The pins

on that DC part should line out to the indications on this diagram.

 
It will depend on what you want to do next.  From a distance it looks like you have the DC plug and the DCC plug from a decoder will have to be inserted correctly to make the lights work and the motor coordinate with the lights.
 

Initial Content Relocated Here

So these run smooth but really slow at full voltage on address 0, so not sure if that’s all the junk on the circuit board or axle split issues. I have Athearn replacement gears so probably not a real concern.

Both have what appears to be an 8 pin DCC plug on their circuit boards but pin 1 is not labelled on either the socket or the dummy plug on either. Every conversion article I’ve found has begun with removing the circuit board. I’ve read a couple of things suggesting this might not even be a decoder plug.  

Found one article where a TCS decoder was just plugged in, (https://tcsdcc.com/installation/ho-scale/1394) to what appears to be the same locomotive, but there is no visibility of pin 1 and TCS documents don't show the underside of the decoder either - so no related documentation re pin 1, and I have Tsunamis, not TCS decoders on hand.

Curious if anyone can confirm that this is actually a decoder plug socket and has had any success with a plug-in decoder?  I don’t want to fry a decoder and tests with an ohmmeter thus far have not been conclusive. 

The plug beside the loco is the dummy plug which I've removed from the locomotive and placed in the same orientation as it was when in place on the board.

Thanks,
Mike
 

The TCS decoder (DP2-LL) used in the referenced article (I can find no pictures of the underside showing the pins) has a dot on the top side, but I don't know if that's indicating pin 1 for certain. 

... and when I stare at the TCS installation procedure, the placement of that dot on their decoder could be NMRA spec for pin 1, but I don't want to guess with either the $45 or $170 Tsunami decoders I have here.  Lol.  I'm chicken!  I've never had a loco or a decoder without pin 1 identified.  First time for everything I suppose.

Below, the  cheap $45 non-sound Tsunami I have on hand. This one has pin 1 labelled, but not being certain which corner is pin one on the FA-1 ...

My plan is to put this in the B Unit and install a second speaker in series with the speaker from the sound decoder from the A Unit.  I can’t see the point of a second sound decoder as the B unit has no lights and once consisted, I haven’t figured out how to slave F8, etc to consisted units. so curious also if others have done that. 
 

@Nick, and finally, since I repurposed the thread in which I initially thanked Nick … here is that one …. Thanks Nick,  I’m still not sure what to do.  Looking at the NMRA pin outs suggests some symmetry.  Have you ever plugged one in backwards AND avoided a smoking decoder?

There should be no harm in

There should be no harm in plugging it in wrong. Look at how a reversed plug simply exchanges Motor + and -. And the the track polarity is similarly exchanged. Only the lights should be affected by wrong way installation. 

Either Way

The 8 pin spec was designed to allow for the decoder to be plugged in backwards without doing any harm. The locomotive will run backwards if the decoder is plugged in the wrong way, so just turn it around, no harm done.

Thanks everyone

I was hoping that would be the case with symmetry.  I will give it a try.  I have fried enough decoders over the years that I could fry eggs on the remnants so am a bit gun shy.

[Update]
Tried it both ways in the B Unit (no lights) and all is well.  Will test the cheap decoder in the A Unit soon to figure out the lights.  No point risking the expensive decoder.

Not sure I won’t end up removing boards after all - there isn’t much room in there.

One other enhancement you may

One other enhancement you may wish to consider.  I have a trio of FA/B/A units coupled together.  I have a 2-conductor wire (mini-plug to get them apart if needed) running from the lead A to the B and from the B to the trailing A, attached in each loco to the right and left rail pick-ups.  In effect, I now have 24-wheel pick-up available to the sound boards.  The trio virtually NEVER stalls this way, and the sound never drops out either.

For your purposes, share the connection between the two units. You'll get 16-wheel redundancy that way.

ADDED: I pass the wire through the end doors, btw.  And this wiring idea is easier to implement with replacement boards, because each end of the board has a place to attached the rail pick-ups.  Just add the jumper wire at the same time.

@Milt

Have you ever just daisy-chained a speaker from the lead unit into the others with cheap non-sound decoders in them?   I've been doing some reading on advanced consisting and realize now it may be possible to have F8 on the consist turn the sound on/off on all units in the consist. 

I'm a bit curious about throwing 16 Ohms (2 x 28mm round @ 8 ohms each) at the Tsunami, so curious if others have.

I'm never going to run a B Unit by itself so was thinking a simple decoder and a slaved speaker would be as effective and a lot cheaper.

The trouble with what you

The trouble with what you describe is that the cheap decoder won’t behave the same as the sound decoder, especially if the sound one has braking capability. The two locos will fight each other. 
On my A/B/A setup the two A units have sound decoders, and the B motor is on another jumper off one of the A’s motor outputs. That way everybody behaves the same. There is no decoder at all in the B. Just jumpers from the A unit. A Loksound decoder easily handles two motors. A Tsunami should, as well if you wish to go that route.

