LGB MFX decoder query

[Mike in Devon]

Hi folks
I have a late 2002 bought Zillertal U2 which purports to having a MFX decoder. I have fitted Massoth power buffers to Massoth XLS decoder locos with beneficial results on dirty track and bloody minded turnouts so would want to do the same to the Zillertal but haven't got a clue where to connect it so guidance needed please. I have been told that there is a built in buffer but can find no evidence in performance or it's literature. Having tweaked the max speed CV to calm it down a bit the chuff sound is I am sure less frequent than it should be so how do I tweak that too please?

Mike D
From a cold, wet and misty Devon today but at least yesterday's gale has blow through

 

[dunnyrail]

Hi folks
I have a late 2002 bought Zillertal U2 which purports to having a MFX decoder. I have fitted Massoth power buffers to Massoth XLS decoder locos with beneficial results on dirty track and bloody minded turnouts so would want to do the same to the Zillertal but haven't got a clue where to connect it so guidance needed please. I have been told that there is a built in buffer but can find no evidence in performance or it's literature. Having tweaked the max speed CV to calm it down a bit the chuff sound is I am sure less frequent than it should be so how do I tweak that too please?

Mike D
From a cold, wet and misty Devon today but at least yesterday's gale has blow through

I have a couple of U2’s one being a 22711 which has digital sound. This one is fitted with track skates and I have fully ensured that all wheels are correctly picking up power as they should be. This loco runs superbly (despite one set of wheels being ineffective for pick up due to the traction tyre) on LGB R1 points with no hesitation on the line in my loft.

My other is an older 2073 which had like other older ones no track skates, this with traction tyres can make running possibly iffy particularly if all wheels not picking up power.

I have no problems with the running of my 2073 as it has been converted to battery power as have all of the locomotives tgat I use in my garden.

Testing that all wheels are picking up power can be done in one of two ways, eithr with a small multimeter to see that all wheels one side are connected together with the skate. This is carried out on the other side as well. The other way is to put yout loco upside down in a shoe box line with foam, take a coulle of leads from a controller and check that wheels turn continuously on each set of wheels and via the track skates. Sorry if I am teaching granny to suck eggs here but sometimes the obvious can be missed by even old timers and new younger forum members.

Now to your query, if you buy a Massoth buffer it includes details of how to fit it. As for chuff rate, so far as I remember CV195 and 198 may be what you are looking for if you do not wish to fit a chuff esnsor. Chuff sensor (pulse generator) is indicated in CV195. In my manual section 4.5 details the setup.

 

[PhilP]

As John says..
Check continuity.
Clean the backs of the wheels, where the carbon brushes rub. - Check brushes not worn out.
Clean tyre treads, and skates.

DO NOT!
Adjust any CV's, until you are sure that you know the make and model of decoder fitted.
Note CV values before altering.
Only adjust one value at a time. - Unless two CV's work in unison.

If you have a Massoth decoder, many have a CV to set either two, or four, cuffs per revolution. - I tend to set it to '2',as although this is 'wrong' I think it sounds better with our small loco's. YMMV, of course.

PhilP

 

[Mike in Devon]

I have a couple of U2’s one being a 22711 which has digital sound. This one is fitted with track skates and I have fully ensured that all wheels are correctly picking up power as they should be. This loco runs superbly (despite one set of wheels being ineffective for pick up due to the traction tyre) on LGB R1 points with no hesitation on the line in my loft.

My other is an older 2073 which had like other older ones no track skates, this with traction tyres can make running possibly iffy particularly if all wheels not picking up power.

I have no problems with the running of my 2073 as it has been converted to battery power as have all of the locomotives tgat I use in my garden.

Testing that all wheels are picking up power can be done in one of two ways, eithr with a small multimeter to see that all wheels one side are connected together with the skate. This is carried out on the other side as well. The other way is to put yout loco upside down in a shoe box line with foam, take a coulle of leads from a controller and check that wheels turn continuously on each set of wheels and via the track skates. Sorry if I am teaching granny to suck eggs here but sometimes the obvious can be missed by even old timers and new younger forum members.

Now to your query, if you buy a Massoth buffer it includes details of how to fit it. As for chuff rate, so far as I remember CV195 and 198 may be what you are looking for if you do not wish to fit a chuff esnsor. Chuff sensor (pulse generator) is indicated in CV195. In my manual section 4.5 details the setup.

