Help! Ailing "Annie"

[charon]

Help!
I just recieved a new EBT "Annie" from Train World, Thursday, lubed it and it runs fine except for the "Chuff-chuff" sound.  When I first ran it, the sound was a wierd loud obnoxious humming noise, put in a new battery and it made the correct chuffing sound.  Ran it maybe 15 minutes and it went back to the humming again. Put in another new battery, but still makes that awful sound.  Anybody know whats going on?  Any advice greatly appreciated.
Happy Bachmanning,
Chuck

[paintjockey]

I had one that did the same thing, it was a bad board. I sent the tender back to bachmann and it came back good as new.

[charon]

Thanks paintjockey,
But should I send it to Bachmann or Trainworld?
Chuck

[altterrain]

I would first give TrainWorld a call and see what they say. Since you know what the problem is and its covered under warranty and its a lot cheaper to ship a tender to Bachmann then the whole loco back to TW, it will save TW the hassle of sending it back.

-Brian

[scottychaos]

I always liked TOC's description of the Big Hauler "sound"..
"the Bachmann noise maker"

in other words..its a really bad, very low-end sound system.
I own 3 annies..I have never bothered to even turn the sound on.
they are better off without it..

when I have done major kitbashes using annies, I rip out the circuits for sound and smoke and just throw them away..I dont care about either.

some sound systems can be very nice, but IMO you should imagine that the annie does not come with any sound at all..if you want sound in the annie, you need to add an aftermarket system.

Annies are IMO the single best value in Large Scale..great engines for a great price.. fabulous engines in all respects..except sound.

Scot

[charon]

Scot,
I called Soundtrax and spoke with the head guy, Alan Lloyd, and he said they do not have a sound unit for the Annie, Phoenix has one, however its almost $300.  Any body have one available for less than 200?
Thanks,
Chuck

[Steve Stockham]

Chuck,
  A slight clarification: What the gentleman at Soundtraxx meant was that there is no Sierra unit with a 10-wheeler digital sound (and yes, Phoenix does have one.) This is not a great problem! What I would suggest (and what many people have done) is to go to the Soundtraxx website and then go to the Sierra section and listen to the various sound samples until you find one that you like! I ended up putting a Mikado sound in my Annie and a Consolidation sound in my BBT "Bee" Annie!
  Honestly, I am not crazed about some of the "correct" whistles and have purposely changed to something I preferred! The only other drawback may be availability as Soundtraxx has been spending most of their energy developing the Tsunami board. Still, it's worth the effort!!

[calenelson]

I used the Soundtraxx I liked the best (in my Battery and RCS conversion)...think it was the unit for the Mogul....I may have a spare bmann board lying around that I could send you, but there is no comparison to the Soundtraxx...lemmie know!

cale

[Matthew (OV)]

I had a Soundtraxx Sierra 4-4-0 in mine .... though the consolidation (2-8-0) would work very well also ... and the one for the Shay is very similar in sound to Tweetsie's 4-6-0, which is the prototype for your "Annie."

Really what defines the sound is 1.) the overall size of the locomotive (a K-37 sounds a great deal larger than a 4-4-0 simply because of the relative size of the cylinders, smokebox, and stack) 2.) The triggering mechanism, which determines speed and cadance (meaning a Shay will run a lot faster  than a rod engine if triggered by the mechanism) and 3.) the whistle, which gives the locomotive "voice." .... and is by far the most "choosable" for something you like.

I'm surprised Alan told you that when the company's website's position is:

Remember that the digitally recorded chuff doesn’t care whether your locomotive is a 2-8-0 or a 2-6-0. The exhaust cadence be adjusted from engine to engine. Many of the whistles, while recorded from the engine listed, were used on other prototypes as well. We suggest you choose a whistle you like as opposed to trying to match wheel configurations or be prototypically correct.

If you need assistance with selecting one, or installing it, just say so.

Matthew (OV)

[charon]

Cale,
Thanks for the offer, if you want to send it, I would really appreciate it.  I called Bachmann today and they want me to send the entire loco and tender and it would be a minimum of four weeks after they log it in on their computer system!  If you want to email me, I will send you my mailing address.
[email protected]
Thanks again, Cale,
Chuck

[charon]

Also, I would like to thank all of you for your responses and suggestions.  Also, many thanks to the Bach Man for having this board.
Chuck

[altterrain]

Small Scale Railway has a sound card perfect for the ten wheeler for under $100 with all the dodads (1 watt amp, etc.)- http://www.smallscalerailway.com/01-8.html. Also see this for an install - http://www.mylargescale.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=44135

-Brian