But of course, you are trying for the sound of two locos from one decoder. I have not tried adding effectively a “remote” speaker in the other loco. Do-able, surely, but check the ohms capability vs the speakers you will use. You can play with wiring speakers in parallel or series to match needed impedance. 

Addendum - the two speakers

Addendum - the two speakers will be putting out the < exact same sound> so beware: it won’t sound like two locos, just more of one.

Pin 1

The small board has the lower right corner cut at an angle. The denotes pin 1. 

Bernd

@Bernd and @Milt

I'm only commenting with more detail in the event anyone else attempting this conversion stumbles on the thread.

@ Bernd That did end up being pin one, but the dummy board is actually perfectly symmetrical - it only looks like there is an angle in the earlier photo.  Here it is cropped and otherwise untouched.
 

It was really just a bad camera angle in the original photo, made worse by the scrunching software (“Image Size”) I normally use on high-res images so they'll fit here.  Pin 1 on the decoder did end up going in that hole though to get the direction aligned with all my other engines.  Here is a photo showing the new decoder in the correct orientation for “standard direction” with orange wire/pin 1. 
 

@ Milt - I will consider your advice carefully.  I'm already worried about the ohms at 16, and you're right, the subtle harmonics of two locomotives and their individual sounds would be be lost.  Plus there is all the aggravation of installing tiny plugs between the locos - easily a couple of hours work.  My simple decoder is also Soundtraxx, but likely a fair bit different in its sophistication relative to the Tsunami 2.  I think I will install the latter tonight (I've only ever used their Steam Decoders in On30) and see how it sounds.  If I like it, I think I'll just exchange the simple decoder for another full sound unit.  At $175 for the pair of locos plus $169 for the decoder (less the discount they always give me at my LTS), these will end up at about $235 each for DCC Sound which likely isn't too bad these days.  With the reading I've done on advanced consisting it will be cool to get the key functions triggering on the consist as a whole (prime movers, notching, dynamic brakes, etc.)

Very appreciative of all the help on here.  Hopefully others acquiring the particular Proto 2000 FA1/FB1 DC locos and needing help with a DCC conversion will find this thread of some use.

As I progress the conversion I will publish more photos and info as these are very nice models for the money. Maybe not right up there with the new Rapido units but then they they aren’t $350 each either, and one is more likely to run across them on EBay, etc. I am especially appreciative of the A Unit cab with scale figures already installed, and the fact that they package these with the shell non-installed on the chassis, negating the need to earn a degree trying to separate them without buggering something up.

Gut them

My opinion, formed from lots of experience installing decoders, is old Proto:2000 boards and light bulbs are not to be trusted.  I completely gut mine and start over.  Most of those components on the board are for constant lighting using their Power Hog (tm) 1.5volt light bulbs, featuring Amperage Of The Week!  (As if Gear Ratio Of The Month wasn't bad enough....)

The problem is that while those boards have a DCC plug, they really were not designed to be run at a constant 12 to 15 volts, and they can overheat.  Extreme cases melt the shells.  The circuitry can also eat DCC signals, causing inconsistent performance.  So just trashcan the board and bulbs and hardwire the trucks and motor to a new decoder or a Decoder Buddy if Nick makes one short enough to fit in the rear of the Proto:2000 FAs and FBs.  Remember, there's a Big Honkin' Weight (tm) amidships.  Replacing that weight is an option.  

The bulbs get replaced by LEDs.

The other thing you have to do with all older Protos is clean the old lube out of the gear train.  Many of them freeze up solid.  Break down both trucks completely and clean them.  Make sure all bearings turn freely.

When you're done the motors should not draw any more than a half amp at stall.  All of my 4-axle Protos, from the earliest tan box to the last grey box, pull that after cleaning.

Scott Chatfield

Thanks Scott ...

That sounds like sage advice. I’ve been wondering why they run at about half the speed of everything else I have here. 

Jumper orientation

Dear MRHers,

While electrically the blanking jumpers do not have a "right/wrong way round",
it's worth noting that the Square Solder Pad at top right of the pic is the "pin1" indicator...

Happy Modelling,
Aim to ID Pin 1,
Prof Klyzlr

Scott mentioned a shorter version

of the Decoder Buddy.  It is the Decoder Buddy Mini.  There are numerous examples of Decoder Buddys in Proto 1000 and Proto 2000 locomotives.  Some need the weights reduced in size, others do not.  Removing weight from model locomotives seems to be much easier than loosing weight from my belly......

Many recommendations including this one to remove bulbs and replace them with LEDs.  The required resistors are present on the Decoder Buddys so soldering on LEDs with just wire leads is all that is necessary.

