I have a question about my Athearn Genesis MP15AC (DC version). I opened it up for the first last week to see if I could understand what I was looking at well enough to convert it to DCC.
I see a good sized board, which I think is called the light board. I see it has the 8-pin NMRA connector with nothing plugged in. I understand that this is where I could plug in a similarly equipped decoder and be off and running pretty easily.
My confusion starts here; There is also a harness coming out of the board made up of nine wires that I recognize as being NMRA color coded. Already plugged into that harness is a very small board that I didn't expect to see. I thought the harness would be sitting there with an empty plug, waiting for a similarly equipped decoder to plugged into it, as an option to using the 8-pin plug.
Do I have this right, that decoders could use either plug style? And if I use the 8-pin plug, does this other board need to stay where it is? What is this little board?
You unplug the small board very carefully but it does require some "force". Then you plug in a 9 pin decoder into the "harness" . I did the same thing with a digitrax decoder and it was very easy. The small board is like a DC board or something. Good Luck!
Even if you want to use a decoder with an 8-pin plug, you must remove the dummy plug from the 9-pin wiring harness. A TCS T-1 or NCE D13SRJ decoder would be a good choice, but I'm not sure if the NCE decoder would be small enough to fit. A Digitrax DH123 would also fit, but you need to determine how many functions the locomotive lighting requires when selecting a decoder -- a TCS T-4 may be more appropriate if the locomotive is wired for more than just a headlight and backup light.
An Athearn RTR version with Tsunami sound decoder has several different lighting effects such as a mars light on both ends and a red emergency light on both ends in addition to the headlight, backup light, and number board lights.
Remove the small board. If it has 8 pins on it then that is the socket where you would put the 8 pin decoder. The board would include internal jumpers to allow for DC operation by jumping the track power to the motor and lights. With the board removed it forces the voltage through the decoder.
Springfield PA
Life is what happens while you are making other plans!
Easiest thing to do is to remove the dummy plug and install a decoder using the 9 pin connector. Easy, no wires hanging around, and decoders without wiring harnesses are often cheaper, ie the TCS T-1A with no harness is cheaper than the T-1 which comes with plain wires, which is cheaper than a T-1 plus a harness with the 8 pin plug on it. AThearn just likes to give you a choice, and places like Ulrich have taken advantage of the fact that there are both connectors there to make lighting upgrade kits for some Athearn locos that just plug right in. You plug your decoder into the 9 pin connector, and the lighting kit connects to the 8 pin to get power for the lights.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Thanks to everyones help, I'm off and running!
The Power Cab showed up yesterday so I ran out to the LHS to pick up my decoders. They had an ample supply of Digitrax, so I picked up a couple of DH163's with appropriate connectors to fit the two locos I was doing. The MP15AC, and an Atlas Master GP40-2.
I used the 9-pin for the Athearn, and the 8-pin for the Atlas, with that being the only option on that board. After a quick trip to the programming track, I had both decoders addressed to the locos road numbers. Everything worked just like it was supposed to. It only took a half hour or so and everything was hooked up, decoders were in, and we were running trains.
I just have one question about the 9-pin plug. How tight are the two parts of the connectors supposed to seat? The dummy board that I mentioned before was really plugged in, much farther than what I'm able to do. It took alot of effort to remove it....much more effort than it takes to remove the decoders that I plugged in.
Doug from Michigan I just have one question about the 9-pin plug. How tight are the two parts of the connectors supposed to seat? The dummy board that I mentioned before was really plugged in, much farther than what I'm able to do. It took alot of effort to remove it....much more effort than it takes to remove the decoders that I plugged in.
Sometimes Athearn uses some sort of glue (glue gun like) to secure the dummy plug to the 9-pin harness. Look closely and double check that there is no glue residue getting between the male and female plugs.
TONY
"If we never take the time, how can we ever have the time." - Merovingian (Matrix Reloaded)
The 9 pin connectors usually fit TIGHT. When removing one you need to be sure to grasp ALL of the wires not just one or two - you'll pull the wires right off if you don't. And a gentle wiggle while pulling helps.
Yeah, that's how I remmoved the board, by grasping all the wires at once. I'm concerned about damaging the decoder by pushing too hard to get it to seat as tight as the dummy board was.
I guess it works the way I have it now, as everything is just running perfect. My 8yr old son was even running two trains at once using the recall feature. He thinks it's just the greatest thing ever!
What is the trick to remove the top to get to change things out. I have been looking and don't want to damage mine. Can't seem to find how to disassemble the top of the mp15ac....
thanks
The 9-pin (JST header) decoder is going to fit very tightly and needs to be pushed all the way into the socket.
The easiest way to seat it is to push against the back of the decoder and the back of the socket with your thumb and index finger of both hands and squeeze them together.