P2K hardwiring

[drgwguy]

Hello All-

I have a friend who is trying to hardwire his P2K GP20 to run DC. Do these units have isolated motors, or does the frame act as a conductor? Over the phone, he has stated that the trucks only have a SINGLE wire coming off of them. He, also, says that there is a screw in the lead weight(?). Do P2Ks have lead(metal), or is he mistakenly referring to the cast iron as lead(metal)? I tried to explain that IF the frame had a 'ground' screw, that the motor SHOULD be isolated, and wiring should be as easy as soldering the individual single wires to the top motor lead(electrically), and the other (lower) should go to the frame...........is this right? It's been SO long since I've messed with DC, that I want to make sure he gets the right info.

Thanks in advance,

Rick

[CIOR]

These I believe are still Athearn clone drives, and thus have the frame as the other rail pickup.

I always test frames anyway, he will want to put a VOM on there and see what he is getting.

I've never done a GP20, but I've done the others. But I've never backdated one to DC....

[drgwguy]

thanks

Rick AND Davin

[CIOR]

If you wish, just solder up both sides of the trucks, just be careful and not overheat it.

[CP_8530]

I did a little writeup on hardwiring them here:

dieseldetailer.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=ele&action=display&thread=3441

The frame is the negative side, the single pickups from the trucks are the positive side. The motor is isolated from the frame.

On some of mine for better electrical pickup, I soldered wires to the negative sides of the trucks, and ran them to the DCC plug, but as isolating the frame from the truck pickup would require some work, the frame is still "hot".

On newer units (such as Walthers GP9 releases) I believe there are two wires from each of the trucks now, and the frame is no longer "hot".

[diesel]

The motor is usually not connected to the frame as in the Athearn units. I still take the motor off the mount and check the wire that should be soldered to the bottem contact is still good and then the tape that should be there is covering the entire contact.

Also, as your friend is doing I completely remove the P2k board(s) and hardwire a T1 or whatever.