Hi John,

Other than the satisfaction of doing the conversion, do you see any added benefit in converting this loco for two motors?

I have a 33292, which is a Delta loco of the same type, and which I converted to full digital using a 60760 kit for about 30 Euro. The loco, as it is, is capable of pulling everything I can hang on the back of it. Did you have trouble with the grades on your layout? Was it worth going to the expense and trouble of sourcing another motor bogie and doing the conversion work on it?

Hi John,

I recall your previous post regarding use of ball bearings.

The job looks really professional

How exactly do you fit these ball bearings and where do you buy them and what sizes is required?

I assume you use the existing rotor shaft?

Brgds - Lasse

Gordon, Lasse,


thanks for your compliments.

the ball bearings are 1.5 mm x 4 mm x 2 mm and can be bought in Germany, just go to google and type in micro or miniature ball bearings or just just copy the measurements and search for them. just an example ( http://www.technobotsonl...ring-681xzz-1.5x4x2.html )
the hole in the back, all you have to do is remove the plastic inset. sometimes the ball bearing sits tight and sometimes ist just a bit loose.
I use a toothpick put a tiny drop of super glue onto it and smear it around the inner circumference and than press the ball bearing in from the outside. to have good access I sometimes remove the clog wheel as well using a small object like a screwdriver and hammer the pin out, just make use you don't damage any other part when doing so.

the hole in the brush plate takes several sessions of hand drilling the hole bigger, I put the drill into a Dremel drill and than I can get a better grip by rotating the chuck by hand.
your choice of using several drills, my choice is a 2 mm, 2.5 mm, 3 mm, 3.5 mm, and 4 mm, this way you're guaranteed your hole stays in the centre.
you sould be able to press the ball bearing into the brush plate. again if its a bit loose do the same with the super glue.
One caution I would stress, if you use too much of the glue you could finish up ceasing the ball bearing.
Although you guys call it professional its done by hand.

When doing a conversion also look at the brush plate itself and the brush shafts, the brush shafts get pressed onto the brush plate and sometimes it occurs the brush shaft gets bend up a bit, this distorts the true 90°angle and it does affect the running characteristics of your loco.
You may have noticed it in the past when you exchange the brushes they sometimes have been worn on an angle and this is the reason why.

I get very annoyed with Märklin, who charge you a lot of money for these models and they can't do a simple improvement or alteration to the brush plate, secondly to add 2 ball bearings to the motor would be no trouble at all and the cost is so minimal but the results are worth it.

the same with the brush shaft, I lift them up a bit and again put a tiny drop of super glue between the shafts underside and the brush plate, take a tension paper clip and hold the 2 parts together. again be cautious, a.) don't leave the brushes inside the shaft and don't put any super glue into it until you've removed the brush plate from the motor and the armature.

the good part with the installation of the led's was, the original bulb holder is integrated with the front steps, buffers and clips into the main metal frame. by drilling 3 tiny holes so the led can be fed through I've chosen to have the red wires on top (this is in the back of this part).the middle wire (common wire) in the middle and the white wire on the bottom.
the reason for this the original bulb holder's 2 pins, one can be used by connected (soldering) it to to the bottom white wire. you also have to have 2 resistors (I'm not clued up on diodes).
When connecting the 3 led's together the top light didn't come on (I don't know why) so I've separated the bottom red-white led's from the msd led and used 2 resistors.
Wires, Led's have to be laid or organized in such a fashion so it doesn't interfere with the interior cab

Enjoy your task



regards.,

John