LGB 21151

[Mike Bett]

I have a n LGB 21151 tender engine with no motor in the tender. It is ready to take an engine and I have a spare that will fit. The engine itself is DCC. Do I need to put a separate chip in the tender and if so how do I control it, if not can the new motor be directly connected to the chip in the engine.
Help required please.

 

[Neil Robinson]

There is no "right" answer but there is a strong case for using one decoder for both motors. Is the current rating of your existing decoder sufficient for two motors? If not it doesn't mean using two decoders as you may choose to obtain a larger decoder (not much more expensive) and save the existing one for another loco.

 

[MTheStrong]

I have a n LGB 21151 tender engine with no motor in the tender. It is ready to take an engine and I have a spare that will fit. The engine itself is DCC. Do I need to put a separate chip in the tender and if so how do I control it, if not can the new motor be directly connected to the chip in the engine.
Help required please.

I have a number of this type of loco which I have converted to DCC and I have used both methods, 1 chip with 2 motors and chipping loco and chipping the tender. The advantage with the using a chip in both loco and tender is that you avoid needing to have an umbilical cord between the two. This cord needs to have at least 6 individual wires, 2 for motor, 2 for pickup and 2 for front lights. You will need at least one extra wire if you want to have a smoke unit.

I have not had any problems using the 2 chip method. So I agree with Neil there is no right answer.