Playmobil EMU 4016 upgrade

[Marco_4124]

Did you know that it is possible to change the end bogies so that your EMU could pull another wagon or coach. The bogies from the Panorama Coach 6342 are a direct fit for the bogies on the EMU (RCE). Your would need the bogie 30 67 9900 and coupling 6310, Hope this may be of help to you.

Thanks. I have the panorama car too, and coupling was not a problem until now. I consider a further rebuilding, but I have to save some pocket money first

So, after this discussion I went back to the drawing board, and spent several nights there .



I’ve noticed that some improvements got my attention:

1) As Walts-Trains said it is possible to replace both front bogies with bogies from Panorama car 6842. Although it is not strictly necessary to pull other cars, the hook on the bogies from Panorama car 6842 makes the coupling far more reliable. Because the motor from EMU 4016 is in the middle of the train, both end bogies has the tendency to derail because of the light weight. To improve this, I want to replace the plastic wheels by metal wheels.

2) The RC motor is 6 volt and actually powers only one axle. At the other end, EMU 4016 is quite heavy. Certainly if you know that if I spot car 4119 I will extend EMU 4016. Most of my other trains are from LGB and run on 2-rail 14 volt DC, the same as the older Playmobil trains. I have one bogie left over from 4016, and I will rebuild that with a 14 volt Playmobil motor. My plan is to keep both motor bogies, and use the one that I need. On a digital layout, or on a place where a transformer for my layout is not at hand, I can use the RC motor bogie instead.

Well, as you can see, never a dull moment with a model train or Playmobil .

[playmofire]

If you take the R/C motor out of an original 4016 drive unit, a track powered Playmobil motor will fit in with room to spare.  It could probably be held in place with heavy duty double sided tape, the type you can buy at motoring shops for fixing side trim on cars, or maybe even Velcro.

[Marco_4124]

Improving the RC motor.

WARNING: After playing always remove the batteries from the motor and the remote control. Leaking batteries can damage the motor or RC control beyond repair. Even rechargeable batteries do leak in the long term.

The performance of your RC motor greatly depends on the type of battery you are using:

1) Normal batteries: Normal batteries work fine, but due to the high power consumption of the electric motor the batteries will soon be empty. I only use them in case of emergency.



Normal battery.

2) Alkaline  batteries: At first glance this is a better option. The power output from alkaline batteries is higher than normal batteries. Though, Alkaline batteries has one disadvantage: they have a higher resistance in comparison to other batteries. Alkaline batteries will perform better than normal batteries, but do not last as long as one might expect.



Alkaline battery.

3) NiMH recharable batteries: NiMH recharable batteries works as fine as alkaline batteries, but have a lower resistance and because of that will preform longer. The slightly lower voltage of 1,2 volt will hardly be noticed. Another advantage is that you can recharge them and use multiple times. Because of the high power consumption of the Playmobil motor I would choose batteries of 2000 mA or higher.



NiMH battery.

4) ENELOOP recharable batteries: A disadvantage of NiMH batteries is that they discharge as soon as they leave the battery charger. After one year a NiMH battery is empty, but a ENELOOP battery will still give 70% of its capacity. ENELOOP batteries are developed by Sanyo. Sanyo sells them under their own name as ENELOOP or with the name Sanyo XX recharable batteries powered by ENELOOP. Since Panasonic took over Sanyo they are today called Panasonic ENELOOP. At first I was very skeptical about the promises made by ENELOOP, but by now I can tell that they are right. A disadvantage of ENELOOP batteries is that they are only made as AA or AAA batteries, but C and D adapters are available.



ENELOOP battery.

[playmofire]

Thanks for this information.  I usually use the NiMH batteries but had been trying to find out more about the Eneloop ones, but without much success; you've usefully provided what I wanted to know.

[Marco_4124]

A ENELOOP battery is a LSD-NiMH or LD-NiMH (Low [Self] Discharge-NiMH) battery. They discharge as low as a normal battery. By far ENELOOP is the most well-known, but Turnigy and Tenergy makes them too, albeit with another technology. With the last two brands I have no experience.

[Marco_4124]

Job 1: Upgrading the front bogies:
At Playmobil I have ordered the following spare parts:
— From box 6342 (Panorama car) spare part 30 67 9900 (bogies), 2X.
— From box 6342 (Panorama car) spare part 30 65 0443 (coupling hooks), 2X.
Now I am waiting for UPS to come by.

Also I bought Liliput L999304 metal wheels.



Job 2: Bogie with 2-rail 14 volt DC motor:

Well, as you can see, never a dull moment with a model train or Playmobil .

Sometimes I wish I keep my big mouth shut. On eBay I found a Playmobil motor in good condition. Never saw one that was so clean and well maintained, and for a reasonable price too! When I received this motor by the post and tested it on my LGB tracks it did run very well, until you reverse direction. It needed most of the time a gentle push to reverse direction. Not a great option when your train is at the other side of the garden. Not satisfied with what I saw, I dismantled the Playmobil motor, only to find out that troubles lies oft in the details. One of the four current pick-ups from the wheels was broken, only to find it back in the grease of the gear box. Again, Playmoking on eBay was able to deliver a new current pick-up. In the meantime I cleaned the gearbox and motor housing and applied fresh grease on the gearing wheels. Now I am awaiting the post to arrive with the new current pick-up, before I build up the motor.



Such a little thing can cause troubles. One of the four current pick-ups is broken, see red circle.

[Marco_4124]

Playmobil 4393 / 4220
Sometimes you will still find on eBay battery charger 4393 and accu 4220. I strongly advice not to buy these. An accu will not last forever, and most of the time after loaded over 1000 times the accu is at the end of its lifespan. Specially if an NiMH accu is over 2000 mA, it last less then 1000 reloads. If you buy on eBay 4393/4220, the risk is very high that the accu is over the half of its lifespan, making it an expensive investment.

Better option: find Playmobil battery case 7829 and buy common AA NiMH (or ENELOOP) batteries you will find in most stores and super markets. Because you can open and close 7829 with a screwdriver, it is quite easy to replace empty or broken batteries. Also, standard AA batteries are available almost everywhere.

[Junker Jörg]

WARNING: After playing always remove the batteries from the motor...

Nicht nur nach dem Spielen, auch wenn die Lok während des Spielens länger stehenbleibt, sollte der Batteriekasten herausgezogen werden. Der Playmobilmotor zieht leider auch im Stand Strom. When ever an engine is parked for a longer while (even while playing) power supply should be cut as the motor drains the battery even while doing nothing but standing still.

jj:

[Marco_4124]

Job 1: Upgrading the front bogies:

So, the last few days I received several packages from the post. From Playmobil I've got the new bogies with coupling hook, the metal Liliput wheels I've already bought. Today it was simply put one and one together to build up the new bogies.



These are the new bogies 30 67 9900 / 30 65 0443 from Playmobil with metal L999304 wheels from Liliput. The new bogies are much heavier and stay better on the rails.



The old bogies (on the left hand) compared with the new bogies (on the right hand). The original old bogies have plastic wheels with couplings without hook, the new bogies are much heavier with metal wheels and couplings with hooks. I also like the sound of metal wheels on rails, very much like the prototype.

Several pictures from the new bogies under Playmobil 4016. Due to bad weather I was not able to make pictures.

[Marco_4124]

Job 2: Bogie with 2-rail 14 volt DC motor:

I have completed a second bogie for the Playmobil 4016 EMU with the Playmobil 14 V / 10 W 2-rail DC motor. Now I have the choice to run 4016 with a RC motor bogie or a 14 V 2-rail DC motor. I must say that the latter is more powerful.