Tsunami Sound-Equipped Spectrum HO

[Isambard]

I received a Tsunami-eqipped Spectrum 2-8-0 from MicroMark in mid-March but have run it only about two hours total in trying to sort out intermittent behavior.

The sound characteristics are great, however the loco would run smoothly for a few minutes but then start speeding up and slowing down or stopping, at the same time making a variety of sounds on its own e.g. bell, whistle, brakes etc. At first the behavior seemed to occur on modules in a power district that is furthest from the Digitax command station/booster, but then became more general and appeared to increase awith running time . Logging off and then back on seemed to temporarily cure the problem. Resetting CV 008 to 008, cleaning the track and drivers and changing from N to HO voltage made no difference.

In looking for loose connections I first found that the loco/decoder functioned with either the loco drivers or the front tender truck alone on the rails, but not with only the rear tender truck on the rails. Removing the tender body and examining the internal wiring, including under the decoder board, and gently probing with a multimeter for continuity from the axle pickups to the decoder input terminals, all appeared to be normal. However on reconnecting the loco and tender I found that the decoder would now work only if the loco was on the rails i.e. the front tender truck connection was gone.  I then ran the loco for a few minutes - it ran normally, broke into intermittent behavior and then stalled, emitting the now familiar variety of sounds but more ominously a groaning/humming sound from the loco itself. Powering off and then back on (for a very brief time) had no effect.

At this point, it would appear my only recourse is to send the unit to Bachmann but before I do so I'm curious to know what has been the experience of others with the new sound-equipped Spectrum series? I have a no-sound Spectrum 2-10-0 Russian, also recently purchased from MicroMark, that has been with Bachmann since 22 Feb for repair.

[Rabbit]

I purchased a 2-10-2 with sound last month and it worked perfectly. This month I purchased a 4-8-2 with sound and was not able to change the address from 03 or change any CV 's using the Digitrax Super Chief. The hobby store let me using their MRC command station which worked just fine. The tech a Bachmann told me the two are not wire the same. I'm still waiting to hear from Digitrax as to why another command station can do what Digitrax can not do. I have no trouble programming any other decoders.

My buddy has had no problems with his. If you have too many locos on the same track drawing current could cause that type of behavior. It's sounds like you may have received a lemon. Return it for another one.

Good Luck

[Hunt]

1) Clean locomotive and tender wheel treads with isopropyl alcohol making sure to remove all the cleaning residue.
2) Unplug and reseat the connections between the locomotive and tender making sure no wires are loose or broken and the connections are properly seated.
3) Set CV 29, bit 2 to 0. This will disable the Power Source Conversion so decoder will run only by a DCC signal. (I have not looked, but if there is also a CV12 Power Source Conversion you need to program it to a value of 0).

Still have issues contact Bachmann Service Dept by phone.

In case you have not picked up on the distinction, your Bachmann locomotive, if factory decoder equipped, has a Bachmann sound decoder that is built using Tsunami DCC sound technology. The locomotive is not equipped with a SoundTraxx Tsunami decoder.

[Isambard]

Hunt:
Referring to your last paragraph, the User's Guide supplied with the loco is captioned "Tsunami^r Digital Sound Decoder" and the Overview reads "Congratulations on the purchase of your SoundTraxx^r Tsunami^r Digital Sound Decoder^TM"
Isambard

[Hunt]

Hunt:
Referring to your last paragraph, the User's Guide supplied with the loco is captioned "Tsunami^r Digital Sound Decoder" and the Overview reads "Congratulations on the purchase of your SoundTraxx^r Tsunami^r Digital Sound Decoder^TM"
Isambard

Isambard,
Your locomotive may have a full featured SoundTraxx Tsunami decoder but check the decimal value of  CV 8, Manufacturer's ID.
If value is 101 it is a Bachmann OEM version as I stated.
If value is 141 the decoder is made by SoundTraxx.

