I am needing some questions answered about decoder selection for my locomotive. I am re-motoring my N scale OMI DDA40X with two Kato SD40-2 motors with flywheels removed on one end each and needing to know if a LokSound Micro V4.0 is capable of supporting 2 motors at the same time? I had seen where someone had tested the Kato N motors as having 1.0A draw for the stall current and the LokSound Micro had .75A of continuous: is that capable of handling two Kato motors? Or will I be needing to move up to the HO standard sized LokSound V4.0 that has a 1.1A continuous draw? Thanks in advance!
I replied to your same question over at TRW. I think the best route to take is to use two decoders: a LokSound Micro for one motor and sound, and a LokPilot v.4 motor-only decoder for the other motor. Make sure to use a LokPilot V.4, because only this version of the LokPilot has the ability to use Drive Hold like a LokSound. The LokPilot and LokSound micros are each rated at .75 amp continuous and 1 amp peak, and since they use the same motor control circuitry, matching them so that the motors run at the same speed would be trivial - just make sure the same values are in CV's 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 for speed control (and it wouldn't hurt to make sure that the BEMF CV's also are the same - CV's 51-56). You can assign each of them the same DCC address, and then you are done. The LokPilot is about $30. So for $30 extra, you solve your problem. And these two together still take up less space overall than an HO-sized LokSound Select. Finally, note that even the HO-sized Select has a 1.1 amp continuous, 2-amp peak rating. If your motors really do draw 1 amp at stall, not even the HO-sized Select will tolerate that for very long (though I've never measured a Kato motor to draw more than .75 amps at stall; the only way to be sure, however, is to test the motors with a multimeter and DC supply like a DC power pack). Also note that running two motors off of one decoder can create problems for the BEMF circuits and that you might have to turn BEMF off to get the motors to run together properly. All in all, I think the two-decoder solution is better. John C.
Two as proposed above is certainly is the best option. To answer your question though you need to test them and see what the current draw is from the motors at maximum. My gut is you will probably be fine with the .75 powering both but I would want to make sure before I fried $140 The other reason 2 is probably best is just for the tuning and consisting. I've seen some pretty widely different results from two of the same kind of motors (meaning apply the same voltage and get 2 very different speeds) so if you do end up wiring to one decoder just make sure the motors are indeed as close to identical as possible and don't trust just because they are the same make and model that they are.
