Hi All,

I have finally started thinking seriously about converting my steam and diessel locos to Digital! I have the following Marklin loks:

1. 3 nos. of the very old 3000;
2. 1 no. of 3003;
3. 1 no. of 3141, and
4. 1 no. of 3375

Now, which of the decoders should I use? Which ones have been tried and tested and which ones would be ideally suited for the above locos. Is the conversion easy to do by someone as inexperienced as me? Are Marklin decoders the only ones to use or are there cheaper, but good alternatives out there?

I am looking forward to hearing from all of you.

best regards,
Ranjit

ESU LokPilot is a good alternative for converting old locos, with lower price than standard Märklin decoders and programmable from 6021 Central Unit. You will need to replace the field magnet as well (included in the Märklin kits).

If you want to keep the motor without changes (i e if you want to be able to go back to original) there are at least 2 options: 1) Delta decoder 2) Uhlenbrock decoders for AC motor. In these cases you only have to remove the relay and put the decoder in its place. Delta decoders can be switched to address "0" for analog operation. Other decoders have similar possibilities or detect automatically if you are driving analog or digital.

I have tried to make one conversion of an old Märklin loco with Uhlenbrock decoder, but the result was a "dead loco", so I'm planning to get the original upgrade kit from Märklin...

I have installed several Uhlenbrock 75200's. In the LFCM's the operation is pretty good, but I am less satsified with the driving characteristics of this decoder with the SFCM's such as the 3000.

Thanks, Jorge. I hadn't tried it in a 3-pole DCM, and now I won't.

Here there some on sale for US$30 in Australia, might be a shorter trip to Malasya
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/e...1557&item=5913530088

Ranjit:

I have converted over a dozen loks, using real Marklin, Lenz and Uhlenbrock. If you are reasonably handy with a soldering iron, the conversion is fairly easy and straightforward. The first one (in my case my good old faithful E103) took me a whole evening because I was doublechecking and rechecking myself at every step. after that, they went fairly quickly. And yes, the improved performabce, even in analog, is worth it (no more reversing relays and their springs and adjustments!)

Ranjit:
It is a big, big pleasure to get one of these old locos and take it to the XXIth century and beat the challenge with no problems

Hi Hans, take care with Fleischmann Loks. Old ones have one of the brushes fixed to the metallic plate and can't be isolated from chassis. Newer ones have a printed circuit on the plate and one of the brushes is connected to chassis thru a path that must be cut.
Regards.