Tomix Track Cleaning Car DCC Conversion

Mistakes may damage your locomotive, controller or other accessories. Use a multimeter to make absolutely sure you have completely isolated the motor from the track before testing. Always use the Programming Track for testing. Our guides are provided for reference only, and you proceed entirely at your own risk. Unsure about something - try our DCC Conversion Service instead.

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This guide covers a few variants of what is essentially the same model:

• Tomix Track Cleaning Car (Blue) (6425)
• Tomix Track Cleaning Car (Blue) (064251)
• Tomix Track Cleaning Car (Skeleton Black) (6426)
• Gaugemaster Track Cleaning Car (Network Rail Yellow) (GM2250101)

Step 1 - Remove body

First, remove all of the accessories such as the hoover impeller, fluid reservoir lid and dust bin cover.

Step 2 - Remove bogie

Remove the bogie at the hoover end. Hold the bogie while you remove the long screw so the spring contacts don't pop out.

Step 3 - Remove cover & switch

Unclip the top cover and remove the weight. Lift the circuit board up and remove the switch, this will no longer be used.

Step 4 - Modify PCB

Desolder the wires from the motor contacts and PCB. Remove both capacitors on the PCB (large and small surface mounted), and the bridge rectifier.

Cut a small notch out at one end for the decoder wires to pass through later. Decoders such as the ESU LokPilot 5 Micro are small enough to fit in the space behind the weight. To fit a slightly larger decoder, cut the entire green area out from the PCB.

Step 5 - Connect motor

Solder an orange and grey wire between the motor and the PCB as shown.

Step 6 - Connect decoder

Solder the red and black wires from the decoder to the outer tracks of the PCB as shown. This will provide track power. Solder orange and grey wires from the decoder to the inner circular tracks on the PCB as shown, so the colours correspond with the wires going to the motor. At this point, check there is no continuity between the four wires, in particular between the track pickups and the motor wires.

Step 7 - Reassemble

Refit the PCB and weight. Put some tape around the decoder to insulate it from the chassis, then put it in the gap behind the weight. Refit the cover, and then the bogie.

Step 8 - Test

On your programming track, try reading the decoder ID. If all is well, the motor will judder a couple of times, and it should come back with the default ID. You should now be able to control the hoover power by DCC. Assuming all is well, refit the accessories and the conversion is complete.

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