Western Star Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 The ESU web-site includes this 21MTC board for expanding the I/O capability of a Lokpilot V4 decoder... http://www.esu.eu/en/products/accessories/adapterplatinen/io-expansion-board/ the part number of this adaptor board is 51970. As well as expanding the number of AUX ports for a Lokpilot the expansion board includes pads for attaching an ESU Keep Alive - this is a good thing for those who do not want to solder wires to a decoder! Simple question - which of the 21MTC pins interface the decoder to the keep alive? Difficult question(?) - how do we identify which versions of Lokpilot V4 decoders can access a keep alive through the 21MTC expansion board? thank you, Graham Beare Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
two tone green Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Does this help. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
two tone green Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Forgot to mention, the ESU PowerPack can be attached optionally to all LokPilot V4.0 including LokPilot FX or LokSound V4.0 and LokSound Select decoders. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Western Star Posted December 24, 2014 Author Share Posted December 24, 2014 You are correct to say that the ESU Power Pack can be attached directly to Lokpilot V4 decoders and that is one aspect of wiring DCC stuff which I want to avoid because of the expense if I mess up a Loksound chip. What I want to know is which pins of the 21MTC connector carry the three signal (U+, Charge and Masse - see above) between the expansion board and the decoder - with that information I can connect the keep alive to a 21MTC adaptor plate (which is about £13 as against £20 for the expansion board or £100 for a Loksound). regards, Graham Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigelcliffe Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Graham, where did you find the information that the expansion board can connect to the power pack ? The standard MTC-21 pin-out wouldn't include the charge connection pin (unless its sneaking through as something else). The MTC-21 would have decoder positive and decoder ground (Masse). - Nigel Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
two tone green Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Without actually having one I cannot say as I would have to trace the route on the board but possibly the power pack will only power the extra functions on the I/O board and not the actual decoder. They are easy to solder on the decoders, done 20 of them. Have a look here for board info. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
two tone green Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Nigel, look on the ESU web site. All the info is on there. RTFM Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
two tone green Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 I don't think the 21 pin MTC board will take a power pack. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigelcliffe Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Nigel, look on the ESU web site. All the info is on there. RTFM I think that's Read the German manuals. I couldn't find an English one.. Yes, in German it shows the connections. Though nothing about how the charge pin is managed/communicated to the decoder (though I could see a solution where that pin doesn't need to communicate with the decoder). - Nigel Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Western Star Posted December 24, 2014 Author Share Posted December 24, 2014 Nigel... TTG... , As you have said, there is no ESU documentation for the 21MTC Adaptor Plate which shows solder pads for the three wires of the ESU Power Pack and I am not expecting to connect the keep alive to pads on the plate as such. The ESU web-site has documentation for the I/O Expansion board which makes clear that the three wires of the ESU Power Pack can be connected to pads on that board. As yet I have not found any ESU information which identifies how the power management feature of the LokPilot is either made available to or incorporated within the I/O Expansion board... hence my question. regards, Graham Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
two tone green Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Ask ESU on their forum Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Western Star Posted December 26, 2014 Author Share Posted December 26, 2014 Ask ESU on their forum I shall do this as soon as ESU returns from the holiday. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoingUnderground Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 Graham, The information you want may be in the LokPilot V3 manual, where ESU provided a wiring diagram for connecting home-brewed stay alives to 21MTC LP V3 decoders. There is a translation of the 51970 manual on the ESU web site, one that I created and posted in the Other ESU Products Support section back in February 2013 when it went on sale. You will have to go back to posts made in February 2013 to find it. The thread also contains some information from ESU about using it with the 51968 Adapter Board. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold tarifa Posted December 26, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 26, 2014 Reading the information on the ESU website and checking my own adaptor plate, I am reading the "stay alive" capacitor is not an auxiliary function output but a power function controlled by the decoder to maintain the capacitor charge and discharge the power when the supply on the pick-ups (red and black wires) is interrupted and is required to be connected to the decoder. The Zimo MX644D has similar connections as the LokSound 21 pin V4. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadlyduck Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 If you search Streamlined Backshop it tells you on there the ESU 54615 has the added features to fit a power pack,but doesnt say what pads to use david Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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