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AndyjcClod

Tamiya Truck Trailer (Lights) Question time

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Hi Everyone

I have now saved enough to purchase a larger semi trailer for my King Hauler but I was wondering whats the best route to go down for automatic connection\disconnection of the trailer & lights etc when coupled or uncoupled from the truck?

I am going to go all out and get the tamiya motorised legs as well.

I have looked online for a solution but not found anything yet apart from and few videos where people seems to have done thier own solution.

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AFAIK, Tamiya don't do 'remote' lights for trailers - you either run a wire to them from the tractor unit or go aftermarket

I looked into the aftermarket option for a mate, and there were a couple of wireless sets but it all got a bit too complicated so I gave up

Try this;

 

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In the thread that Twinset has kindly linked I discuss the OB1 bluetooth kit, which you can find here:

https://www.asiatees.com/display?brand=Miscellaneous&model=All&id=108526

For the money, it's actually very good.  If you already have an MFC (01 or 03) and you want the option of disconnecting and driving away, it's the answer.  One unit plugs directly into (and is powered by) the MFC, the other goes into the trailer and is powered by 4x AAA batteries.  Everything wires up very easily and it needs very little configuration.

If you have more than one trailer you can buy additional receiver and light kits, to bind to a different trailer it's just a case of pressing some buttons on the units.

As for disconnecting and driving away while on the layout - you will need the Tamiya motorised leg kit.  The OB1 system is compatible, in that it will detect when the trailer has been disconnected and put the trailer lights into "continuous hazard flashing" mode.  I actually find this quite annoying and would rather it went into "all lights off" mode, especially as the LEDs are quite bright.  Exactly how it detects the trailer is disconnected I'm not sure, because that feature hasn't been working on mine for a little while.  I've disconnected the trailer and driven away and the trailer lights have been merrily following whatever the rig does when it's on the other side of the layout.  Quite spooky, really.  I'm not sure if it recognises a combination of inputs and I'm not doing it quite right, or if it uses the microswitch in the fifth wheel to detect a trailer, in which case mine might be stuck.  Last time I used it it was working perfectly again.

I'm going to start work on another Bruder trailer conversion soon and want to hook up a microswitch that will turn the trailer light kit off completely when the legs are down.  (Also I won't be using a full Tamiya motorised leg kit on that one - I'll be modifying the stock Bruder legs).  I'll also do away with the stock AAA battery box at that point and run all the trailer kit of a single NiMH.

Some quirks:

  • English is a second language for whoever wrote the instruction manual.  It's not that complicated but sometimes takes a couple of reads to work out what a sentence is trying to say.
  • The plastic plug clips inside the case aren't stuck down well.  I pulled the battery connector right off the motherboard once.  The terminals were still in place so it still works, but be careful with the plugs and maybe use a screwdriver to prise them apart rather than pulling on them.
  • The battery box is nice and flat and easy to mount, but it has a screw to remove the cover on one side and the switch on the other.  So you can't actually stick it down anywhere if you don't want to have to unstick it later to change the batteries.

 

SSTronix used to do an infra red light kit which IMO would be better as you can hook up as many trailers as you want without messing around with bluetooth bindings, but when I asked a couple of years ago they said they had stopped making them.

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