OK, pretty happy with the BLI class J sound and the BLI Hutson is OK, but it has a prroblem of sorts. Sound makes the tender rattle. Yes I know I can turn down the sound but then the Class J will over power it.
What fixes have you folks used? I was thinking of cotton in the tender, bad idea?
Cuda Ken, yet with another question again
I hate Rust
cudaken wrote: OK, pretty happy with the BLI class J sound and the BLI Hutson is OK, but it has a prroblem of sorts. Sound makes the tender rattle. Yes I know I can turn down the sound but then the Class J will over power it. What fixes have you folks used? I was thinking of cotton in the tender, bad idea? Cuda Ken, yet with another question again
Two of my BLI engines had major sound vibrations when the whistle was blown. If I pressed in on the side of the tender, the rattle or vibration was silenced. I used a small strip of black electical tape to dampen the vibration and it worked great on both engines. You have to dampen the loose shell since it will vibrate against the metal floor if it is loose.
Try that to see if that fixes it.
cudaken wrote:Sound makes the tender rattle. What fixes have you folks used?
I was thinking of cotton in the tender, bad idea?
Ken,
You might be surprised that you don't have to turn down your volume very much to eliminate the rattling. Did you turn down the volume on your Class J at all?
My BLI 2-8-2 Mike was set at full "blast" when I got it. I had to reduce the volume by ~25% to eliminate the distortion and rattle and it's still plenty load enough to be heard. The key is to reduce the sound until the rattle AND distortion just goes away.
Ken, before you add electrical tape to your tender, check to see if the "rattle" is audible through the full range of volume. In other words, does lowering the volume eliminate the rattle? My guess is that it probably will.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Turn down the volume on both engines -- practically all sound-equipped locomotives come from the factory with the volume set to maximum, and are too loud even for a large club layout. I always turn the volume down to about 50-60 percent and they sound much better.
cacole wrote: Turn down the volume on both engines -- practically all sound-equipped locomotives come from the factory with the volume set to maximum, and are too loud even for a large club layout. I always turn the volume down to about 50-60 percent and they sound much better.
I would not run a layout without sound engines, but there are times when the noise drives me to distraction. The QSI decoders have a nice feature in that you can mute by as little as 50% maximum volume if you wish, and I take advantage of this feature all the time. When I want to hear my Niagara, I don't want the PRR J1 behind me running its injectors and drowning out the Niagara, and the same goes for all the rest. The two Tsunamis I have can only be silenced in mute, but I do it.
I sent my Niagara back for a faulty decoder, but included in my note that I wasn't happy with the speaker. It seemed tinny and there was a loud scratching when I blew the whistle...the other sounds were fine. I can't tell, honestly, if they actually changed out the speaker, but it sounds better.
Also, the Lionel Challenger is metal, and the QSI double-speaker system is awesome in that enclosure. However, it left the steamboat whistle sounding iffy. One guy posted his fix of placing cotton around the speakers, which I ended up doing. It helped somewhat, but reducing the master volume CV setting was at least as effective.
I have not tried the electrical tape trick on the Niagara. Once I get other priorities settled on my layout and can begin to just enjoy running the locomotives, I may get irritated once again and do something about the Niagara.
As always, gentlemen, thanks for sharing.
I think I've cut mine down at least 50% from the factory setting. On the QSIs I cut the main volume by about 50% and then adjusted the whistle, exhaust, and other effects to get a good mix. The sound quality improved 100% simply by no longer overdriving the speakers.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
CAZEPHYR, the tape fixed the rattels. I did lower the volume but the J over powered it. Plus the rattel was still there but not as bad. Cranked the sound back up and sounds great. Going to do the same thing with the J. There is some rattel but not like the hudson.
Tape will fix ever thing!
Cuda Ken