Hello,
Last year, I purchased an ES44DC locomotive from Intermountain Railway Company. It's a non sound unit. I'd like to convert it to sound but am not sure as to what steps to take. I've removed the body shell and just above the motor is a circuit board about 2 1/2" by 5/8". All wiring is attached to it via plugs. There is another board attached to the "motherboard" that does I don't know what. The installed board according to Intermountain's site is a "LokPilot." I'm guessing that's the second board and not the motherboard. Do I just purchase a LokSound Select board that will plug into my motherboard or is there more to it? I know I need to install a speaker also. I'm kind of wishing I purchased a sound unit first but 20/20 hindsight!
Thanks in advance for any help.
Jim
The larger green board that the wiring is connected to is commonly called the 'light board' because it's first purpose was to allow for constant and reversing headlights on DC engines. The "LokPilot" is a non-sound decoder made by ESU/Loksound; it's plugged into a receptacle in the light board designed to accept a decoder. (ESU is a German (or Austrian?) company, so "Lok" is pronounced with a long o sound - like locomotive.)
To change to sound, you would unplug the LokPilot non-sound decoder and plug in a sound decoder from ESU LokSound, TCS, Digitrax, MRC or whoever you choose.
Yes, you would also need to install a speaker. Many recent engines come with a speaker enclosure inside the engine already. Sometimes it's in the long hood of a diesel, designed to fit a 1/2" by 1" speaker, sometimes under the engine there's space for a 1" speaker in the fuel tank (look for a series of holes under the engine). The speaker will need to be connected to the decoder. Some sound decoders come with a speaker attached. It's possible the lightboard might have a place to connect a speaker, but generally it connects directly to the decoder. You may need to solder some wires to connect the speaker up, although some companies have sound decoders with small plugs that a speaker's wires can just plug in to.
If the loco does not have a built in speaker enclosure, you will have to find a place for one or make space by cutting away parts of the frame or finding some other avalable space.
If the sound decoder does not come with a speaker, the one you buy will have to have an Impedance compatible with the decoder, check the decoder spec sheet for details. For instance, this is a speaker list from Soundtraxxhttps://www.soundtraxx.com/access/speakers.php#r
If you are looking for information on installing a new decoder, it is best to post the question on the Electronics and DCC page of the forum.
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/744.aspx
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Generally, engines that are available with sound will have either a speaker enclosure or room for one in the non-sound versions. It appears the Intermountain ES44 sound version uses dual speakers mounted over the rear truck. However, looks like there is plenty of room for most any 1/2" by 1" speaker / enclosure.
https://intermountain-railway.com/customerservice/instructions/HO-ET44AC-Locomotive-Insert-June2017.pdf
(Scroll down towards the bottom for pics of the engine's interior.)
How about this?
http://tcsdcc.com/installation/ho-scale/intermountain-es44dc/wdk-int-2
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.