What's up with Kato FL12s

[Kiran]

Looks like most popular online retailers are out of these. Tony's Trains has this rather vague message on the product page 

 

https://tonystrains.com/product/store/dcc-sound-and-power/dcc-decoders/non-sound-decoders/kato-29-352-fl12-tail-light-control-decoder-for-ho-and-n-scale-tail-cars

 

"This Tail Light Control Decoder has not been discontinued, but Kato U.S.A. has no ETA for when they will be available again. 
ETA Unknown"

 

I got RG Rokko to put 6 of these in their next package coming this week.

 

I know they had a shortage a couple of years ago when Digitrax ran into production delays because of a hurricane.

[katoftw]

They are built in batches. Seems yearly. They become in short supply and abother batch is done.

[Brett]

I got 6 recently from plaza japan,and after installing them i might not get them again,they seem a little unpredictable,and are very easy to cook.

This is just my opinion of course.

[chadbag]

They are easy to cook.  Taking your time and double checking that everything is correct and nothing has gotten out of place can alleviate most problems.

 

If installed properly they work fine though depending on your programmer they are sometimes hard to set an address on as the wagon by itself doesn't draw a lot of current.

 

In the first couple batches I had I lost a few to a bad install.  Last couple batches I have not lost any as I pay more attention and double check.