Connie and Tsunami...

[Jake]

I'm getting a tsunami decoder for my spectrum 2-8-0 Connie. Now, i have noticed 2 capacitors near the DCC plug, when installing a tsunami is it necessary or even helpful to cut these capacitors? Please and Thank you!

[Curmudgeon]

Soundtraxx units are nmra-compliant.
They will run with those caps in place.
Non-compliant units sometimes (and if you believe the posts, often) will not.

It will hurt nothing to remove them, and may be somewhat beneficial.
Quite a few folks who are heavily into dcc remove them as a matter of course.

TOC

[SteamGene]

Older Soundtraxx (pre Tsunami) required removal.  Their special built for the Spectrum Consolidation had an instruction sheet which covered all three curcuit boards and the locations of the capacitors to cut.
Gene

[Jim Banner]

Any ultra sonic (silent) decoder, with or without sound, NMRA compliant or not, can have problems with the capacitors.  It is only the non-silent decoders that pulse the motors in the audible range that can deal with the capacitors.

TOC is correct about removing them - it may help but never hurts, unless you live in certain parts of Europe.

People heavily into DCC often remove the capacitors, the socket, the adapter board, the whole works.  This helps free up a little more room for the speaker and its enclosure.

[Jake]

Now just to be sure with the back of the tender facing you the to rodlike structures on the upper right of the board with copper wire wrapped around them are the capacitors right? And if they are do i have to connect the opper wire afterwards? Please and Thank You!

[SteamGene]

Cut the capacitors and move them to one side if you cut only one leg.  Cut both legs and throw it away is the alternative.  You do not have to shunt anything for the capacitors.  All I've seen are a yellow gold in color, sort of blimp shaped, with a leg at each end.
Gene

[cary]

Jake the items you are describing are inductors, do not remove them.
As Gene said, the capacitors are kind of bulbous shaped and mustard yellow in color.
Regards,
Cary

[Jim Banner]

Most of Bachmann's capacitors are sort of like yellow M&M's with legs.  But they may also be square.  Sometimes they are blue instead of yellow.

If they have copper wire around them, they are inductors.
If the are cylindrical with four coloured stripes, they are resistors.
If they are black with a single white stripe, they are diodes.

This photo shows all four:

[Jake]

^From what you are telling me i am seing NO capacitors, No resisters, and no diodes, Just the inductors, now if it makes a differecne (probably not) it is the Santa Fe #2526 that came with the  Santa Fe Exlorer Set.

[chucknlead]

Most of Bachmann's capacitors are sort of like yellow M&M's with legs.  But they may also be square.  Sometimes they are blue instead of yellow.

If they have copper wire around them, they are inductors.
If the are cylindrical with four coloured stripes, they are resistors.
If they are black with a single white stripe, they are diodes.

This photo shows all four:

Is that thing on the upper right the "cap"?

[Jake]

Okay, i found a photo of the soundtraxx decoder made specifically for the Connie, in addition to being out of production, the only similarity between the two circuit boards were, the NMRA 8 pin plug, and the inductors, and they are not even in the same place! Luckily, my screen resolution projected the picture to actual size, making comparison that much easier,  and my circuit board is completely different.

[Pushrod]

^From what you are telling me i am seing NO capacitors, No resisters, and no diodes, Just the inductors, now if it makes a differecne (probably not) it is the Santa Fe #2526 that came with the  Santa Fe Exlorer Set.

Mine is different also. It is a micro-circuit boad with the components computer soldered in. No obvious caps visible. This is in the Baldwin 2-8-0 Western Maryland tender. There is another board that is heat shrink wrapped and attached by a plug to the center of the main board. I'm not going to cut away the heat shrink to see what is inside.

[richg]

^From what you are telling me i am seing NO capacitors, No resisters, and no diodes, Just the inductors, now if it makes a differecne (probably not) it is the Santa Fe #2526 that came with the  Santa Fe Exlorer Set.

Mine is different also. It is a micro-circuit boad with the components computer soldered in. No obvious caps visible. This is in the Baldwin 2-8-0 Western Maryland tender. There is another board that is heat shrink wrapped and attached by a plug to the center of the main board. I'm not going to cut away the heat shrink to see what is inside.

Yours has SMD components. The inductors are not SMD type the last I knew.
The PC board with shrink wrap is the EZ Command Bachmann non sound decoder.


Rich

[richg]

Spectrum DCC ready 4-6-0 PC board. About two years old. The two devices with colored bands are the INDUCTORS, not resistors.



Spectrum 4-6-0 with Tsunami on board. Notice the difference in PC board design. Things evolve.
The Bachman  PC board is to the right. The Tsunami is to the left. Bachmann includes the DC adapter for DC operation for those who do not have a DCC controller.



Closer view of the Bachmann PC board.



Below is a photo of the  PC board in the Spectrum USRA medium tender. No resistor for a LED headlight. This tender was not for locos with a LED. This tender is a year old and things may have changed.



I added the resistor for the headlight.

Take time to compare the inductor that has the colored bands and a resistor with colored bands. You will see diffrences that will let you know both are different devices.

OK, for those who have never figured it out, put the PC cursor over the photo, right click and download it into your computer. Study the pictures to get get good idea of what the PC boards are like.

Rich

[richg]

I'm getting a tsunami decoder for my spectrum 2-8-0 Connie. Now, i have noticed 2 capacitors near the DCC plug, when installing a tsunami is it necessary or even helpful to cut these capacitors? Please and Thank you!

Take a picture of the PC board and decoder and post it here so we can all see what the setup is like. A picture makes things much easier for all.
That is what I did with my new Spectrum 4-6-0 with Tsunami on board.

I used my multimeter on ohms to determine which of the five caps where for the motor filter. I then cut all five out anyway. Some will want to know exactly which ones were for the motor.
Cuts down on opinions and assumptions and can be very helpful to the OP.
Again, download the photos into your PC for reference.

Another suggestion, when someone post a Solved, copy the text into a Word document in your PC so you have the solution readily available if the question pops up again.

Our computers are much more than a forum/email tool. You can store large amounts of useful data if you take the time to do it.

Rich