Trainsounds Tender Issue

[jwse30]

Sunday, I picked up one of those new TrainSounds Tenders. I'm having problems with it sometimes, and the problems seem to be specific to whichever loco it is being pulled by. I'll get more into that in a minute. All of my steamers (except a few Marx, that can't run through my layout's switches) are postwar, and my layout is O27 tubular track, powered by the MRC Dual Power , the one with the little telephone looking controllers.

When the tender is on the track by itself (pushed by the trusty ol' 0-5-0), all functions work flawlessly. Except perhaps the brakes, I haven't tried pushing it that fast :)

When I put my 2020 Turbine with it, the chugging works fine, and so do the bell, and whistle. I haven't been able to get the brake to work, but I think that's because I don't run the train fast enough.

When I use my 2055 (which is the engine I bought this tender for), the chugging works, the whistle rarely does, and I haven't been able to get the bell to work. The engine lurches if I hold the whistle button down for any length of time, and does not when I use either a 6026w or a non whistling tender.

My 2046 has the same results as the 2055, minus the lurching effect.

My 2025 seems to allow the whistle, and the chugging to work, but no bell.

I also tried my 2055 with a 1033 transformer, thinking I may need to buy a different transformer, and the chugging works, but nothing else does, though I can't recall ever using the whistle lever on this transformer before. But I was able to get the crew chatter working with it. I did try reversing the track leads, and I also hooke them up to both variable voltage configurations (U-A, and U-B, IIRC).

Tonight, after work, I'm planning on putting the coupler on the drawbar, and try it with a few can motored, electronic e-unit deisels, and my electronic e-unit, open frame motored GG-1.

Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

J White

[jwse30]

a shameless bump to the top.

[railfanespee4449]

How is the sound quality?

[eZAK]

J White,

It sounds like it could be a ground problem within the tender OR
The engines are sapping power away from the tender.
I think this tender needs a min. voltage to work properly.

Are all situations repeatable & consistent?

Were all engines hooked to the tender?

Have you tried placing the engines apart from the tender?

Check all rail joints & power connections with a Ohm & Voltage meter.

Let us know what you find out.

[jwse30]

Railfanespee4449,

The sound is about as good as I expect for a cheap sound unit. It doesn't sound scratchy, garbled, or otherwise defective.

eZak,

1. I know I've run this tender with the 2055, 2020, and 2046, at least two times with each for around 20 to 30 minutes each time. The results in my initial post were constant for each combination, as decribed.

2. All the engines were hooked to the tender while running via the drawbar. No tether wires have been installed, nor has a chassis ground been intentionally isolated between the engine(s) and this tender. I'd guess that 15 9700 series boxcars in tow would eliminate any momentary breaks in ground via the drawbar.

3. I haven't tried an engine (not hooked to the tender) on the track with the tender. I will when time permits. I also haven't had the opportunity to try the tests I mentioned in my original post. I'd guess that the easiest way to check this is to place a non whistle tender on the back of an engine followed by a car with plastic couplers, and then the trainsound tender coupled to said car.

4. I hope it doesn't come to that. I broke the first rule in toy train layouts: "Thou shalt not run track that is accessible only from the top of the layout". While I won't rule out bad track (it's been over a year since I last cleaned it), there are no unexpected slowdowns on either of my loops. When I built this layout (6 years ago?) I received a bunch of scrap 2 conductor #14 (solid) cable. I wired my track feeders in a star fashion, with no feeder being more than 10 sections from the one on either side of it. I also made sure that any track between two switches had at least one feeder going to it

It will likely be at least a week before I have new information, as I'll be out of town. However, I will have access to this forum, so please keep the ideas coming.

Thank you for the ideas so far,

J White