I had recently finished installing two of the Tsunami TSU-AT1000 sound decoders into a couple of Atlas RS-3's for a friend. I programmed both units using decoder pro and sprog II and both units worked fine.
When my friend received them, only one worked and the other's sound was so low, he could hardly hear it. We checked the master volume, CV 128, and the value was identical to the other loco. With that, he sent the low volume loco back to me and when I started it up with sprog and decoder pro, it worked fine. I reset the decoder back to factory default and reset the CV's values to the same as the working loco. I tested it and the sound worked fine.
When he got the loco back from me, the same, very low volume.
He is using NCE powercab for his dcc system. I'm thinking there must be an issue between his system and the decoder. Why would one loco work fine and the other be so low in volume that even adjusting the master volume does not make a difference in volume?
Any ideas?
Did you happen to take the shell off before you tried it on your SPROG? There might be a wire that presses on the speaker when the shell is on, muffling the sound. Checking the less than obvious first, because there's nothign that should make one work and the othe rnot on one system while both work fine on a different one. With identical programming other than the address, any differences between your system and his should show up eaually on both locos.
Also try a different address on the quiet one (or reset the PowerCab), maybe the address has a function stuck that is muting the volume.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Randy,
i had removed the shell and didn't find any wires loose or touching that might cause a problem. I placed the sugar cube speaker and baffle in the cab with both rear side cab windows removed. I cut out the hood in the cab so the speaker sits over the top of the rear end of the decoder and part of the weight. There is a piece of kapton tape on the underside of the baffle to isolate the speaker from the decoder. As I mentoned in my earlier post, it worked fine with the sprog, but not with the power cab. I'll have my friend reset his system and try changing the address as well. Thanks for the ideas.