What have you done today dad? - Well I've been cooking - Cakes? - no 6083 decoders 2 off !!! - Don't ask , you know when you are about to do something very silly but you still do it (in life in general as well) - The smell was interesting and I suspect a bit toxic.

So the 6083 has been and gone to be replaced by the 60830 with the poncey plugs and now that has gone to be replaced by the 60831 which doesn't look anything like its predecessors and has a couple of extra input ports.

Don't fancy the Ebay 6083's - "looks little used in good condition but not tested" - that describes my two muffins so at last the question. Is the 60831 compatible with my old gear and does anyone recommend possible cheaper alternative - Viessman 5211 or something else?

there isn't much inside an 83 decoder and I've fixed one the other week after it had malfunctioned a few years back and never got around to fix it. and this was the only one out of 64, to your question whether or not they can be used with newer versions: I don't really know.


John

60831 are cheaper than the old 6083 and works better.
If you use MM,you can even use the new m83,which Märklin do produce today.
Yours wally are enough big to buy an 60831.
If not less,get one as the second hand.

Oh yes when I do a job I do it thoroughly - melted a coil and a case of an almost new point motor. Put the remains of everything in one of my just in case bits and bobs coffee tins and if I lift the lid the smell is devastating and in its not coffee The board certainly has an incinerated "transistor" - different type in each of the two cookies the back of the pcb is well scorched and the cases have started to melt. If my daughter full of cold and unable to smell anything had not popped her head round the door to moan at the smell I would by now be living in a tent! Kind of decided to maybe try one "new" 60831 and one Viessmann 5211 but the Marklin item is yellow dot in the database - back order and terribly expensive at Gaugemaster (what's new?) and not showing on all the usual suspects on Ebay so I guess I'll wait a whlie

Me too. I think that I have only lost 1 in the past 13 years. They have always been cheaper that the k83 units.

I have used both the Viessmann 5211 and the ESU Switchpilot 51800. Going forward I would recommend the Switchpilot as you can use it as both a K83 or a K84. There is a mechanical switch on it were you choose the K83 or K84 mode of operation. This gives you future application flexibility.

Thank you all for your comments and advice. The postman today brought me a Viessmann 5211 which was incorporated into my little layout within minutes with no problems and all is now working fine with no cooking smells at all.

??
I do not think you can lock a decoder.

If you are referring to a MM decoder ignoring any PoM activity then that is a small safeguard.
And, sure, the MM addressing capability does not extend to CVs above 80 if you are using a 6021.

But saying a m8* that is set to MM mode is locked out from programming is incorrect.

For one example (published because the m84 left the factory with the light brightness set to "0")
Ref: http://www.maerklin.de/f...mmierung_M84_Signale.pdf