Kato MP36PH

Scale:
N Scale


This installation uses the following decoder:


This installation of the TCS K4D6 Decoder is for N-Scale Kato MP36PH and was performed by TCS.

First pry under the METRA letters R & R under the front window and about the same space in from the rear on the same side. Inserting tooth picks at these points should allow the shell to slip right off.
Next, using tweezers carefully remove the motor clips and save them for use with the decoder. Lift the long narrow section of the lighting board as shown below and slip it towards the front of the locomotive. This allows the small, rear portion of the board pass over a small lip in the frame that holds the light board in place.
With the lighting board slipped back (as shown below) it can be lifted from the frame.
Now, slip the K4D6 into the frame just as the original lighting board was. Mount the motor clips on the K4D6 just as they were on the lighting board. Your locomotive should now look like the image below.
If you are not installing the K4-LK rear lighting kit you can now replace the shell and run your locomotive. If you are using the K4-LK, solder the wires coming off the lighting board to the rear of the K4D6 as shown in the image below. Follow the wiring diagram on the K4-LK literature to ensure proper wire placement.
Slide the K4-LK into the shell and an mount it as shown in the image below. NOTE: the K4-LK is friction fit (no glue is required to hold it in place) and must be held at a steep angle to clear the red light tube prior to tipping it into a vertical orientation. If you find that the red light tube is slipping out of the shell a drop of glue can be used to hold it in place. If you do glue the light tube be sure to avoid getting glue on the end of the tube to to ensure the light from the LED passes through it optimally.
You can now replace the shell and run your locomotive with an operational rear light and beacon. NOTE: Early versions of the K4D6 use button 2 for the rear beacon. To change this to button 1 program a value of 4 into CV 36.

Important Soldering Tip

Please do not use any flux either liquid or paste on the mother board. Over time, the acidic properties of liquid or paste flux will begin eating away at the fiberglass PCB and will damage it. Use only Rosin-core solder or no-clean flux approved for electronics use.

TCS recommends the use of Kester "44" Sn63 Pb37, .015" diameter Rosin-core solder. Kester part number 24-6337-0007.

You can order this solder from the following retailers:
Digikey - PN:KE1110-ND
Techni-Tool - PN:488SO6775

Other solder tips

When stripping wire, only strip a tiny little bit of the insulation. Strip no more than a 1/32 of an inch. When the wire gets tinned with solder, the insulation will shrink back more. Try to not expose any more wire than half the length of the solder pad at most. In no case should solder or exposed wire wire ever be outside the boundary of the the solder pad you are attaching a wire to.
Click here for important information on properly Stripping and Tinning wire