Athearn Genesis EMD F3A

Scale:
HO Scale


WOWKit used in this installation

WDK-ATH-3

Which includes the following items:

Decoder
Motherboard

GEN-MB1

Speaker Kit


Installation

This installation is for HO-Scale Athearn F3A including a TCS WOW121-Diesel Decoder, GEN-MB1 Motherboard with Keep Alive®,  
with UNIV-SH1-C WOWSpeaker kit by TCS.

The Athearn F7A shown with the shell on.
The Athearn F7A shown with the shell on.
Start by removing the front coupler screw and coupler box. Next, spread the shell and lift it off of the engine.
Start by removing the front coupler screw and coupler box. Next, spread the shell and lift it off of the engine.
With the shell off, remove the wiring from the original lighting board and the lighting board from the engine.
With the shell off, remove the wiring from the original lighting board and the lighting board from the engine.
Shown with the lighting board removed.
Shown with the lighting board removed.
Next, install the GEN-MB1, insert the 35mm x 16mm speaker in its housing and mount the housing between the frame, securing it with hot melt glue. Solder the wire leads to the motherboard. If your speaker enclosure installation covers the portholes on the enclosure, we recommend adding new port hole(s) similar to the original porting. Be sure that the new portholes are the same size and amount of the original and are vented freely into the locomotive We have found introducing a port of the correct size greatly increases the volume and sound quality of the installation. Too much or too little porting decreases the sound quality.
Next, install the GEN-MB1, insert the 35mm x 16mm speaker in its housing and mount the housing between the frame, securing it with hot melt glue. Solder the wire leads to the motherboard. If your speaker enclosure installation covers the portholes on the enclosure, we recommend adding new port hole(s) similar to the original porting. Be sure that the new portholes are the same size and amount of the original and are vented freely into the locomotive We have found introducing a port of the correct size greatly increases the volume and sound quality of the installation. Too much or too little porting decreases the sound quality.
You can install the WOW121-Diesel decoder. Now you can close up the locomotive and reinstall the coupler assemblies. Be sure to be mindful of wire routing and reassembly of the shell as to not damage or foul the installation. Your Athearn F3A is now WOWSound equipped and ready to roll!
You can install the WOW121-Diesel decoder. Now you can close up the locomotive and reinstall the coupler assemblies. Be sure to be mindful of wire routing and reassembly of the shell as to not damage or foul the installation. Your Athearn F3A is now WOWSound equipped and ready to roll!

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

Athearn F-Unit Note

Athearn F-Units (F2, F3, F7, and F9) are available with sound pre-installed/sound-ready with a circle milled into the top of the rear of the frame for a speaker.

If you have the sound-ready frame (visible here in the Athearn EMD F9A) 
use the WDK-ATH-9 WOWKit. 

If you have the non-sound ready version (shown here in the Athearn EMD F2A) 
use the WDK-ATH-3 WOWKit.

Lacing Cord

In order to keep the wires neat and prevent possible shorts, we recommend lacing the wires into a bundle using lacing cord. Lacing cord is a wax impregnated string used for wire bundling and making harnesses. There are many choices of lacing cord available from Digikey www.digikey.com. 
We use part number 802534B BK032-ND