Good info there... thanks again.

Norm' Jr.

Thank you for your kindness. My "ol' man" was awesome (http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-backstory-norman-warfield-20110318,0,6411178.story) and us discovering On30, and enjoying it together really made his last few months fun (what a neat scale). Dad's "#12" is a narrow gauger, which made it even more fun!! Anyway, your kindness, again is appreciated... as is your help. I'll be using my just received NMRA 8-pin connectors, and soldering the new decoder to one of them and then just plugging it into the existing circuit board... sounds EZ enough. Finding the appropriate wires to attach to new back headlamp shouldn't be a problem, but can you tell me if I can just hook up directly from decoder, or do I need to add some kind of diode or resistor? I'm using the LED back up lamp assembly from bachmanns 4-6-0... Thanks again... Cheers!

Norm' Jr.

   Hey guys, I'm back. I lost my favorite hobby partner, friend, and Dad last month... wasn't sure I could/would continue without him. Anyway, I'm installing tsunami decoder in DCC 4-4-0. Was wondering what all those diodes, resistors, etc are doing on the circuit board that I've been suggested to plug the decoder into. Is it ok to keep those in place?? I ordered the 8 pin to 9pin adapter as well as a few 8-pin nmra connectors from litchfield, the latter in case I decide I don't want to cut the covering on the new decoder. I've seen a few articles on the web where people are doing similar swaps, but unclear as to whether or not to remove components from existing board. Thanks for any advice or tips.

Wow... Most interested to hear more about this method! Sound like it would loosen up a "too tight" fitting gear mesh... neat!!

Norm

    Hey ebtnut, Yeah, I noticed the same, especially after not being able to attend the last few years. It's definately changed. Still nice, but a lot of the vendors seem to be gone. I bought some nice rr herald lighted mirrors last time I went (for my bar room), and wanted to purchase some more of them, but alas, none to be found. Picked up some hobby tools, and an o-scale freight house, nicely scratchbuilt for $24!! Otherwise, the "deals" didn't seem much different than the prices at the local hobbyshops. Did meet plenty of nice folks though!! Cheers.

Norm

Meant to say "who walked me over to meet Kevin ". Two nice guys willing to help a fellow On30'er out!!

Norm

Hey NM, good to hear from you again. Maybe if I operated or "worked" the tech II throttle some more, things might have smoothed out. I gave like a third of the dials full motion, and "auto whistle" (??) happened, then anything but a smooth throttle up (it took off). Maybe dirty pot in the tech II. No matter, it makes the same noise when moving. Took the loco with me to Timonium Md Scale show, and met with and talked to Mr John Weigel of Peterboro Railroad hobby's (nice gentleman), who walked over to meet Kevin who was operating a narrow guage modular railroad "Sykesville Md" I believe. He promptly invited me to put my loco on their railroad to have a listen! They agreed it wasn't normal, and that it is, more than likely, a problem with the mesh in the gears. Anyway, with all the warranty voiding work I've done, I may as well go through with my plans to look into it further, and maybe learn something in the process. John says that I should be able to operate the loco with the boiler/superstructure off... that should help me when it comes to shimming the motor, making adjustments etc. I didn't install cam and wiper yet, but that would be a good time to do that as well. Thanks again.

Norm

   I was thinking about throwing my little 4-4-0 in a bag and dragging with me. Maybe somebody could give me some helpful advice on my little "noise" problem if I can set on somebody's test track. Not to mention I got a "laundry list" of things to buy! Heck, I oughta just pick up another one just to compare.

Norm

Just thought I'd ask 

   Well, I already loved the way the tsunami sounded, but wanted to tinker, and couldn't get over the "quarter sized" speaker or the little speaker "enclosures" in the sound equipped loco's!! I'm guessing the enclosures come from the fact that these sound systems are also in "diesels" and such that don't have a nice "sealed" enclosure that a tender naturally creates. First experiment was just removing said enclosure and opening up grill area of speaker. BIG difference!! Might have stopped there, but the lil' spkr was "clipping" with the whistle sound, just a little, but I could hear it. So installed a hi-bass QSI (31mm). It was a tight fit in that lil tender with the two decoders, and required the removal of the mounting "posts" to make room. I also opened top of tender a little and allowed some more room under the coal load. Results: Wow! Gone is that "tinny" sound that sounded like a "little plastic tender"! Much more "bark" from the chuffs, and no more "clipping" from whistle! Now to find and play with the EQ settings! I have a feeling that will REALLY get the most out of her!! Nice upgrade, big improvement! Now to quiet down her drive train (see other post), and install cam chuff!! Cheers.

