# ID this board



## vette-kid (May 2, 2020)

Can anyone help me ID this board? Im not even really concerned with what it came from, I just want to verify of its DC or DCC. It has a small board plugged into the top using 21 pins of a 22 pin connector (2 rows of 11). Separate connections for track pickup (x2) and motor out as well as a speaker out, front and rear light assemblies. The only identifying marks are "walthers WLTMBD_v11". Motor turns both directions with DC power, I have not tested the speaker out and I don't want to destroy it by testing on the DCC power. Any way to tell if it's DCC?

















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## Aard D'Vaark (Aug 1, 2019)

no bridge, no pic ... probably DC only ..
just a lot of plug ins rather than solder pads ..


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## D&J Railroad (Oct 4, 2013)

That's a light board and is the interface between your loco electrical stuff and a decoder (21 pin). That little board that is plugged into it is in place of a decoder. I keeps the lights running on the loco forward or backward.
If you want to install a decoder, pull the little board off and install the decoder in its place.
The encoded word on the board, "WLTMBD " is Walthers Mother Board.


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## vette-kid (May 2, 2020)

So it's DC with sound? Looks a little more involved than the light boards I've seen so far is why I've asked. I didn't know sound was an option on DC only

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## J.Albert1949 (Feb 3, 2018)

As mentioned above, that looks to be _a dcc *AND* sound compatible light board._

Did this come out of an existing loco?
Which loco did it come out of?

The 21 pin boardthat was connected is probably a "bridge board" or a "dummy board" that lets the engine run in DC mode. It would be shipped from the factory this way as "dcc ready".

If you replace it with a 21 pin decoder (either sound or NON-sound), it will run in dcc.

You'll note that it already has connectors to the lights -- very nice connection scheme, I might add. Neat and clean connectors.

You will notice _one white connector that doesn't have anything plugged into it, labeled "SPK"._ I'm going to GUESS that this is where you would plug in the speaker (provided you installed a sound-capable 21 pin decoder).

While you have the board out, could you do a favor?
I'd like to know the "end-to-end" dimensions (length of the board).
Milimeters will do, or perhaps in inches (or both).
Thanks...
(I'm wondering if it could be used for dcc conversions in some engines I have, but I need to know the exact length)

*EDIT:*
Do you have a DC or dcc system?
I'm wondering if this is an already dcc-equipped board?
What does the box for the loco say?
Hard to tell from looking at the 21 pin board...


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## vette-kid (May 2, 2020)

Thanks for that. I don't know what out came out of, I got it with some spare parts from an auction a while back and just now getting to looking at it. It was listed as an ES44, but that doesn't match images I've found for that. It's in good condition and the motor turns smoothly when connected to a 9v and all lights illuminate directionally. I'll get some measurements later for you.

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## vette-kid (May 2, 2020)

J.Albert1949 said:


> As mentioned above, that looks to be _a dcc *AND* sound compatible light board._
> 
> Did this come out of an existing loco?
> Which loco did it come out of?
> ...


To your last point, I have a dcc system, again, no information regarding the board or what it came out of. 

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## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

Think of this as a "wiring harness" - it's NOT a DCC decoder, it has nothing but a few diodes on it for directional lighting and it connects to the motor and all the lights. 

But the 21-pin connector allows you to "drop in" a decoder with matching 21-pin connector by just plugging it in to the connector and not having to hard-wire the decoder to the motor and lights.

The locomotive this motor and board came out of is a DC (not DCC) loco, but may have been marketed as "DCC Ready" since the plug makes for easy installation.


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