0-4-0 conversion to DCC

[Brew Man]

Hello folks

This is my first posting here and am new to railway modelling since my son bought me a set for my recent birthday. How times change, it used to be parents buying their children train sets.

I now have 2x 0-4-0 analogue locos, one that came with the set and the other that came with Club membership. I am intendending to upgrade both of these to DCC operation and have the guide to doing this. The guide specifies using the Standard 6 pin decoder, but only 4 of the 6 pins are used. My question is, can the latest 4 pin decoder, (R7274) which is £10 cheaper be used instead of the 6 pin decoder?

Thanks for any help. I seem to be getting nowhere fast with customer Services.

[jane1707819582]

Yes it will 

[Brew Man]

Thanks for the reply. Do you know this for sure? I don't want to buy them to find they don't work. I'm also guessing that the colour coding of the wires is like for like connection-wise.

[ColinB]

Ok, this up to debate but I would use a 6 pin in the fact that it gives you more choice of decoders. The other thing is I found with my 0-4-0 can motors that they were awfully near the maximum current rating of the Hornby decoder, although someone on this site said that they work alright in his locos.

[Chrissaf]

I now have 2x 0-4-0 analogue locos, one that came with the set and the other that came with Club membership

 

What follows in this reply relates to DCC conversion of models that are 'DCC Ready' and have decoder connectors in them. I suspect that your models mentioned in the quote above might not be 'DCC Ready' and do not have decoder connectors built in. If that is indeed the case, then either the 4 Pin decoder or the 6 pin decoder can be used as you should ideally install your own decoder connector to suit the decoder you want to install. Search eBay for "DuPont 2.54mm" for suitable male and female connector parts.

 

'DCC Ready' loco conversion.

 

The 4 pin decoder function is compatible with a 6 pin loco and it can be made to interface with modification. But what you can't do is plug the 4 pin decoder 'one for one' into a loco designed for a 6 pin decoder.

 

The 6 pin decoder has a male connector that plugs into a 6 pin female socket in the loco.

 

The 4 pin decoder has a female socket that plugs onto a male pin header in the loco.

 

Not only that, but the pin assignments of the 4 common connections are different, they are in a different function order. See image below [L= Left & R = Right]:

 

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As others have said, you can use a 4 pin decoder in a 6 pin loco, but you either need to make an adaptor harness to convert female to male and realign the pin functions, or cut off the 4 pin decoder connector and change it for a 6 pin male plug, or not use the plugs and sockets at all and 'hard wire' the decoder in.

 

But a straight forward, just plug it in, it is not.

 

TIP: As a newbie poster on the forum, just be aware that the 'Blue Button with the White Arrow' is not a 'Reply to this post' button. If you want to reply to any of the posts, scroll down and write your reply in the reply text box at the bottom of the page and click the Green 'Reply' button.

 

See also – further TIPs on how to get the best user experience from this forum.

https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/tips-on-using-the-forum/

 

[ColinB]

I am amazed I didn't believe you when you said a 6 pin Hornby decoder is £10.00 dearer than a 4 pin one, I find that amazing. I think if you expand your search, you will find you can get a non Hornby 6 pin decoder for the same price as a 4 pin one. 

[96RAF]

There is room to install an NEM652 socket and standard 8-pin decoder so installing a 4 or 6-pin socket should be a breeze.

 

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[Brew Man]

Sorry for the delayed response. As a newbie I could only post twice yesterday.

Thanks for all the replies, especially from Jane2 and Chrissaf. I am now confident that the cheaper 4 pin decoder should work fine. I'll get cracking on it  😆