Norm

   Well, just a bit of an update. First of all, got the 4-4-0 with transplant tsunami back together with her new speaker (Hi-bass from QSI), that turned out well. I'll post that under appropriate heading. But she's still noisy as ever!! I hooked up a tech II DC power pack to the track and WHOA... It surely didn't operate "normally"!! It lurched then stopped... then headlight flashed a bunch of times (some kind of code I guess). Throttled up a little more, and without moving, it whistled and started chuffing, a little more and it lurched again... it didn't seem to be hurting it, but I certainly wouldn't want to run it that way. BTW, the loco STILL hasn't been "programmed" with it's own address yet. Anyway, I did manage to run it enough that I can hear same "gear noise/whine/growl". I'm thinking I just got "the lemon". Again... she runs perfectly, just noisy. So noisy in fact, that when showing off her new sound upgrade, my wife didn't seem as impressed with my hard work as she couldn't get over the noise, and very bluntly asked "what's THAT noise".... Oh well. Guess it's time to tear into her further. Plan to paint/weather, so I might as well do it the "right way" and take her apart. Don't know how many old hot-rodders read these forums, but sounds like she's equipped with the ol' muncie "rock-crusher"... remember those?? Ugh. I wonder if I can run this loco with boiler/super structure off (probably not) to check and perhaps adjust gear mesh. I'll probably cut and paste this to some other forums and see what else can be learned. Cheers.

Norm

  You're right! I got an MRC Tech II (or something) hiding in a closet around here... might as well blow the dust off of it. I can safely just set the loco on a dc track?? Didnt know if I had to configure a cv first. Thanks NM.

Norm

Odd-d,

    I believe the Tsunami directions/guide (one of them), attempts to walk you through this in a section called "auto-chuff" if I remember correctly. Once again, if memory serves me correctly, it explains you through the process of adjust the chuffs at each speed step. Sounds like it could take a little time (coming from a guy who hasn't programmed my own loco yet). Something like adjusting the chuffs (to four per revolution) at say notch (step) one, then going to notch two, adjust... notch three, adjust...etc. Don't know if that helps. I can find you link to the pdf file that explains it (it's at the soundtraxx websight) if you like. I'm getting ready to install a "cam kit" to my loco's, because I believe that'll be easier (and more reliable)!! Remember, even if you get your chuffs "perfect", on a set of rollers or something like that, they will change under different load conditions and such, because it is, after all, based on voltage from the motor (back emf?). Somebody else may wish to add to this (or correct me). Generally, most are happy getting it "close"... then there are some...   Hope this helps.

Norm

Greetings.
   Waiting for my order from Litchfield (should be here today). As I stated, getting ready to install new decoder. She originally had the bachmann/tsunami decoder, but I transplanted all that into the 4-4-0 (Wow what a difference that made). I'm guessing, but checking, that the new decoder is "stand alone" and I wont be needing any of the circuitry that came with the loco? Maybe the 8 pin connector? My first new install here, as the 4-4-0 swap was just that (a swap), only had to solder wheel pick-up wires. Guess I should also go back into the 4-4-0 to retrieve that "nifty" back headlight harness (does somebody sell that). I'm all "ears" if someone can give me any new ideas or hints, please do. Anybody putting these decoders in the loco?? It's the TSU-1000, so it's probably going to be too big. Also doing exhaust cam, and found some nice "how to" info from different forums and clinics online. As soon as any of this happens, I'll post a follow-up. Thanks to all.

Norm

   Thanks NM and LVRR325. Funny, my father also wondered if what we are hearing was "electrical". I truly believe it is mechanical. First of all I can change the noise or even make it go away while it is running on the rollers by putting weight and putting that weight on one side more than the other. Also I changed from the regular Bachmann decoder, to the Backmann tsunami from my 4-6-0 (that is still waiting for it's new tsunami decoder from Litchfield), and it made same noise with both. I also ran for hours on the rollers hoping to quiet her down (after a good clean and lube). May strip her down to paint and weather, and have a look "under the hood". Hope I don't sound to "narrow minded" (sorry)  and I'm certainly open to the "electrical noise" theory, I'll let you know anything I find out. Wonder if I can video rec (to demonstrate noise) and post somewhere... haven't done that before.Thanks again!

Norm (PS gonna start another thread. Question about 4-6-0 decoder install, if you can help. Thanks)