Gentlemen.....Does some one that has one of these know if it comes with a factory installed decoder..??
I have one that is giving me a bit of trouble, so I thought I'd change the decoder, but when I opened the tender, I see a decoder-like board in there that I don't recognize...And I can't recall ever taking the loco apart to install one in there...
Gus if it was bought used, yes, a pic would help us because who knows what it might or might not have in it.
If the engine was bought NEW, P2K uses QSI for their DCC engines, QSI comes with sound, if the engine has no sound it doesn't have a decoder in it, the speakers would be in the tender.
Scale; HO...(There are others..???) Just kiddin'...I have trains in every scale from Z to O.....
You'll note that there is an 8-pin board with wires coming from (red & black) and going to the loco...(all the rest, with the exception of the yellow and blue going to the tender light).
The loco was bought new some 7-8 yrs. ago..., and I don't recall ever seeing that board, which I would have seen if I'd installed a decoder in it. Forgot to mention...it does run on DCC.
Gus, i am not familiar with that board either, my p2k Y3 came without a decoder, but i cant remember what the board looked like, and i dont have it here, its at dads.
are you running that engine as 01, or have you programed it with another # , if you was able to program it with ANY number other then 01, it has a decoder.
MY THOUGHTS, and god knows, i am probably wrong , but it doesnt look like it has a decoder, i am pretty sure that P2K's that HAVE DCC come with QSI, which HAS SOUND, clearly that engine doesnt have sound. (ok, now someone make a liar out of me )
I say you would pull the 8 pin plug chip off that borad, flip it over, install a decoder into the 8 pin plug chip, and you should be good to go , dont worry about the big board, it will become useless once a decoder is installed.
There sure are lot of components on the PC board. Way too many for just a light board. The 8 pin plug has 8 tabs on it, 4 on each side. Are there not wires attached to each of the 8 tabs? There should be one tab without a wire ,#3. As #3 wire is not used in most cases. Lift off the 8 pin plug and check to see where the wires are connected. Does the loco run on DCC? If so, can't you read back the decoder ID and version? Not sure but it sure looks like a decoder to me.
Yes...the loco runs on DCC and has been programmed to its own # (10). It works great, it's just that now & then it slows down, stops, and then starts going again..... Any ideas..?
well if that dont beat all, i have NEVER, NEVER, EVER seen a P2K engine that came with DCC but had no sound, EVERY P2K engine i EVER bought with factory DCC came with QSI DCC & SOUND..every one of them.
I looked your engine up, here's EXACTLY what i copied from Walthers on the P2K 0-8-0 , NOTICE it says the DCC version CAME WITH SOUND, that makes this very puzzling to me :?
Deano...As luck would have it, I purchased painted...not lettered..!!
I think it pre-dates the move to QSI in P2K's....
Squidbait...thanks for the tip on finding the decoder manufacturer. The engine is unassembled, but I'll re-assemble it sometime tonight, and see what pops up...
Curiosity got me off my butt.....Got the 0-8-0 re-assembled and put on the programming track...Checked CV8, and....
129 popped out..!! So it's an older D'trax decoder....
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, but it doesnt look like it has a decoder, i am pretty sure that P2K's that HAVE DCC come with QSI, which HAS SOUND, clearly that engine doesnt have sound. (ok, now someone make a liar out of me 
)
, dont worry about the big board, it will become useless once a decoder is installed.
