New Tool Class 08 Fit Stay Alive and Lights (Next18) Graham Farish

[@phillipg1588]

OMG those next18 socket pins are almost microscopic. I think that 2 axle and 3 axle loco makers should help out by having Stay Alives installed at the factory. I would GLADLY pay the added extra. Let's face it... 2 and 3 axle loco's are simply NOT going to run smoothly over points without one fitted. I have managed to solder those two wires {GND and V+) to the relevant socket pins using head worn magnifying goggles and lots of light. Now just waiting for the LaisDcc Stay Alive Lite 2 to arrive. Fingers crossed 🤞 *** UPDATE *** Stay Alive fitted and now this loco performs like a dream. Absolutely beautiful to run, right down to a crawl over multiple turnouts and NO stuttering whatsoever. I am impressed!

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

@@phillipg1588 The Stay alives really get away with the anxiety from running little locos at slow speeds, now you've got the stay alive bug! 🤣

[@Elvinley]

Absolutely amazing! I need to fit a stay alive to mine when I'm feeling brave. With 08s, when shunting, the red and white lights are all left on both ends

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

The Stay alives are magic 👍 Thanks for watching 👍

[@lostcarpark]

That's impressive. I expect it's a life saver going through points. The lights are a beautiful detail.

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

Yes i use the insulfrog points and it easily navigates them 👍

[@Cn-modelisme]

Fantastic job. Very impressed

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

Thank You, i felt a lot of people want to do this and thought a fairly concise video would help the DIYers a little 👍

[@petertownsend8276]

Excellent. Thank you. Pete

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

Thanks Pete, thanks for watching, Cheers Rich

[@BrianSeaman]

Hats off to you for doing this. I wish I had even half your skill/eyesight/dexterity/knowledge. Great outcome, well filmed too.

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

Lovely words Brian thank you 👍, a pair of good tweezers definitely helps but im not without my impairments lol, my eyesight isnt fantastic so i use alot of light which helps me to see better👍

[@phillipg1588]

@@ThisWayWorksTWW I have a digital microscope with screen & illumination that zooms in extremely well to those "microscopic" fine decoder socket pins. Should make the soldering job much easier - I hoping.

[@michaelderozario5626]

Good work. I have no sub locos because I can’t stand the stuttering over (multiple) points. Sold a beautiful Jinty as a scale 150mph to get over the aforementioned doesn’t work for me.

[@michaelderozario5626]

swb even…

[@PeachyTT120]

absolutely inspiring work, very well done... I can't wait to see you do this to Hornbys TT120 BR 08.

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

Thanks Peachy 👍, yes absolutely watch this space 👍

[@davidf2281]

Impressive work 👍

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

Thank you, i still have flashbacks of wiring 🤣

[@wimbletrain]

Hi Rich, very nicely done once again! One day I hope to fit a stay alive to my old 08 which I have modified for DCC as it constantly stalls over points, etc. Cheers. John

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

Thanks for watching John, The Stay alives really are amazing things, they almost eliminate the train stopping anxiety 👍 Take care, Rich

[@1tonyboat]

i`ve just fitted one to my 00 gauge 08 ,,,the best it`s ever run ,,,,,lift it off the track and it travels about 1 ft ..perfect

[@phillipg1588]

I just purchased a Graham Farish/Bachmann N scale 08 class and straight away was wondering why were lights never fitted as standard. It has a sound decoder but no lights hmmmm. Anyway the Stay Alive is absolutely a must have! There's no doubt about it. This loco simply HATES going over points. So many thanks for your video. I have some work to do 😃

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

@@phillipg1588 Thanks for watching, Yep unless the 08's are absolutely spotless of dirt and the pickups are set properly i agree with the "stay alive is needed". I surpose the stay alives also allow us to run the locos more than cleaning them, good luck with your venture to fit one 👍, they really are a game changer😁

[@railway187]

Impressive upgrade 😮🤩👍

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

I love the little Class 08, glad you like it 👍

[@GWRailFan]

Im glad ive seen this for when i want to DCC my loco or id of just snapped those hand rails 🤣🤣 fair play on getting it light fitted aswell, defiantly a 1 of a kind 08, wont be long before you make this a service for everyone to use

[@Paul-ue3zy]

Yer are getting very professional!!! Excellent job as usual. The video format is very clear and useful. Pity about "grinded" though....😉😋

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

Haha thanks, theres a few spelling mistakes im affraid and grammar issues, fear not my Mrs will be proof watching the videos before there release from now on so bear with me haha im slowly improving 😂

[@mikeuk1954]

Brilliant job. And I'm still holding off doing a simple dcc conversion on my 08.

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

Cheers Mike, Id start with the DCC conversion first then maybe consider lights 😁, which type of 08 is yours?

[@mikeuk1954]

@@ThisWayWorksTWW BR Railfreight 08834 Model No 371-014. Lights never even entered my mind. Just a straightforward dcc conversion.

