I have two of the Proto 2000 E8/9A locos that came factory equipped with QSI sound. These locos are marked on the Walthers web site as replacements for the older Proto 2000 E8/9A locos without sound. So, my guess is that the older non-sound locos have enough room under the shell to make the conversion to Tsunami sound.
Rich
Alton Junction
Santa Fe,
Take a peek:
http://www.tcsdcc.com/public_html/Customer_Content/Installation_Pictures/HO_Scale/Life_Like/Proto_E8_9/lifelike_p2k_e8_9.htm
Frank
The TCS DP5 is not a sound decoder. You have to be sure that you have enough room for the speaker enclosure.
Soundtraxx has been providing Tsunami sound decoders to Walthers for the last few years, and they fit nicely into the Proto 2000 E8/9A.
http://www.soundtraxx.com/factory/OEM%20pages/walthers/walthers.php
I have an E7 which looks to be the same frame as the E8/9. The Tsunami will fit quite nicely where the existing board sits but you will have to hard wire the new decoder. However, finding space for a speaker will be a bit of a challenge if you put a Tsunami where the original board was. You could remove the interior of the cab and build a support for the speaker over the front truck, but that leaves you staring at a speaker enclosure instead of crew figures. Or, you could mount the speaker facing the back door and remove the door. I have done this on an E6 A unit using a Tony's Train Exchange mini oval speaker. It fit quite easily on the E6 but you will have to make a mount for the speaker in the E8
An alternative would be to use a Locsound Select decoder and mount it just behind the cab interior. There is a space already there in the frame. (Again, I am assuming that the E7 and E8/9 frames are the same). You might have to trim the back of the cab interior a bit. That would leave you a very generous space over the rear truck for the speaker. This option will also need to be hard wired.
The Locsound Select is cheaper than the Tsunami and sounds just as good if not better, and it has much better motor control right out of the box. Diesel Tsunamis can require some tuning before they will run nicely at slow speeds. They have a habit of moving the locomotive before the engine ramps up. That problem is quite curable but you have to play with a few CVs to get it right.
I have used both Locsound Selects and one diesel Tsunami and I much prefer the Locsound. In fact I won't likely buy another Tsunami.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
I have an old LL P2K E8, it has been a long time since I have had the shell off. I remember having to hardwire the decoder but what really sticks in my mind is that there is some weight that has to be removed to acess the motor.
The problem I remember was that there is a thin section of frame under the weight that if you press down too hard to get the screws out you can break the frame.
Guess how I know?
If you have trouble removing those screws be sure to support under the frame before putting real effort into it.
I've converted a couple, it's a pretty standard "hard wire" installation. The motor is isolated so you don't have to worry about that. I chose to wire up headlight bulbs directly to the decoder, replacing the two-light "Mars light" the engine has in DC (where two bulbs alternate from side to side). The interior design changed a little over the years, but there should be room for a 1" speaker and enclosure if you use a fairly shallow enclosure and put the speaker towards the rear of the engine.
The one I converted to motor DCC had an 8 pin plug, but I hardwired a TCS T1 in the back, unhooked the wires fromt he actory board and attached them to the appropriate decoder wires - that way it could eb switched back to factory original very easily. As I recall, the space in the weight isn't big enough for a decoder to sit, so you could either put the decoder up front and a fairly large speaker in teh back, or carve some space out of the weight (it's large). ALso, for ones with the Mars light, the factory system alternates two filaments in a dual filament bulb, and compared to the Mars effect from most decoders, it's a poor substitute. Even for motor only, it's worthwhile repalcing or bypassign the factory board and putting a new bulb or LED.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
CHeck the power draw and make sure it doesn;t exceed the capacity of the 750. At least there's a lot of metal to heat sink it to. Or use a Loksound Micro, more current capacity and smaller than the 750.
The stock lights are 3V or so, like other P2K locos. They will need resistors but should just be replaced with LEDs.
The TSU-750 does not have on board resistors, so you will need to add a resistor for each LED.