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ZJ-Gauge (Japanese Z-Gauge) - Page 6

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There is a Discussion Group formed on Yahoo for this topic. Visit this web address:- http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Japanese-Z-Scale/ The list is open to all interested. Postings are monitored to ensure junk mail does not get in. To participate in the discussion you need to either sign your name and city or fill in your profile on Yahoo with your name and location.
Comparing the first of the Japanese Electric Engines offered in Z-scale Comparison of Akia's RealZJ EF-81, Tokyo Marui's Pro-Z EF65 and Crown PRMLoco EF64. Mounting of Micro Trains Couplers in pictures. While I would consider the Pro-Z to be the more robust unit with construction that matches the best of Kato and Tomix this does not mean that the Akia RealZJ unit is junk. While more like a Green Max unit the EF81 is still very attractive and runs well and is big step up from Akia's (Plus Up) earlier 485 motor chassis. Both units have blackened wheels and one traction tire per truck. They are both built in China for their companies. The two engines will not MU or run to-gether due to the gearing differences and motor differences. The Akia RealZJ and Crown PRMLoco units are a bit of a jack rabbit and flies very fast, but with a good throttle like the one Akia (Plus Up) supply it is easily tamed. There is some room for DCC in all units and once they are converted they would be able to run to-gether after adjustment. The Tokyo Marui Pro-Z unit has nice gearing and is very quiet and smooth and easily pulls 22 Micro Trains freight cars as does the Akia EF81 and the Crown EF64. As the EF65 has not been released as an individual item I do not have any pricing on the engine alone. The EF81 is 5880 Japanese Yen List Price. The EF64 is released almost year after the RealZJ EF81 and six months after the Pro-Z EF65. The Crown EF-64 is an upgrade to the Plus Up chassis but still uses the same drive system but the electrical is more certain and does not rely on the springs which the Plus Up units did. The headlights are surface mount LED's 403's on the light board and light up the headlights quite well. The EF64 is about 75.00 US dolalrs so about a $20.00 dollar increase over the Plus Up or RealZJ EF81 but still very reasonable in cost.
EF65	EF64	EF81

EF65 actual 1:220 model height 3820mm 17.3mm 17mm width 2800mm 12.7mm 12.5mm length 16500mm 75mm 75mm measurement of model EF-65 length over couplers 80 mm height - pans down 19 mm height to top of body 18 mm width of body 12.5 mm length of body 70.5 mm weight of engine 33 gm operate on 195 mm radius yes wheel size OD of wheel tread 5.0mm	EF64 actual 1:220 model height 3960mm 18mm 19.5mm width 2800mm 12.75mm 12.5mm length min 17900mm 81.4 length max 18600mm 84.5mm 85mm wheel dia. 1120mm 5.1mm 5.2mm measurement of model EF-64 length over couplers 90 mm height - pans down 23 mm height to top of body 21 mm width of body 13 mm length of body 80 mm weight of engine 35 gm operate on 195 mm radius yes wheel size OD of wheel tread 5.2mm	EF81 actual 1:220 model height 4250mm 19.3mm 21mm width 2900mm 13.1mm 13mm length 18600mm 84.5mm 85mm wheel dia. 1120mm 5.6mm 5.2mm measurement of model EF-81 length over couplers 90 mm height - pans down 23 mm height to top of body 21 mm width of body 13 mm length of body 80 mm weight of engine 33 gm operate on 195 mm radius yes wheel size OD of wheel tread 5.2mm

The chassis is not split design however the power pickup goes to a plastic power module on top of the chassis where there is power routing to the various components. The head light module used surface mount technology for LED's resister and diode used on the board. A clear plastic module carries the light to the headlights from the LED. The pilots are clipped to the chassis and contain the couplers. The motor is a 3 pole straight armature 12vdc open frame type commonly found on Tomix N-scale engines. They run smoothly with or without a flywheel.	The chassis is split frame design and there are various plastic parts that clip this chassis to-gether as there are no screws used to hold the chassis halves to-gether. The shell in conjunction with the pilot assemblies hold the frame inside the shell. The lighting modules used surface mount LED for lighting and plastic lens to carry light to the head light. The motor is a flat can 12vdc. The couplers are mounted in the pilots. The motor seems robust even if the construction looks to be a bit on the cheap side when compared to a Faulhaber. Low current draw and seems to do the job smoothly with no flywheel. Runs well on just 9vdc even if motor is rated for 12vdc.	The chassis is split frame design and there are various plastic parts that clip this chassis to-gether as there are no screws used to hold the chassis halves to-gether. The shell in conjunction with the pilot assemblies hold the frame inside the shell. The lighting modules in the top of the shell used surface mount LED for lighting and fibre optic lens to carry light to the head light. The motor is a flat can 10vdc. The couplers are mounted in the pilots. The motor seem robust even if the construction looks to be a bit on the cheap side when compared to a Faulhaber. Low current draw and seems to do the job smoothly with no flywheel.

The first picture shows the pilot clipped to the chassis. The second picture shows the mini rapido coupler used by Pro-Z as their stock coupler. The third picture shows my modification to hold a Micro Trains 905 modified coupler in the pilot assembly. When the plough is removed you have access to the coupler. In the stock coupler there is a pin sticking up from the pilot assembly that holds the Rapido coupler in place and there is a piece of thin lens plastic sheet that acts as the spring for the coupler to lift and then drop back down into place. To convert to Micro Trains couplers is very easy. Remove the plough and then use a jewellers file to widen and deepen the pocket so the coupler fits and then place the coupler in the plough and insert in the pilot. I removed the back part of the 905 box to ensure there would be no interference with the lead truck behind the pilot. There was a dummy coupler supplied with the engine that could be put in place in the pilot instead of the MTL or Rapido couplers.	The led lighting which is now on the power board on top of the chassis allows for a lower over height on the model. The top two pictures show the original coupler a Rapido style on the right which is original equipment. On the left is the Micro Trains Z-scale coupler installed. Installation is quite easy. Remove the plow from the pilot and it releases the coupler which sits on a pin. I used this pin to hold the Micro Trains coupler without modification to the coupler. The pilot opening has to be modified slightly to broaden the pocket and to raise the upper edge slightly. Once the opening was correct I just popped the MTL coupler on the pin and inserted the plow back into the pilot and we were done. In the photos below the second row shows the spring for the Rapido coupler is a small piece of mylar plastic across the back of the pocket and it is acting like a mirror in photo. The other pictures show the installed MTL coupler. Over all I'd rate this as the second best offering in Japanese Z -scale for Electric Road units.	The center picture shows the compatible coupler used by Pro-Z to allow you to couple this engine to any car equipped with a Micro Trains 905/903 couplers. It takes a good hit to auto couple as the spring design is pretty stiff. They will on occasion auto uncouple but not reliably. The left picture shows both a modified pilot and stock pilot with the plough removed. I word of caution here. The spring that centers the stock REALZJ coupler is just a single strand of straight spring wire and it is held in place with the plough so when removed it can be lost easily and if it come out of position it is hell to get back in place or to replace. However, to convert to MTL it is very easy. The pocket is widened and deepened slightly with a small jewellers file and the 00-90 screw self taps into the existing pin hole. Then replace the plough in the pilot. This is best done while the pilot is not attached to the engine.

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