The kit I am building is a can motor with the negative on the top and a black wire leading that is supposed to go to the tender. The wheels of the tender make contact with the left side of the track. The positive lead is supposed to go to the frame of the engine. I did not bend it over so it should be isolated. The drive wheels contact the right side of the track.
How would you wire up the decoder? The decoder is aMRC AD315–don’t ask why, I ordered a plug and play decoder from Trainworld and they sent me this one.
Orange–Motor Positve
Red–Engine Frame
Grey–Engine Negative
Black --Tender Frame
Also what tests should I run. The engine runs on DC, but I have no DCC to program the decoder. I’m not sure this decoder works on DC as it is not mentioned in the instructions.
I may have messed things up. Obiously the positive pickup leads to the drive wheels through the frame. I painted the frame and greased the axels. Is that going to be a problem?
First, get a DCC system, even a bare bone basic one for $75, if you plan to wire and test any Decoder instalations.
Second, MDC kits are hard to DCC, since the frame for some reason interupts the Digital signal. You’ll most likely have to bypass the direct contact to the frame and wire a pickup to the drive wheels themselves.
Tests are easy after that, since the kits have no lights, you’ll just be testing if it goes forward and reverse properly and not wired backwards.
Well, I guess that’s a vote for waiting until I have my Zepher. I guess I could set it up for DC for now. It’s just that I have it open now and these decoders just collecting dust.
Is really as bad as all that?
I don’t think that decoder runs on DC. So you’re kind of stuck there. The wire colors you listed are the correct way to wire it. It also only supports 14/28 speed steps, not 128, and I’m not sure if it can even do 4 digit addresses.
Do yourself a couple of favors in the future. One, don’t buy any more MRC decoders. Second, buy your decoders from places like Tony’s or Litchfield Station. Save Trainworld for aquiring the locos at a great price. Tony’s and itchfeld have great prices, a wide selection, and best of all, the people at Tony’s, and Bruce who runs Litchfield, are very knowledgeable about DCC. Of course, you have us, too [:D][:D]
–Randy