Age of engine

[Grandpagator]

Is their a way to tell  what year my Bachmann Spectrum 70 Ton Climax was manufactured
I was reading, on line, that if my engine was made in 2011, or later, it might have a 21 pin socket for the addition of Soundtraxx Tsumani sound system and a speaker.  This loco was sent to me by Bachmann as a replacement for a climax no sound, with gear problems.  I have looked at the diagram and all I can find is 2 boards they call PCB02and PCB03.  Picture not clear enough to see how many pins there are.  From what the article says, Bachmann is selling the add on sound module with a 21 pin connector.  The only information I can find on the box is the stock number 82902.

[Bucksco]

The sound "modules" being produced for current Spectrum models are an add-on sound module for that particular loco only - is is not a decoder. They are specific to the  locomotive - in other words they cannot be used for any other loco than the one it is designed for.
The Climax was produced before Bachmann began installing the boards that accept the sound modules. The area where the decoder is located in the Climax is quite small and it would be difficult to mount multiple boards so perhaps it would be best to look at a micro Tsunami. Give the service department a call they may be able to help out.

[Hunt]

Per Bachmann online catalog, 82902 is a HO scale  Unlettered- Black w/ White Stripes - 70-Ton Three-Truck Climax equipped with dual-mode NMRA-compliant decoder with 8-pin plug, thus there is an eight pin socket  to accept a sound decoder.
Click Here for drawing.  Best to remove shell and visually confirm. Remove (unplug) the present decoder to see eight pin socket.

SoundTraxx suggests
Model                          Decoder Model                 Decoder Part #     Speaker/ Baffle Kit #
70 Ton 3 Truck Climax   TSU-750 Light Logging      826020                810112/ 810102
REF: Click Here

[Hunt]

In case you do not notice, the SoundTraxx TSU-750 decoder does not come with plug on end of the wiring hardness.  Soldering is involved to install decoder even if you elect to use a SoundTraxx part  # 810123,  8-pin NMRA Compatible Connector.  Soldering is required to connect the speaker  to the decoder.

[Grandpagator]

Thanks for the info.