Kato HO E5

[bnicolas1987]

Yes, that's it, there are two motor cars in this train, so one decoder per potor car and the decoder is wired to both motors.

 

I haven't do the test in DCC yet because my DCC booster is out of order and I haven't the good one here...

 

But in DC standard, all runs fine.

[hanksy3]

just wondering if you have more pictures of wiring of motors

[hanksy3]

anyone have pictures of their finished dcc wiring for motors

[jglrrdb]

I got my set today. Very disappointed that the set was not DCC ready. All the HO models that I have from Kato, JR and German rolling were DCC ready except an early model of the Hamburger set, since then there is a DCC ready one which I have also. I am going to try to install Decoder in the power unit, since otherwise I can't run it, since my Layout is DCC. The only other way is to elevated the track like in Japan, and just run it that way in Analog. Since I do not plan to get a second set. FYI the recent HO Munich Trolley set from Kato is DCC ready. Kind of ironic, since the N gage set is DCC ready. I guess they had to make that way, because they wanted the tilting effect. I am planning to put an ESU sound decoder in, I just have not  found a file for it, but it would be funny to install the IC sound, that also has a German station announcement. I might do that at that. At least there is plenty of room for that, only question is to locate the speaker for best effect.

[bnicolas1987]

HI,

Sorry I didn't take pictures of the finished work, but you have to extend the docoder's wire to both motors of the motos car.

 

You have do carefully check the polarity of the motors, on the right one, the red wire goes with the black wire of the left motor.

 

The harder work is to close all that stuff under the floor without making a shortcut..

[Martijn Meerts]

anyone have pictures of their finished dcc wiring for motors

 

I actually forgot to take a picture of that, but basically I just de-soldered the motor wires from the copper tabs they're soldered to, and extended the wires by soldering on new ones. The make sure to insulate the soldered joints. From there the wires just go into the frame of the car (I also cut away a little plastic to give the wires some more space to move). I soldered the wires from both motors directly to the decoder, but I had to cross wire them. So 1 motor was basically soldered on inverted.

 

 

 

I got my set today. Very disappointed that the set was not DCC ready. All the HO models that I have from Kato, JR and German rolling were DCC ready except an early model of the Hamburger set, since then there is a DCC ready one which I have also. I am going to try to install Decoder in the power unit, since otherwise I can't run it, since my Layout is DCC. The only other way is to elevated the track like in Japan, and just run it that way in Analog. Since I do not plan to get a second set. FYI the recent HO Munich Trolley set from Kato is DCC ready. Kind of ironic, since the N gage set is DCC ready. I guess they had to make that way, because they wanted the tilting effect. I am planning to put an ESU sound decoder in, I just have not  found a file for it, but it would be funny to install the IC sound, that also has a German station announcement. I might do that at that. At least there is plenty of room for that, only question is to locate the speaker for best effect.

 

The reason it's not DCC friendly is because the motors are in the bogies and aren't wired in any way to the rest of the train. The copper pickup strips are really only for interior lighting. You can actually pop out the bogies and run each of them on their own on the track.

 

As for the sound decoder, I just finished installing one. I placed the speaker in the middle of the car, firing downwards. It required several modifications to make it work. I've also added the ICE3 sound set to the decoder, but I'm only going to use the motor sound really, possibly the horn and doors closing if I can't find the actual sounds. Things like station announcements I'll add from various sources, just to give it a little bit of a Japanese feel at least =)

[kvp]

 

The copper pickup strips are really only for interior lighting. You can actually pop out the bogies and run each of them on their own on the track.

This is interesting, since it's a really classic solution. But did the interior lighting strips bridged them together within the motor car? Without that it would be a bad runner, since the motors would have only 4 pickups instead of 8. (or much worse if there are traction tyres)

[jglrrdb]

Yes I am aware those strips are for lighting in most models. In the KATO Hamburgers they are also used for power pickup. I don't like the lighting kit clip that goes under it, lines up with power bar. I have a JR that I got in '98 and I installed those analog kits in, and most of them have burned out, just from standing in the siding, also sometimes those clips fall out, I am planning on the E5 to install LED light bars that come with there own Bridge rectifier, and rheostat for brightness adjustment. You can add a capacitor on the strip, and you have flicker free lights. I am also planning in having longer wires so I an do maintenance or if I have problems with the decoders. Also I am going back, and replace all the KATO lighting kits with the LED light bars.