But ...

But look where pin 1 is on the functional decoder in the pic I posted 5 posts up ?  I think Life Like may have just ignored any standards  

Gut the thing and do it right

Blindog10 gave you sound advice.   Add to that replace the axle gears.  If not split already, it is a matter of time before they do. 

So I've gutted the A Unit so far ...

Dealer was out of the same ALCO decoder for the B Unit, and also now out of speaker baffles  so waiting for those before I swap for the cheap decoder.  Mainly puttering with the the A Unit as I have time. 
 

Took the board out and did a lot of grease cleaning.  I think I'll stick with the stock right side rail power pickup as it seems to work great and no matter how much I move and stress the truck, I can't find any shorts.  It seems to run a lot smoother without the board on my variable power supply.

My gears do not seem to be cracked - they may have been replaced already.  The new gears I got will not go on the ~1.5 mm axles, so since I can get at these easily anytime if need be, I'm just going to leave them alone - I don't like boring things out bigger without using the lathe.  I've got a wee drill press and vice here in Vancouver and picked up a 1/4" end mill so I can gently mill a couple of protrusions off the weight.  Over the rest of the week, I'll get things soldered up and determine the speaker config and placement.  Rather looking forward to seeing how this Tsunami Alco decoder sounds. 

Emma’s cousin from France has been hanging around a lot lately but so far not putting any deep dents in roadbed. She has turned out to be an excellent helper though.  The shop crew have trained her to lift things - sort of a living pry bar and crane as it were.  She helped remove the weight, circuit board, etc. 
 

I'm with Scott - gutting them

I'm with Scott - gutting them is the right move for older Proto models. They were notorious for this problem during the first wave of DCC years ago. Gutting them was a simple solution that worked. That and getting the peanut butter out of the gears.

Very Interesting Discussions, and excessive current draws

These are some very interesting discussions,...for both these specific Proto2K engines , ..as well as others I suppose. I have a number of DC proto2k engines that will need DCC installations in the future.

I've seen and heard talk about how often the stock engines (particularly Proto2K) draw excessive currents for some decoders to deal with. Can some of this excessive current draw be attributable to those clogged up gear trains,...rather than just the motors themselves?? 

In other words, perhaps I won't have to replace so many of these stock motors??

The trouble with what you

I've been told the same thing with SoundTrax sound TSU2 sound decoder vs. their non-sound, which really sucks because it basically forces you to put all sound decoders in an MU set.  I wonder if this is their way of forcing you into more sound decoders. 

@Brian

The motor seems really smooth with a power supply directly to the motor leads. My power supply is controllable both voltage and amperage and it’s certainly running fine on 12.5 Volts and a 300 mA limit.  Ran fine at 200 mA as well.

So I finished the test wiring tonight

I've taken the cogent advice of several members here and gutted the beastie removing the cluttered circuit board (that does who knows what) in favour of a direct decoder to motor approach.

It's still a mess, but I just wanted to test it out.

I managed to get the LED backwards and will fix that tomorrow, but otherwise a success! 
I had already snipped the LED leads short and it fell out of my soldering clamp, and I didn’t look close enough at the anode and cathode and the current won't flow  .  Not a big deal to swap the wires other than cutting off the heat shrink, lol.

It runs and sounds GREAT.  Volume is plenty loud with the shell off and about doubles with the shell partway on. The Tsunami 2 has an equalizer and a zillion features to experiment with. All I've done so far is implement the 244 Turbo prime mover and change the horn to the CP delivered M3.  With all the roadbed work going on on the B&H, I don't even have a programming track at the moment to change the number.

 

I’ve got to move the decoder forward behind the cab and mill the weight a little, before the shell will go on fully.  I want to try and leave some airspace above the speaker for the resonance that happens with the shell partway on.  I think I will deploy a thin sheet of styrene between the decoder and all the moving parts to keep things clean and do a better job of lassoing all the wires.  My goal to get only the speaker on top of the weight to create a resonance chamber and then mess with the Tsunami's built in equalizer to boost the bass.

I'm quite impressed with this model. Other than the winterization hatches, which I can research and build, and some different horns, it seems to match the prototype quite well.  I was initially worried it didn't have 45 degree number boards, but then realized that was a feature of the FA-2 series!  

 

Hopefully  LTS will get another Tsunami 2 Alco decoder in soon so I can convert the B Unit.  They swear by Soundtraxx and I can sort of hear why!  Researching lighting now on CP FA-1 and FB-1 to see if there is anything else to be implemented.

To Jim Fitch, check out

To Jim Fitch, check out Soundtraxx’ mobile decoder. It is supposed to have the same functions as a sound decoder without the sound. It would behave the same as the sound version for lots less. Of course, this is Soundtraxx to Soundtraxx only. I heard that ESU was supposed to offer similar for their line, but don’t know if they have.