Thought.....

I don't mean to be rude, please.  If I were you I would bite the bullet and get an ESU Power Pack stay alive and avoid any issue.  Look at it like buying installation insurance.....

Works fine

I was planning on mounting

I was planning on mounting the KA to my decoder buddy if that makes any difference. I'd rather not spend the additional ~$49.00 on something I already have....

Joe- glad to hear you have not heard of any issues. 

Perfect

Perfect, that’s the ideal solution since there’s no question where the KA leads go (ESU decoder has 3 stay alive soldering pads, one of which you don’t use). The Decoder Buddy's pads feed the proper stay alive decoder pins, so you’re good to go!

Thats one of the real advantages of using 21 pin decoders with the Decoder Buddy, adding a TCS KA Module is a piece of cake.

Thank you Joe...being this is

Thank you Joe...being this is my first decoder install, that is exactly what I needed to hear! 

People

have been doing it for a long time.  Here is a video of someone doing it with a Select Direct as an example...

Caution around programming with non-ESU KAs

My understanding is that you have to be deliberately cautious around programming ESU decoders if there is a non-ESU keep alive attached. And my understanding is that this is not insurmountable, just a bit more complicated. The main concern is around disabling the KA before programming. I think the following captures most or all of this in detail (although it is focused on LokSound 5, not previous generations):

https://tonystrains.com/news/capacitors-current-keepers-keep-alives-oh-my-tips-and-tricks-for-programming-esu-loksound-5-decoders/

Not sure about warranty issues however. If truly concerned, I'd recommend contacting ESU.

Regards,

Ethan

Programming ESU decoder with TCS KA attached

Yes, quite true. An ESU stay alive can be disabled using CV settings. Not so with a TCS KA ... the best way for major programming changes to be done in that case is to crack the shell and remove the decoder, programming it on a LokProgrammer and an ESU decoder tester.

One the decoder is all set up, then you reinstall it and can do tweaks to things like the speed curve or accel/decel using programming on the main, no problem. But to change sounds or to do remapping of functions, you need to remove the decoder and get it away from the keep alive. Using a Decoder Buddy makes removing the decoder from the keep alive very easy.

ESU

I do recall that ESU has said that they have had a lot of decoder failures attributed to the use of non-ESU keep-alives. I don’t really understand why that would be the case, the keep alive simply provides power when the power is interrupted and I believe it would be the same, or less voltage than the track.

I just wish that the would provide a connector or wires on the decoder, it scares me to solder to those very fine and close together solder pads on the decoder.

Brent

I've been asking Matt for a connector for several years... it's why I eventually went with the T2 - the replacement board version has them, albeit not in the greatest location. 

The ESU PowerPack uses 3

The ESU PowerPack uses 3 wires, not two. The third is a white control wire to turn it off. The decoder automatically shuts it off when it reads back on a conventional programming track, and when the decoder is read or written by a LokProgrammer. I know from personal experience that 2 wire "keep alive" must be disconnected when any programming is done with a LokProgrammer. A scrambled decoder is the result. I good friend had to open his engine and unsolder his non-ESU keep alive. After that, decoder programming worked fine on his LP, while I was showing him how to run LP.

On a LP, all of the DecoderPro "pages" can be written or read in only a couple of seconds instead of hours, ~5000 CVs worth. And of course, only LP can make modifications to the sound schedule, upload a different sound file, or update the decoder firmware. Also, when uploading the ~5000 CVs to a V5 decoder, (write decoder data) one has the option to change what other manufacturers call the "factory defaults" that are restored by a decoder reset. So should the need ever arise to reset the decoder, the decoder restores your preferred defaults instead of address 3, etc. So far, I've never had a need to factory reset an ESU decoder.

As for me and my engines, I gladly pay the extra for an ESU PowerPack for my older V4 Ls and a few V5 HO decoders. In O scale, the new V5L decoders have two 1 Farad capacitors soldered on board. I may still add the larger two 5 Farad Maxi PowerPacks on some road engines.

Bob