Thanks for taking the trouble to reply. Is appreciated. Having fitted buffers with Massoth XLS to 4 locos earlier this year, I thought I knew the booklet quite well but I have just been to the desk to check and it seems the only reference in it to an LGB decoder is for their 55021 model. Looking under the bonnet of my Zillertal 25703 the decoder is a very complicated looking inverted double decker which I gather is a MFX. I can imagine that asking Marklin about using a Massoth product these days may not get me very far.

 

[dunnyrail]

As John says..
Check continuity.
Clean the backs of the wheels, where the carbon brushes rub. - Check brushes not worn out.
Clean tyre treads, and skates.

DO NOT!
Adjust any CV's, until you are sure that you know the make and model of decoder fitted.
Note CV values before altering.
Only adjust one value at a time. - Unless two CV's work in unison.

If you have a Massoth decoder, many have a CV to set either two, or four, cuffs per revolution. - I tend to set it to '2',as although this is 'wrong' I think it sounds better with our small loco's. YMMV, of course.

PhilP

I was looking for that, which CV is that on a Massoth XLS please Phil? Do you not have a manual Mike in Devon ?

 

[Wilco]

Thanks for taking the trouble to reply. Is appreciated. Having fitted buffers with Massoth XLS to 4 locos earlier this year, I thought I knew the booklet quite well but I have just been to the desk to check and it seems the only reference in it to an LGB decoder is for their 55021 model. Looking under the bonnet of my Zillertal 25703 the decoder is a very complicated looking inverted double decker which I gather is a MFX. I can imagine that asking Marklin about using a Massoth product these days may not get me very far.

Hi Mike,
For the MLGB MFX Decoder you wil be needing a MLGB Power buffer. Otherwise it won't work. Their power buffer is a double one, one for the motor and on for the sound. Connecting it to a Massoth power buffer won't work.

 

[dunnyrail]

Hi Mike,
For the MLGB MFX Decoder you wil be needing a MLGB Power buffer. Otherwise it won't work. Their power buffer is a double one, one for the motor and on for the sound. Connecting it to a Massoth power buffer won't work.

Aha that explains why when I fitted a small Massoth power buffer to my LGB Steam Tram DCC only the LGB sound box unit worked.

 

[Wilco]

I’m not familiar with those LGB soundboxes, and how to buffer them. It seems obvious that the motor decoder and the separate spund decoder each need their own power buffer. I mostly use combined sound/motor decoders from Massoth. For the MLGB MFX decoders there is a dedicated double power buffer from MLGB. At the MFX decoders it is very complicated to connnect extra equipment to it. The CV programming is different at each type. And Märklin isn’t very helpful either.

 

[dunnyrail]

I’m not familiar with those LGB soundboxes, and how to buffer them. It seems obvious that the motor decoder and the separate spund decoder each need their own power buffer. I mostly use combined sound/motor decoders from Massoth. For the MLGB MFX decoders there is a dedicated double power buffer from MLGB. At the MFX decoders it is very complicated to connnect extra equipment to it. The CV programming is different at each type. And Märklin isn’t very helpful either.

Yes one would have though that there would be a way to add the varying buffers available as a selection when adding one to the d3coder. But perhaps that is my simple mind at work when there could ba many types with differing complex requirements.

 

[Mike in Devon]

Thanks to the folks who replied with advice and guidance. The folks at GRS have said that the latest Rhaetian 1-3-1 has an MFX decoder that includes a stay alive function (cue Beegees earworm) and has confirmed that only the LGB buffer suits aMFX decoded and that it a stinker of a job. That prompted me to look again at the Zillertal paperwork. I had forgotten that it came with a second larger format handbook that has a page under the heading Voltage Buffer but the table might as well be heiroglyphs to me. I could scan it and post it here if anyone has a LGB Rosetta stone.

Turning to wheel and contact cleanliness, I have to clean, deweed and blow all sorts of crud off the track prior to a running session but LGB wheels and skates need little attention but my 2 Piko locos are dirt magnets that need regular attention. Is that just me or do others find the same?

 

[dunnyrail]

Turning to wheel and contact cleanliness, I have to clean, deweed and blow all sorts of crud off the track prior to a running session but LGB wheels and skates need little attention but my 2 Piko locos are dirt magnets that need regular attention. Is that just me or do others find the same?

Early non plated Piko wheels were a complete nightmare. My original Kamel was an early one so I bought a set of newer power bogies to make it a decent runner. Still not the best and only resolved when I converted it to battery. Same with the early 218 now sold out of service and converted to battery.