QSI Revolution-A Installation in Kato C44-9W
Discontinued, replaced by Titan series of sound decoders.
Steve Gill from Ulrich Models forwarded his Quantum Revolution-A installation notes. Thanks!
QSI Revolution Sound Kit Installation for the Kato C44-9W (2008 Release) and other Kato HO, Sound Ready Diesels
Revised October 11, 2008
I Abstract
The Installation of the Revolution-A board replacement decoder in the Kato Dash 9 is fairly straight forward. It does require some soldering skill. The QSI Revolution brings the Kato Dash 9 to life with great sound and motor control.
Kato C44-9W
QSI Revolution A/Kato Decoder
Kato with Factory Board Installed
Completed Installation
II Installation
1. Remove the shell.
To remove the shell, gently unhook the front stairway handrails form the nose of the locomotive. Also unhook the handrails from the elevated section of the shell on both sides of the body near the cab. It only necessary to detach the railing at all points where it is connected to the body. If desired, the entire handrail on both sides can be removed to insure the handrails will not be damaged during the decoder installation.
Next carefully slide the shell off the platform by lifting it straight up. Wiggling the shell while lifting helps. Watch the rails and platform while doing this to prevent damage.
2. Remove the existing circuit board:
- Removing the two screws
- Slide the 4 black rail power wires from the clips
- Lift the board up while sliding the board off the two copper motor contacts.
3. The Kato motor is connected to the original board by two copper leads that extend up from the motor. These leads must be clipped and wires soldered to them to connect to the motor to the Revolution motor tabs. Clip the leads below the thick portion, low enough so they do not touch the bottom of the revolution board when mounted but leave enough length to solder a wire.
Next, tin the copper leads and the ends of two wires. In the illustration a red wire is connected to the left motor lead and a black wire is connected to the right motor lead. The right motor lead springs out from the bottom and is a bit of a nuisance. It is a good idea to cement it into the slot in the motor case using five minute epoxy. However, it is not required. If you do not attach the lead to the motor case, watch it carefully when you reinstall the shell so it does not get damaged.
Motor Wiring
4. Located on the front motor mount is a rubber T that supports the board. Clip the leg of the T off to allow the Revolution board components to clear.
5. Mount the Revolution board using the two screws from the original board and two insulating washers. The washers must be clipped on one side to clear components. The front of the board has the capacitor attached to it. The screws go through the Revolution board in the narrow part of the slot. They align perfectly.
6. Solder the motor wires with the right (black) lead connected to the rear motor tab and the left (red) wire connected to the front motor tab.
7. Solder the rail wires to the rail power tabs. The leads must be shortened, stripped, and tinned, then soldered to the tab. It is best to add solder to all the tabs before soldering.
8. Connect the speaker.
- Remove the speaker cover (fuel tank) by unlatching catches located on both ends of the cover. An Exacto knife works well for this.
- Run the two speaker wires down to the speaker baffle through the hole located on the right side behind the copper motor lead.
- Solder the leads to the speaker and insert the speaker into the enclosure
- Reinstall the speaker cover (fuel tank).
9. Test the locomotive on the track
10. If the test was successful, reinstall the shell.
Note: This procedure can be used on any Kato HO diesel locomotive. The speaker mounting is different for Kato locomotives that are not “sound friendly”.
