DCC suppression capacitor

[Chrissaf]

Yes, it can be removed, the "suppression" circuitry is included in the decoder itself. 

[Potrail2378]

Does it just get cut out, or is there any soldering needed? 

[96RAF]

Some can just be cut out but some are better desoldered.

Check for any hidden under the motor, as some manifacturers can be sneaky.

[Chrissaf]

Hi, and thanks for all your recent help. I have a freight set and two loco's, R1126 with a Jinty and a class 08. I have recently converted the class 08 four pin decoder to a four pin, five wired decoder with your help. What's with the capacitor? Is it necessary? Can I cut it out? I thought the caps were only fitted on DC models. Thanks in advance. 

[Potrail2378]

Sorry, what I meant to say was - does it just get cut out, or is there any bridging to do when removing the capacitor? 

[Chrissaf]

Just removal, no replacement bridging required for a capacitor as the capacitor goes across the motor terminals in parallel with the motor wires. A capacitor is an 'open circuit' to DC, so if you replaced a suppression capacitor with a metallic wire link you would be creating a 'short circuit' across the motor and thus the motor output of the decoder.

.

However, sometimes the suppression takes the form of inductors in series with the motor wire connections [sometimes as well as parallel capacitors], in which case once the inductor is removed the resultant dangling wire needs to be reattached to the motor [usually by soldering] to replace the electrical current path previously provided by the inductor.