Maerklin Kline Dicke (Spremburger)

Gizzy

Gizzy

A gentleman, a scholar, and a railway modeller....
26 Oct 2009
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I recently brought one of these, my first LGB(M) loco. It is DCC and can run on CS3 as well as the older MTS protocols.

I ran it this weekend and I can select sound and all the other functions expect the lights (F9). The cab switch is on 2.

I need to re-address the loco and change the speed curve to linear, but does anyone know why the lights can't be selected please?

Could it be speed steps I wonder....


20231128_123657.jpg
 
Wrong speed steps normally would give flickering lights when the loco is driving, but it may be the issue. The loco most likely has a small LGB onboard decoder, you need to open it up to check. Does the smoke generator work also? By the way, the name is "Kleine Dicke", Kleine means little/small and Dicke fat/thick.
 
A nice little loco; I have two early models, non-DCC.
 
Loco said:
Wrong speed steps normally would give flickering lights when the loco is driving, but it may be the issue. The loco most likely has a small LGB onboard decoder, you need to open it up to check. Does the smoke generator work also? By the way, the name is "Kleine Dicke", Kleine means little/small and Dicke fat/thick.
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Yes smoke gennie works as expected....
 
Gizzy said:
Yes smoke gennie works as expected....
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Did you remove the 5v. light bulbs to test them to be sure they are not burned out? CV50 is the voltage setting for the lights, you can read it with your Massoth Service Mode Programming Track to confirm what the voltage setting is. Sometimes a decoder's setting can be jolted out of its setting for some strange reason, and a decoder's output terminal such as CV50 has changed from this decoder's default 5 setting back to 32, full track power.......that would certainly zap all the lights. You should also check CV29 to make sure the Speed Steps are set to your Massoth's Navigator settings to either 14 or 28, so both the decoder and your DCC system are in sync......14 and 14, or 28 and 28. If they are out of sync, e.g., the decoder is set to 14 and your DCC system set to 28, I've normally found with Massoth-produced decoders that the headlight will go on and off, not flash, when you accelerate your locomotive's speed with your Navigator from speed setting 1, light is on, then speed setting 2, light is off, then speed, 3, light is back on, etc.
 
LGB333 said:
Did you remove the 5v. light bulbs to test them to be sure they are not burned out? CV50 is the voltage setting for the lights, you can read it with your Massoth Service Mode Programming Track to confirm what the voltage setting is. Sometimes a decoder's setting can be jolted out of its setting for some strange reason, and a decoder's output terminal such as CV50 has changed from this decoder's default 5 setting back to 32, full track power.......that would certainly zap all the lights. You should also check CV29 to make sure the Speed Steps are set to your Massoth's Navigator settings to either 14 or 28, so both the decoder and your DCC system are in sync......14 and 14, or 28 and 28. If they are out of sync, e.g., the decoder is set to 14 and your DCC system set to 28, I've normally found with Massoth-produced decoders that the headlight will go on and off, not flash, when you accelerate your locomotive's speed with your Navigator from speed setting 1, light is on, then speed setting 2, light is off, then speed, 3, light is back on, etc.
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No I haven't checked the lamps as yet. I brought the loco second hand from a G Scale Retailer. It had one previous owner whom I believe brought it as part of a set, as it has no box.

I'll have a look at the speed step CVs when I change the address of the loco. I'll be using MTS or Massoth but I think it may have been used previously with Maerklin....
 
Gizzy said:
No I haven't checked the lamps as yet. I brought the loco second hand from a G Scale Retailer. It had one previous owner whom I believe brought it as part of a set, as it has no box.

I'll have a look at the speed step CVs when I change the address of the loco. I'll be using MTS or Massoth but I think it may have been used previously with Maerklin....
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Okay, doesn't really matter what DCC brand system was previously used. As you may know, there's a NMRA Standard for DCC that all manufacturers are supposed to use in the design and set up of their DCC products, so in theory, any DCC system can operate any locomotive with a DCC decoder installed. MTS was the former LGB company's fancy name for its DCC system and decoders. Guess they termed such to attract the common hobbyist by touting it could operate multiple trains. Of course, some manufactuers produce DCC command stations that are multi-protocol, such as Marklin's CS2/3 that is designed primarily for use with the mfx technology, their proprietary DCC-type control system. By the way, since ESU designed the mfx technology with Marklin many years ago, ESU has the right to use the technology but they term it M4 in their ESU EcOS Command Station, which you can use to operate a Marklin-made LGB locomotive with their mfx/dcc/dc/ac sound decoder. Well, enough of my history of DCC?
 