Edited May 22, 2014 by jglrrdb

[Martijn Meerts]

This is interesting, since it's a really classic solution. But did the interior lighting strips bridged them together within the motor car? Without that it would be a bad runner, since the motors would have only 4 pickups instead of 8. (or much worse if there are traction tyres)

 

I do believe they are bridged yes, but even if they aren't, it wouldn't affect running that much. If 1 motor fails due to dirty track, the other one will just push/pull it past the dirty spot. That combined with the decent sized flywheels make it a rather good runner. It runs silky smooth even on low speeds.

[jglrrdb]

I have not opened the 4 car add on set, so I did not realize that there is an additional power unit. That is going to be fun installing another decoder. One thing I figured out is, once I have programed the everything, to put a small directional arrow on all the power cars and end cars.

[hanksy3]

Is there anywhere I can get a new motor. One died

[Martijn Meerts]

Is there anywhere I can get a new motor. One died

 

Not sure if Kato has replacement motors, might be you need to get an entirely new bogie. Either way, any shop that sells the E5 should be able to order a motor or bogie.

[Martijn Meerts]

So, does anyone happen to have some (links to) sounds for the E5.. I do have some cd's with sounds, but those are Yamanote line, (older) JR-East trains and Keikyu sounds. Domino also sent me some links to youtube video's with station announcements and the like, but since my Japanese skills are non-existent, I'm not sure which ones would fit.

 

I'm mainly looking at things like station announcements of the train about to leave, maybe sounds of doors closing, warning sounds you sometimes get when a train leaves, horn, things like that. It's okay if they're not isolated sounds, I can probably remove a lot of the unwanted noise where needed.. 

[jglrrdb]

^{I was looking for sounds E5 Japanese station sounds, I found one, for E5. I thought that Bookmarked the page, but could not find it now. I know if you look long enough you will find it. I am planning to install ESU Loksound 4.0, with the sounds for the German IC3, I am planning to replace the German announcement with the one I found, but now I have took for it again also. Hopefully this week I will receive the Decoders in the mail. I did find something interesting. I am looking to solder new wires to the motor short wires. but with Heat Shrink they would be a little stiff, I think for operation. I found Liquid tape, cover the splices, and prevent shorts. (Amazon)}

[Martijn Meerts]

There's a lot of station announcements on youtube, but I haven't a clue what they're saying =)

 

I've also installed a loksound 4, and using the ICE3 as the base sound set actually. For insulating the solder joints on the motor wires I actually used a little white glue, which works great ;)

[jglrrdb]

Well in the announcement part, I have my wife translate. But I have to wait until she gets back from Japan. Originally she was going to get the set for me at Kato Tokyo, since she only was a couple of blocks away from the store. But I found on eBay, I did pay for it a little more, but she did not have to put in a suit case. After the fact I found stores here in the states that sell the set. A big surprise. I model mostly German Rail, But some of my family also Japanese roots so the Japanese is on my layout. LOL not quite correct. Thanks for the white glue tip. The one announcement that I heard, was for an E5 arriving. I understood that much. Have fun,

[jglrrdb]

I actually forgot to take a picture of that, but basically I just de-soldered the motor wires from the copper tabs they're soldered to, and extended the wires by soldering on new ones. The make sure to insulate the soldered joints. From there the wires just go into the frame of the car (I also cut away a little plastic to give the wires some more space to move). I soldered the wires from both motors directly to the decoder, but I had to cross wire them. So 1 motor was basically soldered on inverted.

 

 

 

 

The reason it's not DCC friendly is because the motors are in the bogies and aren't wired in any way to the rest of the train. The copper pickup strips are really only for interior lighting. You can actually pop out the bogies and run each of them on their own on the track.

 

As for the sound decoder, I just finished installing one. I placed the speaker in the middle of the car, firing downwards. It required several modifications to make it work. I've also added the ICE3 sound set to the decoder, but I'm only going to use the motor sound really, possibly the horn and doors closing if I can't find the actual sounds. Things like station announcements I'll add from various sources, just to give it a little bit of a Japanese feel at least =)

I have a question when you installed the speaker, did you modify the weight so you can have room for the speaker?

[Martijn Meerts]

I had to modify the weight yes.. Basically just cut a piece out of the middle of it to make room for the speaker.

[jglrrdb]

I actually forgot to take a picture of that, but basically I just de-soldered the motor wires from the copper tabs they're soldered to, and extended the wires by soldering on new ones. The make sure to insulate the soldered joints. From there the wires just go into the frame of the car (I also cut away a little plastic to give the wires some more space to move). I soldered the wires from both motors directly to the decoder, but I had to cross wire them. So 1 motor was basically soldered on inverted.

