Wiring a TCS M1 for lights only?

Hi all,

I’ve got a TCS M1 decoder I’ve pulled out of a loco which has now been fitted with sound, and I’m trying to use the M1 to control lights in a caboose I’m working on. There are two pieces of information I’ve been trying to find, but I’m not having much luck:

  • I’d like to wire a resistor across the motor leads, to allow readback of the CV values. What value should I use?

  • Is it possible to wire a keep-alive capacitor into the decoder to prevent the lights flickering?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Cheers,

tbdanny

For your first question, you need only 100 Ohms because a motor has very low resistance. A large G-scale motor I have measures 130 Ohms.

I think TCS and SoundTraxx have information on their web site about adding a keep-alive capacitor.