I have a 2085D Mallet new unit but old design. 3 wire trucks and no mention of digital/DCC/MTS.
I have a full LGB 55006-P system and need to upgrade this Mallet to MTS and sound any helpfull advice you guys could give this DCC/Digital newcomer ?
http://www.tonystrains.com/tonystips.htm
read through these for helpful tips if you’ve never done one.
Always try to route the wiring for short protection and make sure the motor is isolated from the frame.
Tony’s can help with all scales.
Add an inline fuse of the right value on the hot lead for protection.
Watch how much you draw on each function output. Don’t overdraw them with more bulbs than they can handle. Some smoke units need mods to get the right draws. When in doubt, leave it out!
When you’re done installing, test on a test track with a small amp fuse on the power leads and apply power watching to see how much it draws. With the smoke off, make sure there’s no dead shorts drawing too much current shorting out the decoder.
I did my 2085, biggest problem is room for a good sized speaker.
I first converted the trucks to 4 wire
Since I used the Zimo decoder, I added the pulsed pro smoke unit and I added a servo for the rear hook and loop for uncoupling.
Lights were easy as the decoder has a 10 volt line and can be programmed for all functions to run at half voltage.
So, the decoder choice can have a lot to do with how you upgrade to DCC on any engine.