Rivarossi E8

[mopac]

My train stuff is boxed and this week some water got in the
basement and got a few of my boxes wet on the bottom. I am
taking the train stuff out and putting it in new boxes. Some of
the trains I have not seen in 10 years. I came across a pretty
nice set. Rivarossi put out a American Orient Express set. a 3,000
piece set. It included 2 E8s (one powered and one dummy) plus
6 passenger cars. I ran it a little when I got it and remembered it
ran well. Only the rear truck is powered. I took the shell off and
there is all kinds of space in there. Has anyone installed DCC in
a rivarossi E8 and how did it go? Set is from 1999 or 2000. Any
info appreciated.

[NIMT]

I don't rememmber there being anything that out of the norm for that install.
Just isolate the power, lighting and the motor, if the motor has a capacitor on it remove it as it will cause issues with the decoder!:D

[mopac]

I don't remember seeing a capacitor. There was a resistor to
the headlight. Its a good looking color scheme and would make
a nice passenger train for the new upcoming layout. Thanks
for the info.

[gc53dfgc]

I would think since it is a 99-00 series of rivarossi the install will not be to hard compared to the old large round motors and weird wiring schemes for their steam engines. Without picturess I could not give any true advise other then what my DCC installs thread already gives as I have not workied with them and don't know what the insides entail.

[mopac]

Pictures always help. These aren't great but you might get an idea
from them. Wiring seems to be very simple. Small red wire comes up
from the rear truck and to one side of motor. From that same connection
a larger red wire runs to one side of headlight bulb. Small black wire
comes up from front truck to headlight bulb and then from same connection
a larger blue wire runs to other side of motor. Very simple. I have not
tested it yet but motor seems to be isolated in a plastic case. Up front
seems like large enough area for speaker to be mounted face down. I have never done an install and was going to start with an athearn loco but this one looks even easier for my first. Motor is at rear.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g155/nascar4al/Trains/IMG_4715.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g155/nascar4al/Trains/IMG_4716.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g155/nascar4al/Trains/IMG_4718.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g155/nascar4al/Trains/IMG_4719.jpg

[optronomega]

looks pretty simple. Everything is already isolated and the frame isn't metal so nothing to worry about there. Not too sure about lights/resistors. Don't have much experience with those yet. Not until i install dcc in my overland gp60m.

[gc53dfgc]

Pictures always help. These aren't great but you might get an idea
from them. Wiring seems to be very simple. Small red wire comes up
from the rear truck and to one side of motor. From that same connection
a larger red wire runs to one side of headlight bulb. Small black wire
comes up from front truck to headlight bulb and then from same connection
a larger blue wire runs to other side of motor. Very simple. I have not
tested it yet but motor seems to be isolated in a plastic case. Up front
seems like large enough area for speaker to be mounted face down. I have never done an install and was going to start with an athearn loco but this one looks even easier for my first. Motor is at rear.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g155/nascar4al/Trains/IMG_4715.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g155/nascar4al/Trains/IMG_4716.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g155/nascar4al/Trains/IMG_4718.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g155/nascar4al/Trains/IMG_4719.jpg

That install will be a piece of cake. The red and black wires will be rerouted to the decoder then the two motor wires to the motor and the light bulb looks to be the large type so no resistor would be needed but this can get hot so I would say maybe something in the 200-300 range of resistors to bring the light tempurature and output to a safe and cool level. Maybe even a 400 resistor. Thats about as simple of an install as you could get right there.

I would however suggest cleaning the motor armature and the brushes. You can do this with an alcohol doused Q-tip for the commutator and armature and then the brushes can first be cleaned the same way and if the part that touches the commutator or armature has a curve to it you can lightly sand that down till it is smooth. This will make the engine run a lot smoother then before and possibly even better then factory as well as making it run quieter as well.

[mopac]

Thanks, that sounds good. Any suggestions on mounting a speaker.
Whats a speaker enclosure and are they a must have? I don't see
them for sale. One more, is it better to mount speaker face down or
face up or verticle.

[gc53dfgc]

I would say with the large amount of ample space you have in that engine to go ahead and have two speakers installed. A speaker enclosure is a must have in my opinion as it gives it a nice crisp and clear sound that you will not have if you don't. I would also say for your particullar engine to mount the speakers upwards. Or you could mount one speaker downwards in the front and drill some holes in the bottom of the chasis then glue the second speaker facing upwards towards the roof. Have the lower one for highs and mids. Then have the other one for the lows of it. I believe this is done through ohm choice or possibly by speaker choice like the super bass speakers offered by QSI or Soundtraxx. That will give you the best possible sound and will even if done right rival a factory sound engine.

[NIMT]

For a speaker enclosure use a 1 liter soda bottle cap on the back of the speaker.
Just to warn you, your not going to get great performance out of that unit. With only one truck picking up power it will most likely cut sound in and out as it travels. I would add some weight to the engine to help it out. Speaker pointing down with holes drilled into bottom of the engine. I mount my speakers with double sided foam tape.

[mopac]

It actually has some big blocks of lead. Plenty of room to add more. It picks
power up on both trucks. Motor is just to one truck. Trucks are 3 axle and it picks up power on the front and rear of each truck. Front and rear axles are
pretty far apart on each truck so it might not be too bad. It was a smooth runner as I remember. We shall see. Thanks for advice on mounting speaker.
That would not be good the power cutting in and out.

[mopac]

Sorry gc53dfgc, just saw your post. I didn't know the decoder could handle
2 speakers. That might be good. Thanks. What do you use for an enclosure?
I guess an enclosure keeps sound going out the front of speaker.

[gc53dfgc]

no the enclosure keeps sound from going out the back of the speaker or where the wires are soldered on. I have only done a few speaker jobs so far and I used premade speaker enclosures for the proper speakers but am not happy at how large the enclosure is compared to the speaker depth so I am thinking of doing one with a custom made enclosure from plastic styrene which will allow the total depth to be lower but could result in a slight loss of sound quality and since you have so much room in your engine just using the premade ones and then making sure it is properly sealed where you put the wires through and where the speaker sits on it you will get a very nice sound out of it.

[shaygetz]

My experience with this set was a disappointment. A friend at the club had purchased one, and when she put it on the layout, it would not pull the train, it just slipped its drivers. It was grossly underpowered. She eventually purchased a P2K E 8/9 A unit and I shoehorned the mechanism into the shell of the original loco with a bit of fuss. We put the sound in the dummy unit and wired the two together. Not the best of fixes put it pulls everything now and has been fine for the last 8 years.

[mopac]

I know its not a good quality engine. It did seem to pull the 6 cars fine though.
Power to only one truck is not an ideal setup. And I think only 2 of the 3 axles
are powered. Only 2 traction tires on it. Plastic chassis. Like your friend I like the
train. With all the room and simple wiring it might be good to do my first install
on it. I don't know if American Orient is still in business but at one time years ago
I wanted to ride it. They had some nice routes. I was on their mailing list and got
some nice brochures from them. It wasn't cheap or I guess I would have rode it.

[shaygetz]

It is a beautiful set that I'd like to own myself. I would come up with a different way to repower it myself, like putting a second power truck in it and wiring it in series. We ran with what we had and she was tickled, that was enough for me at the time.:thumbsup: