Athearn F59PHI

Scale:
HO Scale


This installation uses the following decoder:

A4X



This installation is for HO-Scale Athearn F59PHI uses TCS A4X Drop-In decoder and was performed by a TCS Customer.

Shown with the shell on.
Shown with the shell on.
TCS A4X — working front, rear & ditch lights fits as shown in the photos. Remove the motor from the frame while it is out insulate with tape the bottom of the frame. remove the contact strips on the motor very carefully so has not to loose the brush springs. On each these strips solder wire just long enough to be connected to the motor tags on the DCC chip. While the motor is out of the frame remove the trucks and after removing the truck side frame ,remove the wheels and gears. Next solder a wire to the metal sides of the truck in fact for one side you could use the metal prong for the old pick up system. Assemble this all back together wire to the A4X as per the instructions that come with the A4X. For working lights I used 2mm tower LEDs you will need to cut the plastic at the front a bit for clearance but once the body is back on it won't be noticeable. The ditch lights are again 2mm LEDs and wired to the purple and green solder pads on the A4X with the other wire from each LED solder to the BLUE (light) wire tag.
TCS A4X — working front, rear & ditch lights fits as shown in the photos. Remove the motor from the frame while it is out insulate with tape the bottom of the frame. remove the contact strips on the motor very carefully so has not to loose the brush springs. On each these strips solder wire just long enough to be connected to the motor tags on the DCC chip. While the motor is out of the frame remove the trucks and after removing the truck side frame ,remove the wheels and gears. Next solder a wire to the metal sides of the truck in fact for one side you could use the metal prong for the old pick up system. Assemble this all back together wire to the A4X as per the instructions that come with the A4X. For working lights I used 2mm tower LEDs you will need to cut the plastic at the front a bit for clearance but once the body is back on it won't be noticeable. The ditch lights are again 2mm LEDs and wired to the purple and green solder pads on the A4X with the other wire from each LED solder to the BLUE (light) wire tag.

Important Soldering Tip

Please do not use any flux either liquid or paste on the mother board. Over time, the acidic properties of liquid or paste flux will begin eating away at the fiberglass PCB and will damage it. Use only Rosin-core solder or no-clean flux approved for electronics use.

TCS recommends the use of Kester "44" Sn63 Pb37, .015" diameter Rosin-core solder. Kester part number 24-6337-0007.

You can order this solder from the following retailers:
Digikey - PN:KE1110-ND
Techni-Tool - PN:488SO6775

Other solder tips

When stripping wire, only strip a tiny little bit of the insulation. Strip no more than a 1/32 of an inch. When the wire gets tinned with solder, the insulation will shrink back more. Try to not expose any more wire than half the length of the solder pad at most. In no case should solder or exposed wire wire ever be outside the boundary of the the solder pad you are attaching a wire to.
Click here for important information on properly Stripping and Tinning wire