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

@@mikeuk1954 it looks like you take out the four screws and move that peice of wire like my one, lift body off, remove blank chip then plug a Next 18 decoder in, yours is the same as mine, it will look the same under the body minus the sound decoder i have 👍. My email is in the about section on this channel if you maybe wanted me to have a look at it? Lights wise im probably not going to do another one for a little while, i need a rest haha

[@mikeuk1954]

@This Way Works no mine is not the same. It's dc and requires a top hat to convert it. I have the kit but haven't gotten around to doing it yet.

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

@@mikeuk1954 ok, i did just look at the Hattons website and it said it was Next 18. Either way im sure you'll like it once you fit your chip👍 good luck

[@jackshepherd6276]

Great video. I often wondered about putting lights on the 08, as there's quite a lot of room in the new Next 18 version. I might give it a try when I get round to fitting the stay alive.

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

Yes id say the next 18 without sound is probably the most spacious inside 👍, good luck, be good to see it when you do it👍

[@jackshepherd6276]

@@ThisWayWorksTWW I've already put a Zimo MS590 N18 sound card in it and have the stay alive parts. You have me thinking about the lights though, that would finish things nicely...👍

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

@@jackshepherd6276 id say go all out whilst your in there then 👍

[@1tonyboat]

Thanks for that Rich , going to do the same with my old EWS 08.....it`s `00` so should be a bit easier ..just had it`s first overhaul after 15 years !!!!!!!

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

You may want to use the larger stay alives "Lais" offer for a 00 gauge motor. Good luck 👍

[@1tonyboat]

Treated it to a new chip and stay alive and yes from Laisdcc . i`ll be busy over the weekend 👍👍

[@c-historia]

amazing video! well done ✅

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

Thank You 👍

[@fouldsp]

Excellent work!

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

Thank you, i love the little thing, thought it was about time someone showed how to do it as theres really not alot of info out there 👍

[@fouldsp]

I just wish that Bachmann would have the foresight to include solder pads on the PCB for the lights and auxiliary ports. It would make it a tad easier to add lights and other features to their model. Well done for putting this video together, I'm sure it will inspire others to have a go at adding the stay alive and lights.

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

@@fouldsp Thank you, yeah i dont see why they didnt add the lights stock TBH. The Class 20 cab is pretty similar and their new tooling 20 has the lights, probably a trade off of sound vs lights vs price i suspect

[@iansngauge]

Well that was fantastic Rich! I was just as impressed with your camera skills as I was the conversion itself! It's always fiddly keeping things in focus when you're filming things this small! The lights definitely add something to the loco - I'm not quite sure where all of that wire went though! Lol! Keep up the excellent work! All the best, Ian.

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

I use two desklamps to flood with light, the camera sort of does the rest lol, i left it til the next day when i had all that wiring laying about, it was overwhelming TBH but if you break it down and do a wire at a time you get there in the end. Glad you like the video and hopefully you find it useful even if to remove the body so you can get inside yours👍, Speak soon Rich👍

[@needlesbeckett]

Outstanding 🎉

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

Thank you, its one of my Favourites to drive around, everyone needs a Class 08 :)

[@OrerenACE]

Brilliant as always!

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

Cheers dude 👍

[@ianpearce6501]

Excellent work. I love the way you've managed to get drivers in there .. HOW ????

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

Haha thanks, yes i honestly dont know how i crammed those drivers in either, it just sort of happen! 🤣

[@IronHorseRailways]

So it's cab removal job then for one of those, il need to keep that in mind should I ever decide to get an N scale GRONK!

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

Yep sure is, good luck 👍

[@PeachyTT120]

PS just for added pressure I'm gonna share this amongst as much of the TT120 gang as possible! 🙂

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

No pear pressure then! 😂😂😂, Its on its way so im committed now! 🤣

[@PeachyTT120]

@@ThisWayWorksTWW I’ve just watched Sam’s review and he’s noticed the instructions for the TT version has a drawing of a flywheel fitted. But it’s actually missing from the model, possibly because of the contacts for the motor were forgotten by the designer? I’ve just looked at mine and I’m thinking with some clever neater soldering of the motor one might fit. I recon you need to add it to the job list. 😊

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

@@PeachyTT120 i think the stay alive will do a pretty good job to simulate the lack of flywheel, im just uploading an unbox video now, il start my antics on it soon enough so not too long to wait now :) interesting they show a flywheel though, maybe Hornby preferred space inside vs the flywheel so peops can add sound to them? i quite like the size of TT 👍

[@PeachyTT120]

@@ThisWayWorksTWW I’m not sure how beneficial a flywheel at this scale would be, but certainly in 00 they can make a loco super smooth at very low speed crawling.

