railsounds problem

[beefmalone]

I just got in an "almost new" k-line santa fe steamer with railsounds. Out of the box it was working great for about 10-15 minutes. Completely different experience than running my post 2029! Problem came up shortly though that the railsounds stuff quit working. Before it did there was some occasional popping & static. The rest of the train works fine including the smoker and directional control...I just don't have the whistle, bell, or the chugging. What do I do?

[Buckeye Riveter]

The first thing I would suggest is to find the instruction book and then find the instructions for re-programming your engine. Follow the instructions and if that doesn't solve the problem, I would guess that you have a bad board or a bad connection to the speaker from the board.

I hope the worst thing that is wrong is a bad tender tether, because it would be cheaper than a board. Loose wires are the bane of electronics.

[MartyE]

Exercise the mechanical volume pot. Sometimes they get dead spots.

[beefmalone]

Hi, the train didn't come with the instructions. I took the tender shell off and noticed there was a place for a 9v battery, but I have no battery. No idea what it is for. I pulled both boards off and pushed them back down good then played with the wires to the speaker and it started working! However, it is still "staticy" and cuts in/out some. New speaker? New wires? I don't know anything about soldering. Oh yeah, where is the mechanical volume pot? thanks

[Anonymous]

You need the 9V battery in there. Your dropping sound as the train runs because the pickup on the bottom of the tender is loosing connection from time to time and the board will shut off instantly. the 9V battery gives power to the board to eliminate any signal drop off.

[Anonymous]

9 volt battery is used with RailSounds when run in non-command environement. It provide power for shudown sounds and when you lower track voltage to slow down the loco.

If you got sounds when wiggling the speaker wires you probably have bad solder joints at the speaker terminal or possibly a bad speaker. These are easy remidies if you know how to solder. If you don't it this might be a good time to learn a new skill.

[wrmcclellan]

beef,

We need to know if you are running this train in TMCC mode or in conventional mode.

If TMCC - you should have approx 18 volts to the track and you do not need the battery unless there are a lot of switches in your layout where voltage to the tender may drop out. The battery keeps voltage to the RS circuit when there is a dropout.

If conventional (e.g. using the transformer to adjust train speed), then one must be running above 12 -14 volts (which means several modern era trains are running faster than one wishes) to keep the RSs from dropping out or being too "staticy". So you need the battery. Note that RSs does not have a charging circuit and if you consistantly run the train at low speeds the battery will run down since it becomes the primary source of power to the RS circuit.

Make sure rollers and wheel sets are clean (use denatured alchohol).

Be aware that some RSs locos have some static present. Some may sound poorly due to the tender or diesel shell being loose on the chassis causing vibration.

Regards,
Roy

[beefmalone]

Hi, this unit doesn't have TMCC. I'm new to the hobby and haven't taken that leap yet. I shoved the wire down onto the speaker and it sounded great & ran for about an hour with no problems. Then it would just cut off completely until I tapped on the tender a couple of times as it ran and it would then cut back on and run for a little while longer. Would it help if I smeared some solder around the connection or do I have to replace the speaker? The little plate on the speaker that the wires are attached to...should it be touching the little ring of speaer frame that is in between the outside frame & the magnet? How much is a new speaker if I have to go that route?

Compared to my postwar 2029 this one sounds killer so I can't wait to get it running properly. Of course, the 2029 sounds fine, but I love that chuffing. :) thanks!

[Anonymous]

Speakers are a couple of $. The speaker seems to be fine so you just need to resolder the connector. Soldering isn't rocket science but you do need to develop some basic skills to do the job correctly.

A 25 watt "pencil" iron will do the trick and you need some ROSIN core solder (aka solder for electrical use). These items can be found at Radio Shack. They also carry something called "De-soldering braid", this is a fine copper mesh used to wick up the old solder. The two tricks to soldering are to make sure the work is "clean" and to remember to heat the work and not the solder. If the work is clean and well heated, the solder will flow where you need/want it. Make sure there is a enough wire stripped to make a good connection. "Tin" the end of the wire and then resolder to the speaker terminals. If there is only one speaker the polarity isn' an issue.

BTW, NO, the wires should not touch the speaker frame, especially the "hot " side.

BTBTW You might check the local public library for some of the Kalmbach publications on electronic projects, they may have some soldering "tips"

[beefmalone]

Thanks for the tips. That's the odd part though. When I pulled the connection tab away from the frame it wouldn't work but when I pushed it down to where it looked like it was touching the frame then it works fine. [%-)]

[wrmcclellan]

Hi beef,

Any way you could post a picture or a drawing/sketch? I am afraid I do not understand what you are saying about the speaker connections/tab.

[Buckeye Riveter]

QUOTE: Originally posted by wrmcclellan

Hi beef,

Any way you could post a picture or a drawing/sketch? I am afraid I do not understand what you are saying about the speaker connections/tab.

Roy, I believe he is talking about the male/female connection for the speaker wires. Also, note his statment about the tab touching the frame.

[beefmalone]

Hi, it was the male/female connectiosn at the speaker. they seem to be on a little rectangular tab. Anyway, I messed around with it and finally think that problem seems to be solved for the most part. The only remaining problem is that the engine chuffing sound will skip about ever revolution around the track or so. It doesn't do it at exactly the same spot so I don't think it's a track issue. It's like the sound stops for just a split second then starts again...just long enough to be annoying. However, I can hold the whistle button down as long as I want and it never misses a beat which leads me to think it isn't the speaker either. Any ideas???