INFO ON WIRING DIAGRAMS AND PARTS INFO IN DESCRIPTION! Two things to note: 1. I didnt show how I added the new headlight LED in, but literally just cut the wires off of the bulb and solder them to your light of choice, and fit it into the headlight housing. Make sure you use heat shrink tubing to insulate the wire connections so they dont short out. 2. I hardwire 21 pin decoders because it saves money. Yes, using a 9 pin decoder or a 21 pin plus decoder buddy is much easier and is recommended if youre new to soldering, but also adds $10 to the price of each engine install. When you have a lot of engines, the savings are worth it in the long run.
Nice work man. I found that the BLI K4's were the most unorthodox in wire design compared to their other line-up of models. It makes it a bit trickier to work on than the rest, mainly if they are probably P2-P3. After finishing my streamlined K4 with the TCS WOW1517 install. I am sure to bring some fun content when I upload it.
@@trainman440 Well, all the K4's in general is different than your usual Broadway steam engine. The K4 has a double end male plug tether, which I have yet to see on another BLI model. 🤔
Glad to see it went to a good home! That headlight was annoyingly dim for sure, and I could’ve tried a bit harder on that 3D printed cylinder cap but it was close enough I called it good. I’ve got a QSI era Hudson that I’m planning to swap the decoder for after a while.
The piston looks fine, I think you did a good job, its just that the nature of 3d printing resulting in an uneven surface, and the fact that its glossy black is a little bothersome. With some sanding and paint it should look better. Im going to contact BLI to see if they have any replacement parts, and if not I'll do what I said above. I also just changed my ebay username to trainman440, so hopefully in the future I can save some sellers the ebay fees by purchasing via paypal :) Cheers!
Probably already been said, but heatshrink tubing over each pin on the header that you've soldered a wire to will make each wired connection just that little more secure. Great sound now, even with the low-end speakers as you say. 🙂
I agree, that would help however I usually only do heatshrink if theres a chance for the pins to touch due to movement. These pins are really sturdy, I dont see any chance for the wires to accidently touch given that I did the initial soldering job correctly. I even use an xacto knife and run it between the pins after I do the soldering to make sure nothing is touching. I might start incorporating heatshrink in my 21 pin installs in the future. Cheers!
I have installed a 21pin header in my BLI QSI class J and I found a Pin out wired it up and my TCS WOW decoder is getting really warm and the engine wont run I double checked everything ands its driving me crazy.
@@trainman440 I had the tender chassis grounded to the decoder buddy I was using, and luckily it did not burn out my decoader. I got a new one and I insulated it this time now it works great.
me too lol, they dont sound great. At the same time though, I hate spending another $100 for a decoder ontop of the price of the engine itself. Personally if I were you I would try to find a PCM (paragon 1) QSI Reading T1. Those are cheaper (despite being the same engine with same tooling), AND they have a huge lead weight inside the smokebox instead of a smoke unit, since it was made before BLI started adding smoke to their engines. They will pull much more as a result.
