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Dear Friends. Please - I need guidence wiring up my Zimo sound decoder as it is new to me. I have followed the Zimo MX small decoders manual as far as possible but there are still areas that I dont understand. I am in the midst of converting an old LGB 21181 Mogul to DCC with sound. I am using a Zimo MX645-P16 with Adaplu board. So far, I have succesfully connected the motor, speaker and they both worked well. But I am now stuck with the LGB smoke unit which is rated 5V, and the LGB micro bulbs (front light) which is also 5V. Where do I connect the 5V smoke unit on the Adaplu board? Can I use F01 for it? This means connecting the smoke unit to F01 & Low voltage connection? (The F01 has not yet been assigned in the pre-loaded sound in my MX645.) Can I connect the headlight to 'Front Headlight & Low voltage' connection? I want to fit a cab light (LED+resistor). If I wire this to the headlight, the cab light will not come on when the loco is in reverse. How do I wire this up correctly? Thank you for your kind guidence. Warmest regards Daniel

Has anybody else loaded the latest software update dated 30th October 2024 as when I did it both the MX 33 and the MX!) loaded fine but nothing happened when I tried to load the MX32. Am I doing something wrong? I just plugged the USB stick (after of course uncompressing the file) into the MX32 and nothing happened at all. David Wright

I have to drive a 6volt micro motor with my MS500, and wondered if I have to set any CV's to ensure the decoder can not supply more than this else add components between the motor leads to ensure the decoders motor output cannot exceed 6volts. Clarification would be appreciated, many thanks Simon

I remembered this evening that I hadn’t yet run in one of these locos, so I popped it on the rolling road and set a timer for 30 minutes. When I came back to run it in the opposite direction, it refused to respond to throttle inputs - only functions, sounds and lights would respond - and stuck with the motor/wheels running at 50% throttle. When switching track power off and on again, the decoder played the startup sounds when activating F1, but refused to move or make any accelerating sound, but all the sounds on F keys worked ok. I had to reset CV8=8 to get back any motor control. Once I’d done this, it did exactly the same after running in the opposite direction for 30 mins. Each time the laptop had gone to sleep. Whether this is decoder, JMRI or DCC-EX related, I’ll have to investigate first before I pick the correct group to post to. I’ve never had this with an MX and this is the first time I’ve run an MS long enough for my laptop to go to sleep (if it’s even related to that).

Hi, I’ve installed an ms500 in an N gauge class 52 western. It powers up, all the sounds work and motor moves etc on address 3 as expected. I went to read some CVs in order to do a little tweaking - firstly to change the address - however JMRI won’t read any CVs, citing “Program error: No acknowledge from locomotive (308)”. When attempting to read, the loco doesn’t twitch back and forth like my locos on mx decoders do, but if I lay a finger on it, I can sense a soft ‘twitch’. I’m using DCC-EX. Is there anything different that needs configuring with the ms500 to be able to read back CVs? Many thanks in advance. Daniel

What settings do I need to adjust to get my RR ramp meter to read the full 24Volts DCC output that the Zimo Station shows?

Pardon the long post. I work in N scale, with small steam locos and electric MU trains. I have been trying a variety of keep alive or buffer devices in my N scale locos, with greatly varying results. The buffers include ESU Power Pack Mini Lenz USP with Lenz Mini Gold decoder Puff N from Fichtelbahn TCS KA2 (and its Chinese knock-off from LAIS) TCS KA4 TCS KA-N1 Zimo Staco from YouChoos with 3 capacitors supplied by YouChoos Zimo SpeiKomp (assembled from the Zimo-specified collection of parts) I have tried them with the following decoders Digitrax DZ125 and DZ126 Doehler & Hass PD05A ESU LokPilot Micro and Nano Lenz Mini Gold and Silver Zimo MX 62, MX616, MX620 and MX 621 (my favorites, of course) I tested the Lenz Mini Gold decoder 2 ways – with the Lenz USP buffer, and with the other buffer units. In the latter case, I simply connected the 2 leads from the buffer to the plus and ground solder pads on the decoder, ignoring the separate (control) solder pad. I have used or tested these both in locos and in a home-made decoder tester that uses a 10mm coreless motor (less than 0.1 amp draw) to check the motor outputs and a pair of mini 16v grain-of-rice lamps to check the light outputs, and an additional pair of wires from the plus and ground wires on the decoder with lips to attach the appropriate leads on the buffer device. I always disable analogue conversion. Results The only buffer devices that appear to have any effect at all are the Lenz USP and the TCS KA2 and KA4. The Lenz USP, when used with the Mini Gold decoder and fully charged, provides at least 1 -3 seconds of continued running. The TCS KA2 and KA4 provide 5 – 10 seconds or even more of continued running and lighting. Indeed, one of my small steam locos with a 10mm Faulhaber motor, a KA2, and a Zimo MX616 decoder, will continue running on dead track for several feet before quitting. These results are consistent over all the decoders listed above. I have a tram that uses an 8mm coreless motor, a Digitrax DZ126 decoder and a TCS KA2. Its LED lights will stay on for over a minute even when sitting on the ground. According to Zimo, the TCS units are not compatible with the Zimo decoders listed above. I have, indeed, noted odd behavior of the sort predicted by Zimo (rejecting or refusing to acknowledge programming commands, and running away after programming) with a few but by no means all my Zimo decoders when used with the TCS products. Aside from the TCS KA 2 and KA4 and the Lenz Gold, the other keep-alives provided no discernable buffering effect whatsoever. I was especially disappointed with the Fichtelbahn Puff N and Zimo Staco products, as they are specifically meant to go with Zimo decoders of the sort I use. In every case, successful or not, the decoder is delivering about 10v DC across the plus and ground wires that go to the buffer while the decoder is supplied with track power. With the TSC KA2 and KA4, when track power is cut off, voltage across the buffer decays very gradually from 10 volts, commensurate with the gradually slowing motor and dimming lights. With all the other buffers, when track power is cut off, voltage immediately drops to near zero across the buffer, as if it either did not charge at all, or immediately discharged. The motor and lights stop immediately. Does anybody have any suggestions why this might be? I am 99% certain my soldering work is correct. All the decoders work fine with and without the buffer (save for the odd behavior predicted by Zimo note above when the TCS buffer is attached, which disappear when it is not) I use a Digitrax Super Chief system and JMRI to program the decoders. Track voltage measured with an ordinary multimeter is about 11. Disclaimer: I did not actually try the ESU Power Pack Mini with the ESU decoders. ESU’s manual specifically shows how it should be connected to the LokPilot Micro, but I did not try that combination. It does not seem to work with the Lenz Mini Gold even though it has 3 wires and appears that it might supposedly do so.