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

@@PeachyTT120 ues it would definitely help if staying on DC. Im fairly confident i can get the smooth running and crawl from going DCC and tuning the CVs a bit, plus the Stay alive. Its probably best i do a comparison of before and after i do the mods.. i mean if i could also fit a flywheel i probably would however i feel its gona be a bit tight allready and ive not even opened her up yet 🤣

[@gmantree]

Fantastic work! I need to employ your services to do mine! 👍 Graham.

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

Thanks for watching Graham, its a fairly involved thing to do thats for sure, maybe email me in a couple of months when ive forgotten how painful the tiny soldering and all the grinding was 🤣, cheers Rich

[@gmantree]

Hi Rich, I’ve bitten the bullet and had a go myself, I’m ok till it’s come to soldering the wires onto the decoder socket tabs, have you got any tips as I’m having a nightmare, I’m using extremely fine wire and also the soldering iron in your link. Any advice would be very grateful. Cheers Graham

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

@@gmantreegood on you Graham 👍 i have my soldering iron at 455°C. I use solder with flux in it too... I tend to get my wires tinned( solder them), tin the contacts near the socket too (pre solder them). Then when you try and solder them together they solder nicely together.. hopefully im making some sense 🤔. There is another option if you find the soldering a bit to small too... You can get Next18 pcbs that actually have solderpads on them.. so it would be a case of removing the existing pcb socket on the loco for a more solder friendly version which has a solder tab for lights and positive for stay alive and ground etc.. i beleive its made by lais, il try and find a link for it shortly.. i cant gaurantee it will fit but its worth a shot if the existing pcb is problematic, they are only a couple of quid...

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

@@gmantree heres a link to the PCB i mentioned... www.ebay.co.uk/itm/193159098115?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=V5rZPaVTRVa&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=u8TBKUlDSdi&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

[@gmantree]

@@ThisWayWorksTWW cheers for the reply Rich, I did tin the wire but didn’t really help, I’m not even going to attempt the lights 🤪 just the stay alive, the alternative pcb sounds like the answer 👍

[@Hal-Zuzzu_Model_Railway]

Super job well done :)

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

Cheers Buddy 👍

[@Tintin-dm4ym]

do these laisdcc stay alives only work with laisdcc decoders? would they not work with an esu decoder for example? also what decoder comes with the farish 08 sound fitted locos? thanks

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

@@Tintin-dm4ym they work with a variety of other decoders, most manufacturers have schematics of where a stay alive can be wired too. You would have to have a look at the instructions and wiring for an ESU decoder. From memory this is a zimo decoder, the standard sound decoder that comes with the sound fitted 08

[@Tintin-dm4ym]

@@ThisWayWorksTWWawesome, thanks! And fantastic job of course, this lights really mock the rest of us 😂

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

@@Tintin-dm4ym if you take your time its all within our grasp to do wiring like this, i would suggest practicing on some random wires though before diving into the class 08! 😁

[@tpnh457]

I followed this fantastic tutorial on my own 08! Installing the lais capacitor and a lais 18 pin decoder, however it has recently stopped working. It is recognised when I read it on the program track but does not move when I place it on the main track which is odd. Do you think it could be a decoder problem ? Love the videos !

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

@@tpnh457 It could be a decoder issue. Sometimes resetting a decoder to its default settings can help. I think from memory setting CV 8 to 8 resets decoder back to defaults, worth a try 👍

[@tpnh457]

@ just given that a go and it didn’t work, however after leaving it on the track with a few speed steps it’s started working again flawlessly, it hasn’t been run for a few months so I’m not sure if that has anything to do with it ! Whether it’s something to do with the capacitor draining over time ? Thanks for the quick reply anyway !

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

@tpnh457 glad to hear it is working again! Electronics can sometimes be mystical, good stuff 👍

[@TheHeritageLine]

Brilliant video Rich! will definitely be using this when I modify my outside frame 08's. I already have some wired 0201's for this project. What are the chances of a stay alive in an old Poole type 08? 😂😂😂. Just a thought with the lights, In theory on the Zimo decoders they have 4 aux outputs so a light could be wired to each aux and with some clever function mapping a series of light combinations could be derived for directional, parking, shunting mode etc, What are your thoughts? All the best Tony.

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

Yeah absolutely you could utilize all four outputs for any of your lighting needs👍 i was just lazy in this case and wired them up for simple direction indication👍 Yes i think i could put a stay alive in a poole type, id put a coreless in it though at the same time tbh so it gives you a bit more space, i suspect more chopping would be required 💩

[@lostcarpark]

I haven't seen the stay alive before. Does it use batteries, or just capacitors?

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

This stay alive and many others are capacitors normally with a diode and a couple of resistors built into them too👍

[@mauricekerrigan6759]

Hope you don't mind - but I've sent you an email re: this stay alive & lights fitting.

[@ThisWayWorksTWW]

I shall have a look once im back home later👍 Cheers Rich