Tip: Faller Water Mill Enhancements Date:

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1 Hi All, I have had this classic Faller water mill for well over forty years now and decided to service it and enhance the mill both in operation and aesthetics. I have had the mill installed on my current layout for twenty plus years and its operation has been very good. The mill hasn t been used for some time and last week I discovered that the pump had failed to work so a service was on my list of things to do. While I was servicing the pump I decided to add a yellow LED light to show the water, water wheel in low light, which would also double as an indicator that the water mill was functioning. This service took a little longer than usual because I decided to document my mill and include a few photos which I hope you will find interesting. Pump Service Once the pump was removed I removed the bottom spring retainer see red arrow which allowed me to remove the lower spring. The metal plunger was stuck but with a few bangs of the pump on the table the plunger was free enough to allow extraction of the plunger, one way valve and another spring. The problem was a small rust spot that had grown in size enough to prevent the movement of the plunger. The rust spot was removed and the plunger was polished so all signs of rust was removed. With the pump reassembled it was tested in a small tub of water before re installing into the water mill. You will notice I also fixed a large cable tie around the body of the pump and cut the tail to a length of 35mm. This was most useful to assist in fitting the pump into the small recess at the rear of the water mill without using the wires as an aid which could have been damaged. 1

2 New Enhancements LED Light While I had the water mill removed from the layout I added a yellow 0603 LED for a nice lighting effect. I cut two 400mm lengths of black ESU wire and soldered the wires to the LED. To support the wires I used 1.5mm heat shrink tube which is pre shrunk to 1mm size using the shank of a 1mm drill. The shrunk heat shrink tube was then cut into 3mm lengths. The yellow line above shows the path of the wires. Four lengths of heat shrink are threaded on to the wires and glued under the eaves with gel super glue at the locations shown in red. Care should be taken not to get any glue on the wires as the wires will be pulled tight so the wires will remain hidden. The wires were threaded in a gap under the water trough on the support column shown by the dashed yellow line. Another four lengths of heat shrink are threaded on to the wires and glued at the locations shown by the red arrows. Finally the wires are soldered to two rolled IC pins to make a plug. The plug is protected by heat shrink and the positive wire (anode on the LED) is marked with a white dot. 2

3 Wiring Diagram for AC to DC LED Light Supply +Plus k84 16V AC ~ ~ 220uF 25V -Neg 1k 15Vdc Water Mill LED The AC supply yellow wire is wired with one pump wire and is switched with a latching 12V relay connected to a k83. The 220uF capacitor provides a smooth DC supply for a non flickering LED light and the 1k resistor is for current limiting. I mounted the lighting PCB close to the rear of the water mill using K-track screws. The plug and socket arrangement allows for easy servicing in the future. 3

4 Water Wheel Modifications With the age of this model the plastic axle had become worn and a few years ago I used a nail for the axel which worked well but still created wear on the hole in the plastic water wheel. It was time to try and improve the water wheel bearing and axle. For the water wheel bearing I used 1/8 brass tube cut to 13.5mm length which is pushed into the existing worn hole of the wheel, no glue was used to hold it in place. The axle is 3/32 x 25mm brass rod. An 8BA brass washer is used to help maintain an even surface on the broken plastic wheel bearing. The washer is held at the correct position with a small length of 1.5mm heat shrink tube which didn t need to be shrunk at all. Finally I used a black permanent marker to colour the washer and the end of the axle. The axle is a press fit into the original axle hole on the mill with the other end of the axle supported by the original axle support frame. The axle frame isn t glued but held in place by two small blobs of blue tac which makes further servicing and removal of the wheel possible. 4

5 Controlling Water Leaks (previous modification) The main problem with the original model was as the wheel turned it would flick water droplets out the back which wasn t a desired outcome. The solution was to glue a clear thin plastic barrier (40x25x0.8mm) to redirect the water back into the water reservoir. In the left photo you will see I have cut the base plate shown by the yellow lines. This allowed the clear plastic barrier to be lowered into the water reservoir. I also made sure there was a bead of glue along the top of the base plate and the barrier to prevent capillary migration of the water on the other side of the barrier which can be seen in the right photo. Camera setup for taken photos on the layout The camera is inverted on the tripod and the centre column can be lowered to obtain the desired angle for the subject. 5

6 Some Installation History When I installed the water mill on my layout the criteria was the mill must be removable for ease of servicing. Before building the plaster shell for the hill I cut out the shape of the mill base on 9mm thick plywood for the platform to support the mill. The platform is supported by 6mm dowels from the base of my layout to a height that looked reasonable for the size of hill I wanted. It is important that the plywood base plate is level. With the mill inserted on the support base plate I determined the height of my hill then covered it with metal fly screen mesh leaving a cut out as shown to allow removal of the mill. The mesh was then covered with plaster cloth that provided the plaster shell profile of my hill. Next I created a barrier approximately 5-6mm high for the size of my lift out detail. The plaster was then applied to the hill where required. To create the plaster lift out detail I covered the mill in Glad wrap then I used 7 micron black plastic to overlap the lift out area and hold in place with masking tape. Using a small piece of metal fly screen mesh I shaped it around the mill and lift out area. Plaster cloth was next applied. Once the shell was dry I inserted small gauge wire from the underside in a U-shape to form securing tabs that could be used if required. Once the shell was dry I applied plaster over the entire lift out area and around the mill to match the surrounding hill shape. With the plaster completely dry I carefully lifted the black plastic to remove the lift out for the first time. 6

7 Lift Out Detail The red arrows show the U-shape support tabs where rubber bands can be used to hold the lift out detail in position if required. I found the tolerance around the lift out edges created by the black plastic was more than enough to hold the detail in position but still allow easy removal. The rock face was created by a rock mould. While the plaster was set but not hard I removed the mould and cut the lift out part line with a box cutter blade. This photo shows the close tolerance fit of the lift out detail and the surrounding hill surface. 7

8 This is just a few more photos to show the finished enhanced water mill. Water Mill with pump and LED light off Water Mill with LED light on only Water Mill with LED light on and action of water on the water wheel This is a montage of some of the photos taken showing the camera setup in the foreground As always enjoy your model trains. 8