Fitting a DCC Sound decoder in a Big Hauler 10 Wheeler

[tweetsie12]

Hello there. Alright, So I have plans to refurbish my old Bachmann 5th Generation Big Hauler, and I want to equip it with a SoundTraxx 2 DCC Sound Board. How do I fit it so it can work to it's fullest potential?

[Nathan]

There are many ways of doing it.

I put mine in the tender and added an additional connector for the power pickup, motor power, and front headlight wires.

Nathan

[tweetsie12]

There are many ways of doing it.

I put mine in the tender and added an additional connector for the power pickup, motor power, and front headlight wires.

Nathan

That's where I want to put mine as well. So how do I do it properly?

[Nathan]

Mine are early version 2 and 3.  I had to isolate the motor wires and the headlight wires.  I added power pickups to the tender to help with going through some brands of turnouts.  I pulled out the sound unit in the tender.  I used the speaker in the tender for the sound.

The decoders I used had chuff pins and I used the existing chuff circuit in the locomotive.

Nathan

[tweetsie12]

Mine are early version 2 and 3.  I had to isolate the motor wires and the headlight wires.  I added power pickups to the tender to help with going through some brands of turnouts.  I pulled out the sound unit in the tender.  I used the speaker in the tender for the sound.

The decoders I used had chuff pins and I used the existing chuff circuit in the locomotive.

Nathan

Oh, I have a Generation 5 Big Hauler, it probably wouldn't work.

[Greg Elmassian]

Are you saying that because a gen 5 does not have chuff contacts? (I don't know the answer to that)

Greg

[Joe Zullo]

A Gen 5 chassis has the chuff contacts on the front axle just like every other Bachmann 10 wheeler.

[Greg Elmassian]

That is what I would have guesses.

Tweetsie? Why the comment that it won't work?

[Tony Walsham]

Like every other Big Hauler the contacts are 2 x chuffs per revolution instead of the more correct  4 x chuffs per revolution.

[Dr Who 12]

 The 2 chuffs per revolution can be corrected by adding 2 more contact strips to the axel drum. I have made this modification to all 8 of my big hauler locos. My locos have the original factory sound electronics. The volume could stand to be louder but without installing aftermarket sound equipment and a decoder you have to take what you get from the factory units.

Later DrWho12

[Kevin Strong]

First thing--the Soundtraxx Tsunami2 does not have a trigger input for the chuff. It's all done by the motor's Back EMF. It's VERY accurate, so no worries on that front. (I was skeptical, but they've made a believer out of me.) So, that's two wires you don't need to worry about between the loco and tender. You will need at least 6, though. Two for the headlight, two for the motor, and two for track power pick-ups from the loco back to the decoder in the tender. If you want to use the firebox flicker and smoke unit, and control them from the DCC decoder, then you'll need additional wires for them between loco and tender. Otherwise, you can run them off of the track power input. They're powered off of the main board in the boiler. Just take the track power input, run it through a bridge rectifier, and hook the output of the rectifier to the PC board in the boiler. The firebox will flicker so long as there's power to the track, and the smoke unit will be powered if the switch in the smokebox is set to the "on" position.

For the connectors between loco and tender, you can find multi-pin connectors at All-Electronics.com, or you can solder your own from SIP socket strips.

Later,

K