Loco said:
Wrong speed steps normally would give flickering lights when the loco is driving, but it may be the issue. The loco most likely has a small LGB onboard decoder, you need to open it up to check. Does the smoke generator work also? By the way, the name is "Kleine Dicke", Kleine means little/small and Dicke fat/thick.
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I call mine "Stumpy"

Stumpy Side.JPG
 
Gizzy, nice loco.
congrats.

Fwiw, i too cannot turn the lights via ‘9’ on my ancient mts 3 , 55015p, on any of my 5 mfx locos.

i suspect theres nothing actually wrong.
i suspect the lights are assigned to a function number which is higher than our controls have access/assignment.

i know nothing about dcc or reprogramming.i am afraid of tinkering for fear ill render a loco useless.

shame, i love lights.
but, i am rapidly becoming a fan of the advanced controls and speed control.
best of luck.
happy crimbo too!
 
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stevedenver said:
Gizzy, nice loco.
congrats.

Fwiw, i too cannot turn the lights via ‘9’ on my ancient mts 3 , 55015p, on any of my 5 mfx locos.

i suspect theres nothing actually wrong.
i suspect the lights are assigned to a function number which is higher than our controls have access/assignment.

i know nothing about dcc or reprogramming.i am afraid of tinkering for fear ill render a loco useless.

shame, i love lights.
but, i am rapidly becoming a fan of the advanced controls and speed control.
best of luck.
happy crimbo too!
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Thanks Steve,

I'll try it on my Massoth 1200Z soon, as my MTS 2 might not support the MFX decoder protocol....
 
I carefully removed the board and electrics from an unused late model LGB one (supposedly equipped for MTS, not that I would recognise it!) before butchering the loco and putting in RC/battery/my own lights. If all else fails, you are welcome to have everything I removed (FOC), if you fancy trying the bits with your new baby.
IMG_3621 (Medium).jpeg
Edited - apparently not suitable as a replacement, but is now instead going to another worthy cause :angel:
 
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An update to my thread.

Today, I used my Massoth Service Tool software to change the loco address from 7, to 15, the last 2 digits of the cab number so that I can use it with MTS II (which only supports addresses in the range of 1-22). All my smaller locos are numbered in this range so I can use them on Hardyard for which I've kept my MTS system.

Having changed the CVs on the programming track, I tested it on the Main Track on rollers, to make sure that the address had changed.

The loco lights also worked as expected too!

So I'm not quite sure why, but it seems that the old MTS system cannot fully control all loco functions, where as the Massoth can?

Maybe some else can explain this....
 
Gizzy said:
An update to my thread.

Today, I used my Massoth Service Tool software to change the loco address from 7, to 15, the last 2 digits of the cab number so that I can use it with MTS II (which only supports addresses in the range of 1-22). All my smaller locos are numbered in this range so I can use them on Hardyard for which I've kept my MTS system.

Having changed the CVs on the programming track, I tested it on the Main Track on rollers, to make sure that the address had changed.

The loco lights also worked as expected too!

So I'm not quite sure why, but it seems that the old MTS system cannot fully control all loco functions, where as the Massoth can?

Maybe some else can explain this....
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When you say older MTS ‘cannot fully control all loco functions’ do you mean cannot update the CV values? If so then that is not such a surprise, I find that some of the newer so called LGB Maerklin chips are not on occasion happy to be updated by even my Massoth system, though CV1 tends to be updated OK as do CV1 plus 2,3,4,5 and 6.
 
dunnyrail said:
When you say older MTS ‘cannot fully control all loco functions’ do you mean cannot update the CV values? If so then that is not such a surprise, I find that some of the newer so called LGB Maerklin chips are not on occasion happy to be updated by even my Massoth system, though CV1 tends to be updated OK as do CV1 plus 2,3,4,5 and 6.
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Not quite JD?

I couldn't select the lights (F9) using MTS II but other functions worked fine (F1-8). I did have the old LGB MTS software on an old PC that has now failed.

I used the Massoth Service Tool to change CVs, which I did this morning.

The lights (F9) worked fine on my Massoth 1200Z with navigator which I use for the garden railway.

As the loco is a Maerklin one I think that it may have an MFX chip, which will work on Massoth and MTS systems, although possibly with a loss of some functionality, in my case the head and tail lights....
 
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