Finding space With motors, weights, and electronics taking up most of the space inside the model, the first step was to figure out how to get the ESU PowerPack Mini into the shell. The ESU DCC capacitor is the smallest on the market presently, which is a good thing given the space limitations. After an attempt to use the space between the rear headlight assembly and the speaker housing (just too small to work), I settled for modifying the weight under the short hood.
Weight reduction %X ǂ VWX KPERGI ]SY QMKLX XLMRO it would have been easier to simply remove the nose weight from the model. However, the weight also serves to hold the short hood headlight assembly, as well as keeps the wiring out of the drive train, so some of the piece needed to remain. I used a hacksaw to cut enough material from the weight to comfortably fit the PowerPack unit, while allowing it to still act as a support shelf for the capacitor, headlights, and wiring.
Wiring run The ESU PowerPack has three wires that need to go to the decoder. Fortunately, Rapido designed its RS-11 with two wiring channels that run under the cab floor for the headlight wires. I added the three new wires to the channels as well. I taped the capacitor assembly to the top of the weight, but at the time, I didn’t also secure the wires. Later, during a video shoot, one of those wires found its way into the drive train, causing the motor to bind. I’ve since secured all wiring in the area with more tape so that can’t happen again.
Making connections
The three wires attach to a set of solder pads along one edge of the decoder. As shown in the photo, they attach from left to right as red, white, and black. The soldering pads are very small, so a fine-tip iron is a must for this job. After tinning each wire and each pad, I used a self-closing tweezer to hold the wire in position and carefully finished the connection with a quick touch of the iron. Starting with the innermost wire (the black one) and working outward helped the process.
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