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Showing results for tags 'conductive wheels'.
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What happens if you mix LEGO, black Delrin and some 0-gauge railroading stuff? Well, with the right tools you can make custom power pickups (no LEGO modification necessary). Here's how: Custom power pickup (parts) by alainneke, on Flickr From top left to right bottom: steel 0-gauge wheel, custom made insulated flanged bushing (which fits the steel wheel to a standard 2mm LEGO train axle), ball contact (rubs against backside of the wheel), spring (pushes the ball contact against the wheel), custom made flanged bushing (holds both the ball contact and spring and fits in a Technic hole), Technic brick, miniature connector. The steel wheel is manufactured by NWSL, the ball contacts come from a German website specialised in 0-gauge stuff and the connector is a standard Marklin connector cutted in half. The bushings are machined from an 8mm rod of Delrin on a mini-lathe (for the curious, a picture is in my photostream) and made to be a friction-fit to the wheel and Technic brick. Custom power pickup (partial assembled) by alainneke, on Flickr Putting these parts together, you get a train axle with steel wheels (both insulated from the axle) and a spring-loaded ball contact. Custom power pickup assembly by alainneke, on Flickr Combining these two, add a wheel holder and voila: a custom power pickup. Custom power pickup bogie by alainneke, on Flickr After soldering on some wires, I've fitted the pickups to one of the bogies of my Emerald Night tender. Emerald Night tender with steel weels by alainneke, on Flickr The diameter of the 0-gauge wheels is the same as the standard LEGO train wheels, but the flange is a lot smaller. This gives a nice clickety-clack on the turnouts, but can also lead to derailments. It turns out that the manufacturer of the steel wheels also makes 'pizza cutter' style wheels, and these have already been ordered... Emerald Night tender with steel wheels by alainneke, on Flickr The wires can be connected to the LiPo battery, a DCC chip, a PF motor, lights, ... The pickups actually work better than the ones on the original 9V motor: the wheels make contact with the railhead using the tread instead of just a little part of the flange. Please comment!
