15
PRECAUTIONARY NOTES FOR DECODERS
MAKE SURE NO METAL PART OF THE LOCOMOTIVE TOUCHES ANY METAL PART
OF THE DECODER. APPLY ELECTRICAL TAPE TO THE INTERIOR OF THE LOCO
AT ANY QUESTIONABLE POINTS.
THERE MUST BE NO ELECTRICAL CONNECTION BETWEEN THE MOTOR AND THE
RAILS. BOTH MOTOR TERMINALS MUST BE ELECTRICALLY ISOLATED FROM THE
MOTOR FRAME AND BODY.
IF YOU USE METAL COUPLERS MAKE SURE THE COUPLERS ARE INSULATED
FROM THE FRAME. THIS CAN CAUSE MYSTERIOUS PROBLEMS WHEN RUNNING
TWO OR MORE LOCOMOTIVES COUPLED TOGETHER.
DO NOT USE CONVENTIONAL (older) DECODERS WITH CORELESS MOTORS.
All NCE decoders are high frequency motor drive decoders. These will not harm
coreless motors.
Test the locomotive to assure good analog operation. Poor running locomotives will
not run well with DCC either. Test the loco under a “stalled” condition. First connect
ammeter between the DC power supply and the track. Remove the loco’s shell.
Increase power to the loco until it reaches at least 12 Volts. Now stall the motor by
squeezing the flywheel until it stops. With locomotives without flywheels, push down
on the mechanism until the wheels stop turning. Note the reading on the meter. The
decoder rating needs to exceed the highest amperage reading otherwise the decoder
will cause the loco to have intermittent stops when operating at the decoders’ rated
amperage.
We suggest installing the wiring harnesses with plugs for all leads being used in order
to facilitate decoder removal in the future.
Lights and motor stall current should not exceed the values listed for each decoder.
Nor should their total exceed the amount of current remaining after testing the loco
motor “stalled”. The Function common (blue wire), is track voltage.
Make a wiring diagram of your locomotive’s motor power and lighting. Copy it and add
how you are going to insulate the motor from the frame, if it is not already insulated,
and where you are going to cut the wires from the track pickups to the motor and
lights. LGB locomotives can be tricky here.
The power for the Functions normally is connected to the Blue wire. This will supply
the lights with 14-15 volts (for the NORMAL setting). If you connect the lighting
common to one of the rails (Red or Black), the voltage to the lights will be cut to half (7
- 8 volts) the common voltage.
Place the loco on the programming track and refer to the section “PROGRAMMING
ON THE PROGRAMMING TRACK”. Almost all decoders come from the factory with the
address “3”.
When wiring, the right hand rail is the rail to the right of the observer standing between
the rails with their back to the front of the locomotive, also referred to as the “engineers
side”. For traction systems, the overhead wire is considered the right hand rail.
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