Kit: ADAMTC booster board with MX644C; YLR603010 speaker; SuperCap17000uF for stay-alive (will work just as well with
MX645PluX22+ADAPLU booster)
Another new release from Heljan adding to their O gauge range, the Class 17 Clayton is something a little bit different,
compared to Heljan's usual large diesels.
Powered by in-bogie motors, rather than large fly-wheel equippment shafts, this is much lighter than the big diesels, very
smooth running, and far less hungry for power. This arrangement also means that despite the narrow body, there is a fair
amount of spare space aboard.
It comes factory fitted with a LokSound 'L' socket, which of course is not much use for a Zimo decoder, so that comes out
straight away. Instead, we replace it with an ADAMTC booster board, which takes an MX644C 21pin OO decoder, boosting the motor
output to 1.8A continuous - quite capable for this model. The ADAMTC has solder pads all around its' edge so we can transfer
the model's existing wires straight onto the equivalent pads there.
Pickups, lighting, motor and speaker wires are soldered up, and the MX644C plugged in for an initial test.
A simple bit of relocation is done, moving the fan control PCB from one end to the other and mounting it vertically above where
the decoder/ADAMTC are positioned. Our YLR603010 speaker has its lugs cut off, then it neatly slots in the end where the fan
PCB was, BlackTack'd up into the roof - perfect fit!
There is actually plenty of space for alternative types of speaker, including in the fuel tank area, but the MX644C is limited
to 3W, so we need to be a little careful, and the YLR603010 is plenty impressive anyway.
Our 17000uF SuperCap is connected to +VE/CAP- on the ADAMTC, covered in Kapton tape, and mounted adjacent to the ADAMTC.
Just need to keep the wires neat that travel the length of the loco... body on, and all done! Note that we connected headcode
lights and red tail lights independent on our model, to give separate control on different Function Keys - if you would like
the same, let us know when you order and we can do the same changes to your project configuration.
Back together again here, lots of character sitting at our Swindon works...
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