ICE 1 with two power cars

Straight to the shop

There are several ICE 1 variants: digital, Delta and analogue with a changeover switch.

In principle all of them can be converted and brought up to modern technology. In this example we want to show you the ICE 1 with 2 power cars, 1 motorised car and 1 dummy from set 33701 with 2 coaches.

Converting to our LoDi-Motor WiB ICE-M gives you the following advantages:

• 21-pin MTC interface in the motorised and the unpowered power car
• No earth springs in the coaches at all (which greatly improves how freely the coaches and the whole train roll)
• Absolutely flicker-free thanks to reliable transfer through the current-carrying coupling.
• Speaker preparation right on the board
• Easy to convert

We are often asked whether to go with or without pickup changeover.

Let us explain briefly:

• If you run a computer-controlled layout, in most cases you have no power interruptions at signals. If that is the case you do not need pickup changeover. We connect the pickups front to back, which has the advantage that the train draws current from twice as many points.
• If you still have signals installed that affect the train, you have to use the LoDi-Motor WiB ICE-M-S. There the pickup has to be switched over from the front one to the rear one.

In our current example we do not use pickup changeover.

1. The motorised power car

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First we pull the cover off the coupling.

On the underside of the power car there is a slotted screw, which also has to be removed. The body of the power car can then simply be lifted off.

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Once you have taken the top off, you should first check the condition of the motor. A 5-pole high-performance motor should be fitted in any case. In most cases it already is.

There are 3 capacitors on the motor in total. Two of them should be removed. Modern decoders do not support them and they otherwise interfere with motor control.

You can now unsolder the old board and take it out of the housing along with the 2 mounting screws.

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Older ICE 1s still have bulbs for the head lights, in most cases one white and one red at the front. In principle they can still be used, but we have already provided series resistors on the board for conversion to LEDs — especially since the younger sibling, the ICE 2, comes with LEDs.

We also offer a conversion kit complete with a board that already has LEDs fitted. All you have to do is unsolder the cables from the old holder and solder them to the new one.

If you want to keep using the old bulbs, please bridge resistors R4 and R5 on the LoDi-Motor WiB ICE-M(-S). (The arrows marked green in the picture.)

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For the rest of the conversion we use our own LoDi-ICE1-Front retrofit inserts with the LEDs and a new holder.

Solder the cables to the board as shown in the picture. You can use the original cables; only the brown or orange cable should be shortened a little, as it previously ran straight to both sockets.

The cable colours are:

White LED = grey cable

Red LED = yellow cable

+ = brown or orange

Now we fit the LoDi-Motor WiB ICE-M and screw it down the same way the original board was.

For our conversion we use an ESU LokPilot V5 MKL. You can use any 21-pin decoder, though — it only needs amplified outputs on F1 to F4 if you are using the version with pickup changeover. Aux 5 can be a logic output.

Here is the breakdown of the functions of the LoDi-Motor WiB ICE-M:

Light front = head light white

Light rear = head light red

Aux 1 = pickup changeover, power car 1

Aux 2 = pickup changeover, power car 2

Aux 3 = high beam (if fitted)

Aux 4 = coach lighting

Aux 5 = cab lighting

From motor board version 1.50 onwards there are 2 solder jumpers. They can be used if you are not using pickup changeover. With these jumpers the interior lighting of the coaches is switched through the coupling. They exist so that the decoder's Aux 1 function output can be used, which means no loco decoder with amplified Aux 3 and Aux 4 is required (without MKL).

If the jumper is set at SJ1, switching happens over Aux 4; at SJ2 it is Aux 1.

CAUTION!!!

Only ever one jumper may be set. If both solder bridges are set, it could destroy the decoder!

Should you want to fit a sound decoder in one power car or even in both, we have left room for a speaker on the board. You can also connect it to separate solder pads.

2. The unpowered power car

In principle this train also runs excellently with 2 motors — that lets us pull train lengths of up to 14 coaches. If it is to stay a short train, though, one motor in the whole train is enough in most cases. Nor does the power car without a motor have to be converted. But if you would like to fit front LED lighting here as well, you can use the LoDi-Motor WiB ICE-M here too.

In that case we can do without the pickup changeover (-S).

Let us start by opening the power car without a motor: again pull the cover off the coupling and remove the screw on the lower part of the power car.

Now remove the screws of the original board straight away and unsolder the cables.

In our example the power car without a motor is also fitted with the LoDi-WiB-ICE1, so that the head lights are LEDs here as well.

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Now screw the LoDi-Motor WiB ICE-M into the power car. Connect the cables as follows:

• Left pickup = black cable
• Left RT coupling = red
• Left GE coupling = yellow
• Right brown = ground
• Aux 5 = connection for cab lighting
• Orange = VCC
• Grey = L_WS
• Yellow = L_RT

The old changeover for the lighting can be removed; it is no longer needed.

For our conversion we use an ESU LokPilot FX V5. You can use any 21-pin function decoder, though — it only needs amplified outputs on F1 to F4. Aux 5 can be a logic output; we use it to switch the cab lighting and it is amplified on the board.

Here is the breakdown of the functions of the LoDi-Motor WiB ICE-M:

Light front = head light white

Light rear = head light red

Aux 3 = high beam (if fitted)

Aux 4 = coach lighting

Aux 5 = cab lighting

2. Technical data

Dimensions of the LoDi-(Motor) WiB ICE-M-S:

Length 180 mm

Width 29 mm

Thickness 1.55 mm

Weight: 18 grams, or 19 grams for the (-S) variant.

The LoDi-Motor ICE-M(-S) has a standard 21-pin MTC interface and can be fitted with any common loco or function decoder with a 21-pin interface. Do make sure to use a decoder with amplified Aux 3 and 4 if you are using the version with pickup changeover.

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