In at least one run of these locos, Life-Like goofed. The motors draw a whopping 3+ amps on a stall test. Needless to say, this will ultimately damage most HO, and smaller, decoders which aren't designed to handle that much current. The only sure way to find out if you have a good or bad PA/PB is to do a stall test.

If your stall test shows the loco to draw around 1.1 amps stalled, you can then use the decoders listed for this application. If the stall test shows the loco to draw around 3 amps, you must either use an O/G scale decoder that can handle the amperage, or re-motor it with a lower-current motor.

If you can't do a stall test, or don't have a friend who can do a stall test for you, you have three choices: 1) use an O/G scale decoder, 2) take a chance on using a regular decoder with the possibility it will burn out pre-maturely, or 3) re-motor the loco.

If you find that the loco draws too much current, it is preferable to re-motor the loco - especially if you plan to run two or more together in an MU consist. Starting multiple 3+ amp locos at the same time may not work with some combinations of DCC equipment, such as track circuit breakers, etc.