Hello.
I have a second hand Marklin 3460 SBB Class 460 electric loco with an old 6080 decoder. It runs very jerkily and poorly. Can I change the decoder for a more up-to-date model and if so which one?
TIA

PS A happy Christmas to you all.

Totally agree. Make sure that the mechanical is running fine. I can understand jerkiness at very low speed with the 3 pole motor but if jerkiness occurs at medium to high speed, then you most likely have a mechanical issue or an analogue motor (windings, brushes, commutator drum or plate) issues.

Do take the time to do a mechanical inspection. Clean up as much as you can and see if there is an improvement. The time spent doing this is not wasted as you will have to do most of it anyways when getting a new decoder.

I pumped $ for 4 decoders in older loks and they are no longer my favorite (they were my grandpa's) because of mechanical issues. I do want to address this in the future but it is low priority now....but could have gotten a new lok for the price of the 4 decoders.....

Hi!
Then it is a 6090 decoder - a decoder with load regulation and the loco should perform pretty well with it.
One more reason to inspect the loco carefully as the modern Märklin decoders do not run locos smoother than the 6090.

Hardened oil, filled collector gaps, dirty wheels, adjustment problem with centre rail slider, dirty rails, rusty centre rail, ...

Upgrading from 6080 with AC/DC motor to a new decoder with DC motor will make a big difference. New motor, but the gear stays and therefore the loco should run good with the old motor.

Motor 60942 plus a suitable decoder.

Which controller do you use? When I convert Re 460s with four light bulbs, I connect them to LF, LR, AUX1 and AUX2 respectively and use function mapping for the light functions.

Will you do the soldering yourself?

Is the warranty from Modellbahn in Towcester?

If so then this loco is probably one that has been sold by its previous owner through the auctions at Warwick and Warwick over the last 18 months, and my guess is you purchased it from an ebay seller called antiquetoys1, who bought large amounts of the Marklin stock that went through that auction house.

If this is so, then the loco has probably not been operational for a very long time, and the oil will have dried out, and the mechanics will definitely need servicing.

That's the same motor as in 60941, but with a low-cost decoder.
I bought some of those before the 60941 set was available. It is OK, but the decoder is very basic: MM protocol only, 14 speed steps only

With a prototype speed of 220 km/h, that will make about 15 km/h per speed step. Better decoders will also support 27 or 28 speed steps or even 126, allowing finer changes of speed.

The 60942 is easier to install in my experience. You have a decoder board you can fix with a screw where the old decoder was mounted. Then you cut wires to the needed lengths, solder them in. Finally you plug the decoder in.
If you want sound at a later time, replacing the decoder is just plug'n'play.

Hello all and A Happy New Year.
I have successfully installed the 64091/64092 and the loco now runs beautifully.
However the wiring of the decoder in the annul is as usual petty useless.
I am struggling with how to wire the running lights. The manual gives front and rear colour wires but there is no explanation of how to wire it. Can anyone please give me an idea of what wires to use and where do they go!
There are more wires on the decoder than in the instruction manual.
TIA