Info on soldering an 8 pin MRC decoder onto a Athearn DCC ready diesel

[Rob94hawk]

So I went to a place called Trainland in Valley Stream, NY and asked the guy behind the counter for a decoder for an Athearn DCC ready F59PHI. He gave me an MRC 1626 w/ sound. Here I am all excited that my son is going to be able to drive around his train with all the diesel sounds for X-mas only to find out that the decoder is not a plug and play one and is an 8 pin that needs to be soldered to the board!

So in short is there any online info that anyone knows of that will help me solder this decoder on the correct way? Google hasn't been of any help at all and I am looking for your expertise to guide me through this. Thanx

I will have some pics up here in the afternoon so you guys can get a visual as to what's going on.

 

[Rico]

Yeah had a similar thing happen to me also.
Does the wiring harness unplug from the decoder? If so you could replace it with a double ended harness.
Otherwisw here's a couple sites that may offer a solution:
<http://www.wiringfordcc.com/>
<http://www.fantasonics.com/>
<http://www.modelrectifier.com/>
Hope one of these helps?
Let me know how it goes, I have a 59PH that will be in the shops soon.

 

[IronBeltKen]

I've learned that when it comes to buying and installing decoders, unless I've already done identical versions of the same loco model, I always peruse the websites of Tonys Train Exchange and/or Litchfield Station and order from one of them.

Most typical hobby shop employees are unlikely to know all the hidden peculiarities of every specific model and manufactuer. Tony's and Litchfield are DCC-focused businesses, so it is their job to stay current with this kind of stuff.

 

[UP2CSX]

I'll second the recommendation for Tony's. I just ordered 12 decoders from them to fit everything from an old Athearn Blue Box SD-9 to DCC ready Atlas locos. Everyone who works there is a model railroader and they have installed thousands of decoders. If there's an engine out there, one of the guys at Tony's has found a way to get a decoder in it. It's too late for Christmas but, if you give them a call, they'll walk you through the exact steps you need to do to install your sound decoder even if you didn't buy it from them. On average, I paid about $4 more per decoder through Tony's than I could have if I went for the cheapest prices at e-bay but having them stand behind you and help install decoders is priceless.

 

[ThoroughBreed]

The 8 pin port on the athearn board isn't ready-acceptable for the plug. You have to be extremely experienced to solder in there. I would take the decoder back to them and ask for a 9 pin decoder instead.

 

[HaggisKennedy]

The sound issue is going to be the issue. You can get like a TCS TC1 decoder, cheap and easy to plug in (I use these for my Athearn RTRs). Don't have to worry about ditchlights or anything else if you're of that ilk. These are non-sound decoders.

If you want sound, that's a bit more complex. You need a 9-in decoder, and then have to loosen the sound wire off of the plug on the loco's board and hook it up to the speaker. There's a way to do it, but I haven't done it yet, so I'm not going to say much more on this now.

Kennedy