Hello Bach-man,

Yes, I agree with the speaker box answer, however, I investigated a little further.  When I looked at the underside of the coal load, it has a foam piece that pushes the sound module down when in place.  The result:  Sound!  I discovered I could do the same thing with a stylus pen.  By pushing down on the the sound module closest to the front of the tender, sound occurs.  When I release, the sound board raises slightly and the sound stops.  I was just wondering if that is completing a circuit between the two boards or it might mean one or more of the 21 pins on the connector is loose.

Thanks, Ted

I removed the coal load from the tender to clean the dust off the coal load and without replacing it I decided to clean the wheels.  When I fired the loco up, no sound!  I then discovered when I replaced the coal load, the sound returned.  Is a circuit completed when the coal load is in place?

Hi Everybody,

I finally got this random stuttering figured out.  It turns out one of my wireless throttles needs a software upgrade from EasyDCC folks.  They had upgraded one of my two throttles a few years ago and this upgraded throttle runs the 2-8-0 without a problem.  But when I use the offending throttle, the 2-8-0 stutters.  Al, the person from EasyDcc, helped me figure this out on Friday.  I learned a lot through this process. So, I wanted to say thank you to those who made suggestions along the way.  Thanks again, Ted

I'm still scratching my head here.  The tech at Soundtraxx suggested changing CV 12 to 0 and CV 29 to 34 so it would run digitally only.  CV 29 was already set to 34, but CV 12 was set to 1, so I changed it to zero and the loco still stuttered.  The tech also suggested running the loco on DC.  It ran fine.  But I'm running DCC.  Since I'm using wireless throttles, I thought I would try the loco with the built in throttle...no stuttering!  So I thought maybe the batteries were low in the wireless throttle. They were, so I changed them out.  Ugh, the loco still stutters with the wireless throttle.  This is me standing with the wireless throttle directly above the antenna unit for best reception and the locomotive is still off the tracks, laying on its' side with alligator clips attached to the tender's trucks.  So now I'm assuming it must be a reception issue or loss of signal if the built-in throttle is able to run the loco without stuttering.
I'll be calling the EasyDCC tech's for further suggestions tomorrow.

With the 2-8-0 laying on its side, and having alligator clips attached to the tender's trucks, I removed the eight pin connector for the Tsunami and replaced it with a non-sound decoder.  When I dialed up the loco, it ran without stuttering.  I reattached the Tsunami board and the stuttering returned.  It was suggested to reset the decoder, so I did that, and it still has this stuttering issue.  So that tells me it has something to do with the sound board from Soundtraxx.  I will call them on Monday for advice.  There must be a CV that can smooth this stuttering out.  I will post my results on Monday. Until then, if any of you have a suggestion for a CV value to change, let me know.
Thanks, Ted

After laying the loco on its side I checked for continuity and found that the tender's trucks are used to pick-up power from the rails.  The wheels on the loco are driven by the motor only and the axles are not insulated from each other so my multimeter sang when I touched each from side to side.  There are wipers on those wheels, but I haven't checked to see what for.  So then I placed alligator clips on the tender's axles, front and rear, and it started right up with sound.  I called up the loco # on the handheld and throttled it up and the wheels on the loco began to turn and the same problem occurred as if it were actually on the track...random stopping and starting. This is a micro second of stopping and then it continues on as if nothing has happened at the current throttle setting.  When it stops, the sound output reacts as though I have throttled down and then returns to chuffing at the current throttle setting.  The Tsunami board actually runs everything.  I disconnected it from the other board and when I gave it power, nothing happened.  I might try putting the dummy plugs in and run it on DC just to see if the same problem occurs.  I will also look to see if I have another sound board I can try and see if the same stuttering and stopping occurs with it.  Earlier I thought maybe the gears may not be meshing properly, but I disassembled the loco, lubed it, and reassembled it and it still had the same issue.  My Valentine is calling, I will get back to this on Saturday.
Oh, and thanks for all the ideas.  I will look at each for possible solutions.
Talk you tomorrow, Ted

What is the procedure for connecting the loco.  The wheels are all rod driven, so attach clips to the wipers next to the drivers and then connect the tender's two trucks?
I'll do a continuity check on each wiper as well.

When the 2-8-0 intermittently stops and starts, the sound is interrupted without a fresh start.

The apron is in the down position against the cab and not interfering with the motion of the loco. The side rods turn without interference. While watching the side rods, it was again random where it would suddenly stop and then continue. The sound output reflects this sudden stop by playing the appropriate sounds. My other locos are running fine. I have both steam and diesels running.  If they do stop, it is because of dirty track and sound and motor both cut out until I actually move the loco to clear the dead spot and clean the track. This is the only 2-8-0 I have, so I'm unable to replicate the problem. 
The green board's electronics are very small, unlike the pics I've seen in other posts.
Any other ideas? Thanks, Ted

Yes, I cleaned the track as soon as I noticed this stopping and starting motion.  It is very random where it chooses to do this.  It can be moving very slowly or moving a scale 40 mph.  The sound continues to play but the loco hesitates and then continues to move.  When I had the loco apart, I noticed that all 8 wheels have wipers on them for electrical pick-up and the tender has wipers on both trucks as well.

Hi Everybody,
I have this Spectrum 2-8-0 that came in a nice black box that says 'DCC sound on board'.  This loco came installed with a Tsunami 16 bit sound decoder. I've had it for awhile and just last week decided to take it out of the box and test it out.  Called it up on address 3, checked the functions and started running it.  It began to stop and start randomly at any speed.  I'm using CVP's EasyDCC system.  Next, I decided to check out the CV's with Decoder Pro with my computer and using my Sprog II decoder programmer.  I tried tweaking some settings, testing it again, and found that it runs fine with Sprog II decoder programmer system.  When I move the loco over to the layout, using EasyDCC, it starts this random stop and start motion again as it rolls down the track.  The track is clean too. I've taken the locomotive apart, lubed it, checked the decoder in the tender and cannot see anything obvious to fix.  The other posts I've looked at appear to be referring to the earlier models that were made with capacitors you could clip, but this unit does not have those capacitors.
Suggestions?

Thanks, Ted