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Soundtraxx Tsunami capacitor wiring help

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Soundtraxx Tsunami capacitor wiring help
Posted by gatrhumpy on Tuesday, July 3, 2012 5:47 PM

I am trying to hook up the capacitor to the Soundtraxx Tsunami steam decoder I have. The instructions in the diagram on page 22 say to hook up the same red and black wires that go to the track power, but whenever I do that I get a short, so I know that's the problem and makes me thing those are the wrong wires to hook up. Which of the wires should I wire to the capacitor?

http://www.soundtraxx.com/manuals/tsuinstallation.pdf

 

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Posted by jrbernier on Tuesday, July 3, 2012 6:10 PM

  From the installation diagram, You do not wire the capacitor to the Red/Black power pickup - That will cause a short as the capacitor charges.  The diagram shows the capacitor wired to the other side of the decoder(speaker end).  

Jim

Modeling BNSF  and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin

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Posted by richg1998 on Tuesday, July 3, 2012 6:26 PM

gatrhumpy

I am trying to hook up the capacitor to the Soundtraxx Tsunami steam decoder I have. The instructions in the diagram on page 22 say to hook up the same red and black wires that go to the track power, but whenever I do that I get a short, so I know that's the problem and makes me thing those are the wrong wires to hook up. Which of the wires should I wire to the capacitor?

http://www.soundtraxx.com/manuals/tsuinstallation.pdf

 

The capacitors on my Tsunami are connected to a red and black wires that connects to a certain spot on the decoder board. Those two wires are on the opposite end of the decoder where the speaker leads are and not the end with a bunch of wires.

My decoders came with the capacitors already connected to the decoder board.

Rich

If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.

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Posted by richg1998 on Tuesday, July 3, 2012 6:31 PM

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Rich

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Posted by gatrhumpy on Tuesday, July 3, 2012 6:52 PM

I only have wires coming out of one end of the decoder.

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Posted by richg1998 on Tuesday, July 3, 2012 6:57 PM

gatrhumpy

I only have wires coming out of one end of the decoder.

Very good but did you bother to look at the photo I just posted before this message?

Rich


If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.

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Posted by gatrhumpy on Tuesday, July 3, 2012 7:01 PM

What the crap. So I wired it correctly (negative end goes to green/yellow wire and positive end goes to blue wire), but it still stalls. The track is straight and level and is clean. That would mean that their would be a problem with the pickup somewhere.

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Posted by richg1998 on Tuesday, July 3, 2012 7:09 PM

Why didn't you tell us that you have the 750 Tsunami. Details sure help. Sigh.

Rich

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Posted by gatrhumpy on Tuesday, July 3, 2012 7:12 PM

Sorry Rich. Did not mean to offend

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Posted by richg1998 on Tuesday, July 3, 2012 7:22 PM

Since you must be new to DCC, take your time and include more details in the future. This will be a big help to those who are trying to help you.

There is the Tsunami 1000 and the Tsunami 750 that are shrink wrapped.

There are also light board type Tsunami with their own designations.

Below is a link to SoundTraxx with decoder descriptions.

http://www.soundtraxx.com/

Rich

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Posted by gatrhumpy on Thursday, July 5, 2012 6:59 PM

I'm not new to DCC.

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Posted by Mark R. on Thursday, July 5, 2012 7:32 PM

The capacitor on Tsunami decoders is not a stay-alive component for the motor. The capacitor is a stay-alive device for the sound only - to prevent it from cycling through the start-up sequence every time it hits a momentary power interuption.

Mark.

¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ

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Posted by richg1998 on Thursday, July 5, 2012 8:02 PM

Mark R.

The capacitor on Tsunami decoders is not a stay-alive component for the motor. The capacitor is a stay-alive device for the sound only - to prevent it from cycling through the start-up sequence every time it hits a momentary power interuption.

Mark.

The below link shows how to add more stay alive capacitance for the motor.

http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/mainnorth/alive.htm

TCS has a stay alive.

Lenz has a stay alive.

Clean track and powerd frogs are the best solution.

Rich

 

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Posted by gatrhumpy on Friday, July 6, 2012 3:00 PM

That's good to know. Thanks. It seems like the TSU-750 I have has both motor and sound function capacitance.

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Posted by richg1998 on Friday, July 6, 2012 5:33 PM

gatrhumpy

That's good to know. Thanks. It seems like the TSU-750 I have has both motor and sound function capacitance.

As was stated, the cap that comes with any Tsunami is for sound only. To my knowledge, the same value cap comes with all Tsunami decoders.

The Micro does not come with the cap attached. The standard Tsunami come with the cap attached.

The link I showed before about adding capacitance is to help with keeping the motor running.

Just add more capacitance if needed and if you have the room.

Yours might keep the motor running. Kind of depends on how much current the motor requires.

Rich

 

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Posted by rrinker on Friday, July 6, 2012 9:08 PM

 Loksound's newest decoders have a connection point for a true keep-alive capacitor - either DIY, or you can actually connect the Lenz power module to them. As another alternative.

               --Randy

 


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Posted by gatrhumpy on Saturday, July 7, 2012 7:41 AM

That's not what it says under the TSU-750 component on the following link.

 

"If using the 220 uF capacitor, a major portion of the Stay Alive will go to the motor, sound resets may not be eliminated. I suggest using the largest value capacitor that will fit in your particular loco and wire up with a 100 Ohm resistor and a Diode, see below. "

http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/mainnorth/alive.htm

 

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Posted by narrow gauge nuclear on Tuesday, July 10, 2012 11:02 AM

Rich,  Thanks a lot for the link on the motor stay alive for the Tsunamis.  I am in the midst of taking an old brass PFM, (United), K-28 and re-motoring it with a nice Faulhaber can motor and Tsunami 750. It was having issues at tiny spots on track especially curves.  Straights and even switches were fine!

I'll jam a 4700ufd in there with diode and resistor and see how it goes.

Richard

Richard

If I can't fix it, I can fix it so it can't be fixed

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