Updated 05.06.2012
This small steam engine is a very nice model, compact, heavy and rather detailed. I have three of these locomotives, 80 007 from 2866, 33042 MM2000 and 33043 80 030 museum locomotive. This locomotive was equipped with a tailor made Delta decoder.
The prototype was made in Germany, in 1928-1929. 39 of these nice locomotives were made. They were in traffic until 1965. 420 kW, 54,4 metric tons, 9.670 mm long.
Preparation for conversion:
Remove the Delta decoder and the motor. I left the wire from
the pick-up shoe, and soldered it to the decoder later on.
Motor:
Installation of the motor itself is very simple. After removal the old motor
and the Delta unit, make sure that all mechanical functions, like the
transmission, wheel axles and the rods, are good and
that the locomotive is clean. Install the new motor parts. Before
inserting the brushes, make sure once more that everything rotates
perfect. If required, oil the rotating parts very carefully. Do not
use too much oil, as this may harm the operation of the locomotive. The
noise suppressors are installed on a small test circuit board, in the front LH corner, under the light
circuit board.
Decoder:
The decoder is installed in a decoder holder, Märklin spare part number 456200. After very
carefully removing the rubber cover around the decoder, I soldered a brown/green
wire to the free solder pad next to the gray wire. This is an unofficial
f3 function output, which I used as interior light, connected to a smd LED
on top of the motor, via a 1.200 Ohm resistor.
Decoder adjustment:
Max. speed:
The Br 80 had a maximum speed of 45 km/h. The 60760
decoder has 14 speed steps, so the closest I get with the Central Station is 48
km/h, at speed value 18 of 63 on the CS scale. I have set the speed scale under "Edit Locomotive" and
"Properties" to 48 km/h, and when
45 km/h is indicated in the CS screen, the actual speed is very close, approx. 45,5
km/h in forward direction and a little lower in reverse direction.
I think that 13 "usable speed steps" are more than enough for a locomotive with
45 km/h maximum speed.
Acceleration and braking delay:
Both these values are set to 19,987 seconds. I do not understand these
figures, as the actual times are certainly not close to 20 seconds.
Interior light
I wanted to use the f3 (unofficial) for something, so I installed a smd LED and
a 1,5 kOhm resistor on a small test circuit board. The board is installed
on top of the motot with some sticky green stuff.
Front and rear light:
Some time ago a light printed circuit, Märklin spare part number 240120, was
available for these locomotives. As far as I know this is no longer
available. It is rather easy to make one by cutting the Delta decoder into
pieces. See below photo. I just removed the DIP-switch to the right
of the IC and cut it with a small hacksaw and grinded off a bit with my Dremel
and a flat grinding stone.
After removing the smd components, I soldered a small "jumper" (orange
arrows) to the board, later to be soldered to the orange (+ to lamps) wire from the
decoder.
The brown arrow is where I solder the brown (ground) wire to the decoder,
after carefully scraping off the coating on the circuit board.
The yellow arrow indicates where the yellow wire from the decoder will be
connected. This copper lead is first mechanically cut off from the
grounding screw hole, to the left of the arrow
The gray arrow shows where the gray wire from the decoder will be soldered.
The protective coating must be removed from both soldering points. The
copper leads are coloured with the respective colours, to indicate the current
flow. Note that the orange connections are going via the jumper under
the circuit board to the upper side, to both lamps.
This photo shows the light print temporary installed in the locomotive.
Parts used for the conversion:
| Märklin no. | Pcs. | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 60760 | 1 | Conversion set with fx decoder |
| 456200 | 1 | Decoder holder |
| 610080 | 2 | Bulbs, front lights |
| - | 1 | Light circuit board, cut from Delta decoder |
| - | 1 | smd LED for interior light |
| - | 1 | 1,5 kOhm resistor for the LED |
| - | 1 | small piece of test circuit board |