Scaleart - assembling an Arocs 8x8 roll on roll off kipper

[Trucker Al]

Wow! What a entanglement of wires, and not a lot of room. Still you are doing a great job..Can't wait for the next installment...

Alan

[Rakthi]

Hi Al, lots of wires, but actually compared to the "before Kingbus" era, it's not that bad ... Before you would have all the wires from the individual LEDs and miniature lamps. Just imagine having another 20+ wires ... Seen some pictures on the German forums that give me nightmares.

Wasn't going to post until I got a working or partially working project, but would be too many pictures - already have to split this up. So here goes - a dry run on how to install this stuff.

Part 1

Before you can mess with the wiring, you need to build the box that will hold all the various bits - this in itself another marvel of engineering. (I must sound like an advert for them, but you really have to handle this stuff to appreciate the meticulous attention details)











Later in the game I found that the long screw on the right in the picture should be about 1/2mm more to the right. These screws will hold the board which all the connectors for the power.



Next the wire that connects the cab electrics (a detailed color code is provided)



An approximation on how to install it all according to the manual. (The manual provides alternatives for those people who don't use ScaleART stuff)



Lid goes on top



Battery in place

[Rakthi]

Part 2

Now time to try this on the truck with all the wires. At this point I didn't know what to do with all the wires, so I just shoved them randomly through the openings. What I noticed immediately is that, yes you can probably get the bottom plate on the chassis, but it sure interferes with the front lock/kip mechanism from the cab. Ended up trimming some from that area.



Forgot to take pics after cutting the bits of. So here some I took later.

Trimmed bit on the left side of the truck - could have trimmed of a bit more actually



Right side - had to trim at an angle because of the shape of the holder for the flat cable connector



Then on with installing it and bolting it to the previously installed holders.

Here the screw that is 1/2mm out comes into play. I already filed out the hole (needed to move the screw a bit to fit the connector board) but apparently not enough. I had to file a bit off the holder too.





Once these 2 problems are sorted, the rest just fits perfectly. Those screws "click" in those holes with authority. This just makes you forget the 2 previous imperfections. (Kind of reassuring to know not everything is perfect )



Fits nice and flush to the locking mechanism of the cabin



The idea is to feed all the cables through the opening under the electrical board, however some of my Servo wires would be too short (should have made the extension from the hydraulic valves 1 inch longer) to reach the receiver. This also creates a rather big mess in the area where the ESC is supposed to go. So decided to cut a small bit of the board. (Nothing there anyway)



Then, why not ... an ever bigger hole so I can get all the wires through except the Kingbus from the rear lights and the power from the pump.



Here all servo wires connected. Some are way too long. Need a crimping tool and plugs to shorten them (ebay to the rescue). But will do for now.



The cabin connector/cable installed and checking placement of the ESC and BEC. Lots of room really. Had to cut of on of the "feet" of the receiver to accommodate the ESC.



The flat cable split up for cutting/connecting



So that's where we are at the moment ... is 8:30 am here so maybe I can finish today.

Stephan

[Rakthi]

Part 3

Cut some cables and soldered some others. Folded excess servo wires as best as possible until I can shorten them.



This one goes nowhere so gets cut. (I actually asked the guys at ScaleART months ago about it)



Same for this one, 2 are for sound if speaker is the in exhaust, other two not used. Haven't cut this one yet.



Installed cover, plugged in battery, couldn't lock cab until I bend the wires from the battery down.



Tested and everything works except, the left rear light the cats played with and





one LED at the front is kaput ...

High beam, foglight and other other bits work



except for the regular head light



I must have bumped the corner somehow somewhen. See paint damage. This must have put stress on he LED board what probably caused the damage.



Will also have to look into the power to the cabin ... somehow the sound isn't working nor the indicator and stand lights. (mhmm ... must be my brilliant soldering)

For the rest things are good. Haven't yet put in the oil, but I know the pump and servos are working.

So looks like I'm ordering new rear and front LEDs. By the time those arrive, I will have the crimping tool too. So will redo the whole lot at the same time.

Nice thing with the Kingbus system is that I just have to unplug the faulty one and plug in the new one. No wires to cut solder and what not



Cheers!

Stephan

[Rakthi]

Oops ... reason no power in cabin and no sound ... forgot to plug in the connector Another senior moment.