Has Digitrax or Atlas offically announced which decoder is the PnP replacement for the light boards on the new Atlas SD35's? There was nothing on the Digitrax page about it; however, N Scale Supply is stating that the DN146A (for the GP40-2) is the correct unit. Does anyone have a factory DCC unit that they can check? Thanks in advance! Chessie ------------------ Harold Hodnett Fan of NS, CSX, and their predecessors! Coming soon: The North Carolina Railfan Web Site http://www.trainweb.org/ncrail/
Well, thanks to Digitrax, I have the answer (faster than a sppeding freight train!): The Digitrax DN146A is the correct unit for the Atlas SD35's! Chessie ------------------ Harold Hodnett Fan of NS, CSX, and their predecessors! Coming soon: The North Carolina Railfan Web Site http://www.trainweb.org/ncrail/
As I posted on this forum before (although can't find it now) I used the DN146A. They work okay, but they have trouble making contact with the unit. It was a real pain to install. At least it was better than milling the frame. Happy Railroading! Dane N. ------------------ BCRailKing@Canada.com Teen Association of Model Railroaders- for information, contact Dane N. at Dane_Nicholson@tamr.org http://www.tamr.org
This is from our club guru, in regards to installing the DN146A (he says it ain't really PnP): Digitrax DA120/DN146A Decoder The DA120 is the decoder supplied by Atlas in their decoder-equipped GP40-2 and some other locomotives, while the DN146A is the Digitrax FX decoder that is sized identical to the DA120. The potential problem here is poor or no contact between the decoder motor pads and the motor brush leads resulting in no or intermittent locomotive operation. (The motor brush leads can move.) There are two solutions. The easier solution is to build up a solder dome on each decoder motor pad to improve contact with the motor brush leads. With a low wattage soldering iron (15 watts maximum) with a small tip, heat the decoder motor pad while applying solder until a slight dome of solder forms, then remove the soldering iron and allow to cool. Repeat for the other decoder motor pad. Be careful not to allow solder to form a bridge between the two decoder motor pads. When fitting the decoder in the frame pay careful attention to aligning the motor brush leads so they contact the decoder motor pads. The better solution is to solder wires between the decoder motor pads and the motor brush leads. Use a very small gauge stranded wire for this purpose, such as the wire used in Digitrax non-PnP decoders. About 3/4" long is enough. Strip 1/16" insulation from the ends of each wire. Cut the motor brush leads back about 1/4" so they cannot interfere with the solder connection to the decoder motor pads. Solder one wire to the left motor brush lead, then to the left decoder motor pad. Repeat for the right side. Be sure no solder bridges between the two decoder motor pads. More great DCC info on our club page at: http://www.trainweb.org/nrmrc/dcc/conversions.html Chessie ------------------ Harold Hodnett Fan of NS, CSX, and their predecessors! Coming soon: The North Carolina Railfan Web Site http://www.trainweb.org/ncrail/
