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Hi Folks

I acquired an MTH 2-rail/Scale Wheels CP Rail Twin Flags GP-40.  Since I run all my locos with DCC, the ProtoSound 2.0 board was totally useless to me, so I have removed it and replaced it with an NCE D408SR DCC decoder which is running very nicely indeed.  It's now come time to deal with the other two parts of the conversion, connecting up the lights and installing a DCC-compatible sound system.

And this is where I could use some advice - what voltage/wattage are the light bulbs that MTH used for the headlights and marker lights?  Can I safely power them straight from the 12v function outputs of the D408SR DCC chip or do I need to include resistors to bring the voltage/current down to a suitably low level if they are 3v or even 1.5v bulbs?

For the sound conversion BTW I have a Digitrax SFX-006 64-bit sound-only chip which I can program with GP-40 sounds using a friend's Digitrax PR-3 and a PC.  At $60 approx, it looks like the best way to put in DCC-compatible sound.  I will reuse the original MTH speaker.

Thanks for any help and advice you can give.

Regards, Bevis.

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The bulbs in the MTH Proto-2 engines are 6-volt Grain of Wheat. They get roughly five volts from the board. As Joe suggested, I'd recommend using LEDs with your DCC board instead of bulbs as they last longer, give more light, and don't produce heat. If it's a working Proto-2 board, remove it carefully from the locomotive and sell it. The 5-volt boards use an 8.4-volt rechargable battery; the 3-volt boards use a pair of 1.2-volt batteries in a shrink-wrap.

I was certainly thinking that if I blew the bulbs, my plan B would be to replace them with LEDs instead.  I guess I should take a look inside and see how hard that would be to do as a plan A.  6V is an odd number compared to other stuff I've done (in HO and N mostly) and probably isn't worth the hassle to me of working out what the proper resistor value should be.  I'd be so nervous I'd got the values wrong.

As I'm based in the UK, it's not that easy for me to sell the ProtoSound 2.0 board.  I certainly couldn't be confident enough in it to put it up for sale on eBay - the grief of returns/refunds to the purchaser across the Atlantic wouldn't be worth it if it turned out not to work.  I'll have to think about it.

Thanks for the advice.  I'll let you know how I get on - I have an HO scale layout to finish first which is due to be exhibited in like six weeks, so that's on a deadline.

Regards, Bevis.

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