Adding sound to a DCC steam engine

[pattibarrett]

Have a 4-8-4 DCC Sante Fe steam engine. Is there a kit I can buy to add sound, it currently has none.

[Doneldon]

patti-

Yes, you can install sound and/or DCC after the fact, but it's hard to know what to suggest without knowing more about the locomotive and your operating system. For example, who made the loco, does it have a can motor, how old is it, and are you running DC or DCC. Fill us in and I'm sure someone will have a complete and authoritative answer for you.
                                                                                         -- D

[jettrainfan]

I got the same question, im using a bachmann ATSF 4-8-4 DCC already in it, bought about 8 months ago and seems to have the holes on the bottom of the tender already, what sound decoder would i need?

[jonathan]

This is a bit of an educated guess.  However, looking at the diagrams, it appears the 4-8-4 tender is designed in the same fashion as the 2-8-4 tender.  So, probably a 1" speaker will fit over the hole.  I sealed the speaker rim with clear silicon gel and it is holding up fine so far.  The decoder I would pick is the Tsunami Heavy steam.  I soldered an 8-pin plug to the wiring to plug into the 'DCC Ready' receptacle.  Some have hard wired the decoder instead.

Again, I'm basing this off the diagrams.  I did the Berk, not the 4-8-4.  Their innards appear similar... assuming the OP is asking about a Bachmann.

If you are using DC, you will have to program the decoder to run on DC.  It is not dual mode from the factory, unfortunately.

Regards,

Jonathan

[Tom M.]

Jonathan,

There is a faster and easier way to install a TSU-1000 into a loco that has an NMRA 8-pin socket.  The wires coming out of the Tsunami are attached to a 9-pin JST plug.  If you cut a couple of small slits on the sides of the purple shrink wrap, you can unplug the wire harness from the decoder.  I then replace the factor plug with a TCS wiring harness that has an 8-pin plug on one end and a 9-pin JST on the other.  It costs a few dollars to purchase the TCS harness, but I find that preferable to soldering all the leads to an 8-pin plug myself.

Tom

This is a bit of an educated guess.  However, looking at the diagrams, it appears the 4-8-4 tender is designed in the same fashion as the 2-8-4 tender.  So, probably a 1" speaker will fit over the hole.  I sealed the speaker rim with clear silicon gel and it is holding up fine so far.  The decoder I would pick is the Tsunami Heavy steam.  I soldered an 8-pin plug to the wiring to plug into the 'DCC Ready' receptacle.  Some have hard wired the decoder instead.

Again, I'm basing this off the diagrams.  I did the Berk, not the 4-8-4.  Their innards appear similar... assuming the OP is asking about a Bachmann.

If you are using DC, you will have to program the decoder to run on DC.  It is not dual mode from the factory, unfortunately.

Regards,

Jonathan

[richg]

Have a 4-8-4 DCC Sante Fe steam engine. Is there a kit I can buy to add sound, it currently has none.

It sounds like you have not done anything like this before.
Below is a link to a good site about DCC and sound. Look at all the links in the home link I am giving you. Do a bunch of research first.
He covers the part about cutting back the shrink and installing the 8 pin NMRA connector that has the 9 pin JST connector instead of soldering the wires to a 8 pin NMRA connector that Jonathan mentions.
Even then, you will have to solder two wires to the speaker terminals with a small soldering iron, not a soldering gun. With some, soldering can be an issue.

There are a couple companies that sell a decoder that has the 8 in plug on it with the speaker already connected to the decoder. I think it is MRC and Digitrax and cost less than the SoundTraxx Tsunami.

http://www.mrdccu.com/

Rich

[richg]

Here is probably the lowest cost.

http://www.digitrax.com/menu_sounddecoders.php

You want one that has sound and motor/light control. Probably the first one.

The Tsunami while very good will run you about $110.00 which includes the decoder, speaker and 8 pin to 9 pin adapter. The only way to attach the wires to the speaker is by soldering. The reason I say that, some have thought that they could do this with some kind of glue. I belong to a bunch of MRR forums and see many questions about decoder installs. Many have never soldered.
Do you plan to run this with a DC power pack or DCC controller? Some want to use a DC power pack because DCC decoders today are pretty much dual mode.
A Tsunami you install yorself requires a DCC controller to activate the DC mode. The Bachmann with on board Tsunami come ready for DC or dCC.

Rich