case I think my post is wrong.

[Martijn Meerts]

Well, your post would be correct if the bulbs were replaced with LEDs. It'd only need a little addition to mention a resistor would need to be added.

I'd recommend replacing any bulbs with LEDs anyway. Especially considering those bulbs can be easily replaced with standard 3mm LEDs.

[CaptOblivious]

Not as easily as you think: The bulbs are on thin, flexible wires, and there amy not be clearance to fit an LED with stiff leads.

(Ghan: Not also that this is a single-sided board, so all traces are on the side with the bulbs, and must be cut in that side. It's a very thin board, nearly translucent, which is why you can see the traces on the bottom.)

I would remove all the surface mount stuff, and then cut the one trace on the bottom that leads from the white bulb to the pickups. Then the bulbs would be isolated from the pickups, and you need only solder the red and black leads to the pickups, and the white. The bulbs will also be isolate from each other, and you only need to solder the white and blue/ yellow and blue to the pads the diodes (brownish boxes) were originally. Being bulbs, it doesn't matter which pad the blue goes to.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Thanks for the replies. Continuing with the Decoders for dummies, I of course have dumb questions.

Is the pic that The_Ghan was so kind to label still valid?

1)  If so I would attach black and red decoder leads to -ve and +ve as marked?

2) CaptOblivious mentions to get rid of surface mounted stuff. Would that be the black part and the two gold colored rectangular parts? (outlines 4,5,6)

3) Cut the traces to the bulbs as CaptOblivious mentioned. Which traces do I need to cut as there appears to be two per bulb? (Outlines 1,2,3)

4) Which decoder leads to I attach to the bulbs?

5) CaptObivious mentions to solder white and blue/yellow and blue to the pads where the diodes were originally. The decoder doesn't have white & yellow wires.

I apologize for so many dumb questions.

Spiff

[CaptOblivious]

I've been remiss! I hope it is not too late to answer your questions.

Looking closely at the board, here is what I would do to install an FL4.

First, remove the tiny black thing (a matched pair of diodes) and the two brownish boxes (filter capacitors).

Then, cut the trace indicated in the photo.

Finally, solder the FL4 leads where indicated. You will need to do a little programming to ensure the headlight comes on in forward, and the taillight in reverse (if you need help with that, I can look the values up for you later)

Because we are re-using the pick-up tabs,there is no need to isolate the board: In fact, it won't work if it is isolated!

That's it! Easy-peasy…ish.

[Spaceman Spiff]

No worries Capt,  as I have been busy with work and haven't had a chance to look at it :).

Thanks for the info.

Spiff