I picked up 3 Marklin decoders in a box of assorted parts. They have KN150211 on the PCB and I was told they all came from the yellow loco (ML00610) in the 29253/51430 Aldi sets sold in Australia.

That's all very straight forward but searching the net and forums has left me a bit puzzled. I presume that these simple non-sound mfx decoders are probably fitted to many startup and basic set locos.

Different locos at this level all have different part numbers for their decoders, for example -

ML00610 E261368 (the Aldi set)
89 class E283792
81 class E306426
74 class E353405
216 class E353466

Do all these locos actually have the same physical decoder with a few settings changed such as loco name and maybe some parameters tweaked for better operation?

If so, is there an original "base" decoder that can be programmed to replace all of the above?

If so, what is the part number and what are the specs?

Cheers and thanks.

Hi Bill,
The motor is just a simple can motor, 2" or 50 mm long.
The decoder normally just has motor and light outputs but it seems some people have squeezed an extra function or two out of it.
I've got three of these decoders and was just wondering what they could be spares for.
If your 89 class decoder dies I imagine any you could just grab one from another startup loco to do the repair.
What surprises me, or I've just missed it somewhere, is that you don't seem to be able to just order a "generic" startup decoder.
I've just spent the afternoon fitting one to the analogue loco in the 2858 set. Works fine.

Hi kiwi,

I received the 2858 set as a surprise Christmas present - boxed and unused.

I immediately fitted it with the 60760 digital conversion kit - and, as you say, that decoder doesn't have mfx.

I swapped in one of the "unknown" mfx decoders from the startup bits and pieces just out of curiosity.

To me, and probably other novice users, the mfx solution is a little easier.

I think it runs smoother with the mfx decoder but I don't know why that would be the case.