I have a Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-2 DCC engine (item 83212) with no sound. I have never messed with the innards of any loco before and I am not even remotely a wizard with electronics. I would like to know if adding sound to this loco would be really difficult or something that someone with patience could accomplish without destroying the loco in the process? Would I just add sound or switch out the current decoder? What sound units would work for this engine? Would any soldering be required or is this a plug in sort of deal. Please excuse my total lack of knowledge in this area. Thanks, wdcrvr.
I bought some Bachmann steamers before TCS came about and put SoundTraxx Micros in. The only issue was too high a LED resistor so they had dim loco lights. Same with the 2-8-0 which had light bulbs at one time.
What looked like two green resistors are ferrite inductors. No resistance. Clueless had no idea. I just removed the caps so no issue. Many do that. I did the same with a couple diesels. Pulled the caps.
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.
Removing the capacitors is enough - the inductors without the capacitors will effectively do nothing that will cause an issue. To remove them, you would have to replace them with jumper wires, since they are in series with the motor leads and if you just cut them off, there will be no power getting to the motor. Or replace the whole PCB.
For the technically curious, look up LC Circuits to see what Bachmann was doing.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I installed sound in Bachmann Spectrum 4-6-0, and I am happy with it, using a Soundtraxx Tsunami TSU 1100 decoder. I just took out the motherboard (due to space constraints) and wired everything directly. The 4-6-0 has a relatively small tender. I would like to say that I am not an electronics wizard at all, but if you have a capability to follow instructions (e.g. correctly connect the color coded wires) and basic soldering skills, you will have no problems regarding that aspect.
The bigger issue that I encountered with the Spectrum 4-6-0 install was that I needed to make some modifications to the tender. I had to drill holes in the bottom where the speaker was going to be mounted, and I needed to create a bit of additional space inside the tender, so everything would fit. I would think that the tender for the 2-8-2 is probably bigger, and also, there may already be holes in the tender bottom for a speaker installation. However, I would definitely take a close look at both those aspects before start of the installation. Also, along while you do the installation, take pictures with your cellphone constantly, so that you can figure out what was connected to what, before you started tearing things out.
The tip made by someone else to go on the TCS website is a good one, even if you are not using their decoder. There was an install into a Spectrum 4-6-0 on their site, and while I was not using a TCS decoder, it gave me a good idea where the connections were that I needed to locate, and the space constraints inside the tender.
I definitely think that the sound installation would be worth it for your 2-8-2. I find the Bachmann Spectrum steamers good looking and well running engines (I also have a 4-4-0 that bought with sound already installed).