I have used it for a long time operating at 14 to :)16v, that too is the rated voltage for a number of capacitors that are exposed to the max. It does raise the sound level significantly.

Eugene

BTW, I have the batteries in the center and the electronics in the side tanks.
Eugene

Had same problem here, putting weights on the truck helped but did not solve the problem. Backing out the truck center screw by about two turns did the trick. Had to raise the cowcatcher a bit too.
Eugene

Good luck with your conversion.
My DSX board came in today and works fine, that is, after some serious wrestling with the programming , like audio level, chuff level etc. The sound level could stand some improvement, I want my neighbors to hear the whistle!

BTW, I have an Anni that uses a Phoenix P5 board. the speaker is the original, rated at 0.5W, so far it held up to the 5W output of the P5 board. And I cannot really see any difference in the sound quality vs the DSX, but output level is MUCH better on the P5.

I am running battery with 11 AA NIMH batteries, 2AmpHr. Since I keep the battery charged via the track, using a bridge rectifier, the engine can run forever and I get away with a small, 2Ahr and cheap battery. I have 3 engines , all battery operation, and never had to stop running them due to battery discharge. In fact I stopped using  battery cars ( to increase AHr to 4). The batteries from one are now in the Porter.
Using SS track.

I did enlarge the holes in the speaker grille by app 100% ,area wise.


Will try to post a picture. Tried, do not know how.

Eugene

The Airwire 900 is a wireless control using batteries, so I can run the Porter w/o having to clean the track.

The Soundtraxx DSX is a sound only decoder, powered by the Airwire 900 DCC booster  output. It has 1 W output. Engine and sound are controlled by the wireless remote,
I am using that also on a Connie, except with a Phoenix P5 audio board at $160.00 but with 5W output.
The DSX board is only $66.00 , and according to the sound samples on their website, sounds just great and has all the whistles and bells plus fireman, water pump etc etc ec.

Just wanted to point that out to the previous poster.

Eugene

I recently installed battery operation and a airwire 900 for remote control.I have used a Phoenix P5 on an other set up for sound and it is great. But at $160 ea that soundboard is expensive. Has anyone used the Soundtrax SDX board, it is a lot less. But its audio output is only 1W , is that enough for G scale outside operation?

Gene

BTW I also use a Dallee diesel board, it is ok.

got the 040 yesterday, there is plenty of room  inside for all electronics, 12 AA batteries etc and even some space left over. Speaker size is 2"
Thanks for the inputs.
Eugene.

Same problem here, I had to do the following to get reliable
operation from this engine:

1 raise the cow catcher slightly

2 put led weights on the truck

3 loosen the screw that holds the truck by app 2 turns, this allowed lowering
   the truck and fixed the problem. Item 2 only resulted in a minor improvement.

I also installed Phoenix sound, 900 wireless control and 12 AA NIMH batteries,
all in the tender together with a 2" box fan. works great. Keeping the batteries topped up from the track!

Eugene

I just ordered a saddle tank porter and plan to stuff batteries, 12ea AAs, 900 airwire controller and a soundboard in there.
What size is the speaker and how high max ?

Thanks
Eugene

Apparently the on board use of the TE is very sensetive to power interruptions, they are guaranteed to happen and cause unexpected results.  Use battery power, that seems to be ok.

I use the airwire 900 , 2 Ahr AA NIMH batteries and keep them up by charging
from the track via a bridge rectifier. This allows use of cheap, relatively low AmpHr batteries. Best of both worlds. The 900 antennas are only 1.5" long!

Using this on an Annie and a USA NW2 switcher. And now on a Bachmann 0-4-0 sidetank Porter

Eugene

The engine is re-wired, no components in there, all are in the tender. As mentioned I use a 9 pin computer plug, matching male/female to connect the motor, lights, wheels, smoke unit etc. to the tender.
A separate , matching plug is wired to restore the engine to track power operation. I unplug the tender from the engine and plug the wired plug in to restore "as was" operation.
Eugene

PS, I should mention that I keep the 12 NIMH batteries charged  from the track through a bridge rectifier. Works great!

Thank you all!
Jon what is that circuit board in the picture?
I have a Annie, using AW900 and Phoenix P5 board and 12 ea NIMH AA batteries , all this stuff in the tender. Connected to the engine via a 9 pin computer plug.
Using a wired dummy plug the Annie reverts to normal operation.

The battery pack is only 2Ahr , but is being charged from the track , so the batteries will last practically forever. And do not need high Amphr batteries.
track voltage charges batteries via a bridge rectifier, voltage set a 17.5V from 1A power pack, charging current goes to 10-20 mA when not running engine.
Works great

Would like to do the same with the 0-4-0. Are any dimensions available for the exploded view?
Eugene

Is there a provision , like a grille for the speaker? And what size?

I did that 6 month ago , re wireing the engine, putting the airwire 900 and a P5 board into the tender plus 12 AA NIMH batteries plus a fan. But I am using a magnet + reed switch mounted on the tender for the chuff.

Is there enough room for 12 AA NIMH batteries, Airwire decoder and a
Phoenix sound board inside ?
Thanks for any input

Eugene