What is the Manufacturer's ID of the decoder in your locomotive?

Bach-man what information (not marketing wording) do you have about this "is it or is not" a true full featured SoundTraxx Tsunami decoder installed in the Bachmann HO Spectrum locomotives?

[Isambard]

Hunt:
Referring to your last paragraph, the User's Guide supplied with the loco is captioned "Tsunami^r Digital Sound Decoder" and the Overview reads "Congratulations on the purchase of your SoundTraxx^r Tsunami^r Digital Sound Decoder^TM"
Isambard

Isambard,
Your locomotive may have a full featured SoundTraxx Tsunami decoder but check the decimal value of  CV 8, Manufacturer's ID.
If value is 101 it is a Bachmann OEM version as I stated.
If value is 141 the decoder is made by SoundTraxx.

What is the Manufacturer's ID of the decoder in your locomotive?

Bach-man what information (not marketing wording) do you have about this "is it or is not" a true full featured SoundTraxx Tsunami decoder installed in the Bachmann HO Spectrum locomotives?

I'll check the decimal value of CV8 later this week at the club, providing those ominous sounds from the loco (not the tender) yesterday don't indicate a serious problem. I didn't mention before that we're a DCC only club so the loco has not seen DC power., also that no other locos, with or without sound, were on the layout.

It'll be interesting to hear what Mr. Bachmann has to say.

[Hunt]

It is not uncommon for club layout even DCC only ones, particularly one that has been around for several years and undergone many changes, to have noise in the signal resulting in a decoder switching between DCC and DC mode. The noise in the DCC signal can be introduced by a multitude of things.

I surmise your club is using a Digitrax command station with several power districts and have had stop and go issues with other sound equipped locomotives.

I suggest you contact Bachmann Service for you options with this locomotive.

[Isambard]

Hunt:
You raise an interesting point. Our club module layout configuration, including power distribution haven't changed much since we went DCC only January '06. Apart from some start up glitches the system has been working with minimum problems, mainly connected with shorting frogs (with blind drivers particularly).
We have some sixty plus locos that run from time to time, quite a few with sound, without significant problems, except that one of our computer savvy members does have a sound equipped loco that frequently acts up at the club but not on his home layout. Given the problems with my latest 2-8-0 we've concluded that we need a means of looking at the quality of the power and signal at various points on the layout. Any recommendations would be welcomed.
Thank you!

[Hunt]

... we need a means of looking at the quality of the power and signal at various points on the layout. Any recommendations would be welcomed.
Thank you!

Usually all that is needed is a good quality true RMS multimeter to find power issues and disabling the decoder’s Power Source Conversion.

Consider something like The DCC Pocket Tester made by Pricom http://www.pricom.com/Trains/DCCTester.shtml if your club has someone with the knowledge to understand and use the information the tester provides.

[Isambard]

Thanks Hunt:
The Pricom unit looks interesting. Our computer guru will be having a look at it.

[Isambard]

... we need a means of looking at the quality of the power and signal at various points on the layout. Any recommendations would be welcomed.
Thank you!

Usually all that is needed is a good quality true RMS multimeter to find power issues and disabling the decoder’s Power Source Conversion.

Consider something like The DCC Pocket Tester made by Pricom http://www.pricom.com/Trains/DCCTester.shtml if your club has someone with the knowledge to understand and use the information the tester provides.

We've concluded that the Pricom unit would provide too much information for what we need and will probably go with a RampMeter from Tony's Trains.

I disabled the power source conversion CV on the new 2-8-0 and that appears to have solved most of the problems with intermittent/unpredictable behavior - those remaining appear to be related to unpowered frogs and three way switches.
 

[Hunt]

Isambard... And the Manufacturer's ID of the decoder in your locomotive is?

[Isambard]

Hunt:
We've a read back problem with the club DCS200 and sound equipped locos (posted on Digitrax site). When we've sorted it out I'll let you know what CV08 reads.