Hornby OO N15 King Arthur with MS Sound and Stay-Alive

Kit: MS590, STACO2A, SugarCube10, Nano Firebox LED

Here's a totally different approach to sound installation in a Hornby N15 King Arthur... we could have just gone with an MS480 hard-wired or MS490 (fits into the boiler weight slot), but instead we opt for conversion to Next18, which allows for removal of the decoder more easily if needed later. The Next18 board is Zimo's STACO2A kit, so we can add a pair of mini GoldCaps for an excellent stay-alive, and these should slot into the boiler weight cavity too.

So, first to remove the 8pin DCC socket...

Here is the STACO2A kit...

...and with an MS590 sound decoder plugged in, so we know what size we need to work with.

The metal bracket that holds the 8pin socket and the front of the motor is taken out and the angled part chopped off. This creates maximum space for the new kit to go into.

The bracket back into the model, we position out SugarCube10 speaker.

Now begins the process of wiring in the STACO2 PCB, removing any unwanted wires for lighting. We retain the blue common positive and green FA1 lighting wire though, as we plan to add a firebox glow LED too.

The pair of mini GoldCaps that come with the STACO2A kit are trimmed and connected in series. These join to the additional blue/grey wires from the STACO2 board.

Join, and wrap them in Kapton tape for insulation.

MS590 plugs in the STACO2, various wrappings of Kapton to insulate, tidy the wires, and join in the firebox LED. Being as careful as possible with wiring positions and wrapping, as the chassis/motor is quite a tight fit in the N15's body.

Here you can see the nano firebox LED - just a hole drilled out in the cab, the LED glued into position and a channel created up the back for the wires to sit in.

Reassembly is a little tricky as you have to position the GoldCaps into the slot in the boiler weight as the body goes back on, and avoid snagging any wires. Eventually back on, and the results are excellent - the stay-alive provided a few seconds of backup power, and the firebox light looks awesome!

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.