Installing a "Tsunami Sound Decoder" in my Spectrum Heavy Mountain

[kennyG]

When I installed a Tsunami Sound Decoder in my Athearn 2-8-2 DCC ready and it was really easy. It was my first installation but the decoder just pluged in. When I took my Spectrm Heavy mountain DCC ready apparat to install another decoder it was totally different and very complicated looking. There's no place to plug in my decoder becasue the Bachmann plug is different. Has anyone ever installed a Tsunami in a Bachmann steam locomotive who can help me out?

KennyG

[Fred M]

Hasn't the 4-8-2 mountain got a 8 pin plug, the spectrums that I have fitted decoders to have this plug, would yours have the 9 pin plug?.

[harold]

yes, I have installed 2 tsunamis one in a 4-6-0  63" wheel engine and one in a 52" wheel 4-6-0 both  dcc boards in the tender were the same, but not a lot of room so I removed the boards and hard wired them with a 1" speaker, both work fine.

       harold

[Hoople]

The main problem with the heavy mountain is:

Only the front of the tender opens.

You don't want to know how long it took me to install a NCE decoder in that little twit...

[kennyG]

I didn't have any problem getting the tender open. I think the Heavy Mountain that I have is older. It has two plugs, one has two pins and the other has five. Wires run from the engine to the plugs and from the plug to the tender board. It almost looks like it already has DCC installed but it's only supposed to be DCC ready.

Has anyone seen anything like this in their Heavy Mountain?

Thanks,

KennyG

[SteamGene]

I have four tenders made for the heavy Mountain/light Mallet, two USRA and two 16V Vanderbilt. The USRA have a screw and two prongs and the shell comes off the floor completely.  I've forgotten how the Vanderbilt comes apart, but I can check.   I understand you can get an adaptor plug for the Tsunami.  Put the speaker in the coal bunker, under the load.  Drill a hole in the rear slope sheet of the bunker and thread the speaker wires through it.  Drill a large number of small holes (#70 or so bit) in the coal load.