Example 1: Graham Farish N gauge 2MT Ivatt with Zimo Sound - simplest approach

Kit: MX648; SugarCube5 speaker

Nice empty interior to the tender once the DCC socket is removed. It isn't very long or deep, but should prove enough to get our kit into.

The SugarCube5 speaker sits toward the back - the perfect height for this tender.

We remove the protective sleeve from the decoder, unsolder all of the wires, and solder back some new (thinner) decoder wire for the pickups and speaker. The motor wires will simply be the wires that come through from the loco, directly soldered to the decoder. This is necessary to keep space requirements to a minimum - no solder-joins with heat-shrink, which are bulky in comparison to direct wiring.

Give it all a test to ensure it runs in the expected direction (swap motor wires around if not).

Replace the original decoder sleeve with Kapton tape, which is thinner, snip the plastic screw mounts from the tender floor, and position everything in place using double-sided sticky tape.

Assuming we've been neat enough, the components should be the perfect length for the tender space as we slip the body back on.

Example 2: Same, but with stay-alive

Kit: MX648; SugarCube5; LifeLink + 470uF Flat Tantalum

Time to go one better, and add a little stay-alive to the Ivatt!

Take out the 6pin socket, chop the PCB screw mounts down flush, and remove the coal load.

Add some electrical tape to give a lose seal, and to allow the stay-alive kit to protrude a little upwards, so leave some flexibility.

Cut some small pieces of roofing lead to replace the original metal coal load, adding some weight back in and seal around it with UHU type glue.

The decoder has all the unwanted lighting wires removed, and re-covered in Kapton. The LifeLink with Tantalum sits on top.

Once we're happy with the fit, add some crushed lump coal on top of some carefully squished BlackTack, and glue to complete the picture.

Please note that these guides are provided as useful resources for you, as-is. YouChoos cannot be held responsible for errors in the information, or for any damage caused to your models or equipment if you choose to follow any of the steps detailed here.