 

 

 

 

The reason it's not DCC friendly is because the motors are in the bogies and aren't wired in any way to the rest of the train. The copper pickup strips are really only for interior lighting. You can actually pop out the bogies and run each of them on their own on the track.

 

As for the sound decoder, I just finished installing one. I placed the speaker in the middle of the car, firing downwards. It required several modifications to make it work. I've also added the ICE3 sound set to the decoder, but I'm only going to use the motor sound really, possibly the horn and doors closing if I can't find the actual sounds. Things like station announcements I'll add from various sources, just to give it a little bit of a Japanese feel at least =)

I just received my ESU Decoders, I installed the first function Decoder into the head unit, and I noticed that LED Chip was getting hot. I wound up installing a Resistor on the blue wire and that seems to help.  

[jglrrdb]

I got my set today. Very disappointed that the set was not DCC ready. All the HO models that I have from Kato, JR and German rolling were DCC ready except an early model of the Hamburger set, since then there is a DCC ready one which I have also. I am going to try to install Decoder in the power unit, since otherwise I can't run it, since my Layout is DCC. The only other way is to elevated the track like in Japan, and just run it that way in Analog. Since I do not plan to get a second set. FYI the recent HO Munich Trolley set from Kato is DCC ready. Kind of ironic, since the N gage set is DCC ready. I guess they had to make that way, because they wanted the tilting effect. I am planning to put an ESU sound decoder in, I just have not  found a file for it, but it would be funny to install the IC sound, that also has a German station announcement. I might do that at that. At least there is plenty of room for that, only question is to locate the speaker for best effect.

[jglrrdb]

I just received my ESU Decoders, I installed the first function Decoder into the head unit, and I noticed that LED Chip was getting hot. I wound up installing a Resistor on the blue wire and that seems to help.  

I looked the Programmer again, and there is a section were you can dim the lights. So when I install the last FX decoder, I am going to try that vise adding a resistor

[Martijn Meerts]

Adding a resistor is probably still a better idea.. The dimming function is only really useful for dimming the lights slightly.. If you dim them too much, the LEDs will start noticeably flashing.

[jglrrdb]

Adding a resistor is probably still a better idea.. The dimming function is only really useful for dimming the lights slightly.. If you dim them too much, the LEDs will start noticeably flashing.

When  I installed the second FX decoder, I tuned the brightness down, and that worked also. I have trouble with the sound decoder, ESU Loksound 4.0 M4. I tested it when I first got it, worked fine, it had the wrong file from what I requested, no problem, I loaded the one I wanted. Tested it worked fine. Had all none essential wires clipped and taped off. Only had power leads, and Motor leads hooked up. Did not do anything. Took it back out, and it would not recognize the decoder. Back to ESU with this one. I tested the other motor unit with one the end cars, works great, don't have to change function keys to change lights. for directions changes.

Edited June 10, 2014 by jglrrdb

[jglrrdb]

I actually forgot to take a picture of that, but basically I just de-soldered the motor wires from the copper tabs they're soldered to, and extended the wires by soldering on new ones. The make sure to insulate the soldered joints. From there the wires just go into the frame of the car (I also cut away a little plastic to give the wires some more space to move). I soldered the wires from both motors directly to the decoder, but I had to cross wire them. So 1 motor was basically soldered on inverted.

 

 

 

 

The reason it's not DCC friendly is because the motors are in the bogies and aren't wired in any way to the rest of the train. The copper pickup strips are really only for interior lighting. You can actually pop out the bogies and run each of them on their own on the track.

 

As for the sound decoder, I just finished installing one. I placed the speaker in the middle of the car, firing downwards. It required several modifications to make it work. I've also added the ICE3 sound set to the decoder, but I'm only going to use the motor sound really, possibly the horn and doors closing if I can't find the actual sounds. Things like station announcements I'll add from various sources, just to give it a little bit of a Japanese feel at least =)

I experimented were to place the speaker, instead of messing with the weight, and firing the speaker down, I installing it in the cabin in the area that has no windows. Only thing it is not done, is because my decoder went bad, and I had to send it in to get repaired. I did located speaker and tested in the area before it went bad, and worked great. Can't wait till I can run it on the layout.

[Martijn Meerts]

Wouldn't that mean the speaker sits on top of one of the bogies and the sound is obstructed in all sorts of strange ways?

 

(it might not be a bother for most people to be honest. I'm just fairly critical when it comes to sound quality in general, which is why I refuse to install sound in anything smaller than H0, and even H0 has it's limits :))