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Post by riss2509 on Aug 10, 2009 21:18:38 GMT -5
Ive got a couple of hard wired NCE D13SRJ's in a couple of athearn blue box SD's. Now, all the past decoder installs I have done are all plug in play, well these a buddy of mine did. There is alot of excess heat in there (as expected) and started to melt some of the plastic wrap on 1 decoder. Is there are reccomended tape or something to put on the motor to seperate the decoder and keep it a lil bit cooler and not melt the plastic? Im goin near a hobbytown USA tomorrow so Im probably going to be shcecking there. Thanks guys!
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Post by wvsecondary on Aug 11, 2009 8:29:57 GMT -5
Kapton tape is the tape for you. It does not melt and is a great insulator. It is not cheap but a roll will last you a lot of installs. I cover the bottom of all my exposed decoders to protect them from any strange contact. www.traintekllc.com/product/TTK-KAP25.html |
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CIOR
Chairman
Posts: 2,046
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Post by CIOR on Aug 11, 2009 15:06:45 GMT -5
Yupper, Kapton it is.
Although you can use high thermal electrical tape and get a similar result.
You can use a captive shrink tube and that will work, but you have to be careful on the size!
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Post by riss2509 on Aug 11, 2009 21:01:49 GMT -5
the dealer I normally deal with has a custom wrap put on them with the name of there company. As far as the magic smoke, there isnt any, the engine runs very well, and everything is wired correctly and the headlight and ditchlights are all wired in with resistors. I ran it the other night, and would stop it on occasion and take the DB hatch off and test the heat with my finger. It took awhile for my finger to heat up, so im assuming its doing ok. Ill take a look for the kapton tape. Thanks guys!
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Post by Raeder on Aug 22, 2009 8:46:08 GMT -5
If your finger isn't getting burned right away, you're probably fine as far as thermal loading on the chip goes. You might run an amp test on the motor, see what it is pulling and make sure it is within the limits the decoder is rated for, but most of the Athearn Blue Box units I've worked with have been fine in that regard. You might look at installing some see-through fans to let that heat out of the shell, but if the engine keeps running, you are probably fine.
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