[lexpar]

Hello all:

While I am primarily into On3 (D&RGW), I have been intrigued by "large scale". I recently purchased an Accucraft K-36 (486) and am building a string of Hartford freight cars... one at a time. I would like to add sound to the engine. I also recently converted my On3 layout to DCC from PFM. The decoders are Tsunamis and the power is NCE. I have upgraded the ProCabs to 1.5 version which has greatly increased the range. I have a Tsunami K class decoder which I'd like to use in the K-36 and run the loco from my NCE system. Is this conversion possible and if so is there any advice or issues to watch for? I would also like to add a speaker in the smoke box but am hesitant to open the the door (or know how to). Running speaker wires from there to the decoder through the boiler might be tricky as I hope not to do any disassembly. I would appreciate any guidance with this.

For the time being, the loco is being run stationary on rollers.

Regards

 

[Greg Elmassian]

How many amps are your On3 locos drawing? I was not aware that Tusnami has high current models.

I run NCE and wireless, etc.

On the conversion, I think you got a wiring diagram with your loco. Some Accucrafts have the track pickups wired direct to the motor, some do not. You need to see what is what to find out if you pull the boiler.

Regards, Greg

 

[lexpar]

Thanx Greg. Never measured one but I would think they would be less than 1/2 amp. I am also on wireless. A friend suggested that the Tsunami might only run the chuff. I am really hoping to keep to one system. I was also told the loco will run on straight DC and chuff would work. I just want to check every opportunity out before doing anything.

If you are interested, my web site is www.drgwrr.com

Regards

 

[jimtyp]

Lex, your layout is one of the nicest I've seen, very well done! There is a specific On30 forum, you could try asking someone there how to remove the door on your K-36.

 

[lexpar]

I forgot to mention the loco is a 1:20.3 so I doubt that the On30 forum would have much to offer. Hopefully some leads will show up.

All the best.

 

[Greg Elmassian]

The Tsunami HO will most likely not power the K. If you want to use the decoder for sound only, then you will lose the feature of load dependent sound.

I would measure the current draw on the loco, this will give you an average current.

I would suggest looking into the new QSI magnum, it should handle the current, and it's an all in one motor and sound decoder. I have about 10 of them and they work great.

Regards, Greg

 

[lexpar]

Thanx Greg, sound advice.

Cheers

 

[lexpar]

Well, have ordered a QSI decoder with the K-36 sound preloaded. Hopefully all will work out as anticipated.

Thanx again.

 

[Greg Elmassian]

When you get it, there are several tips on the QSI on my site. Also, download the HO reference manual from the QSI solutions site, it is the right manual for the QSI, 265 pages.

There is a ton of stuff you can do with it, and I would recommend using the autochuff setting, it can be set to be exactly X number of chuffs per driver revolution.

You might also specify an alternate whistle to your vendor, i.e. you can pick 2 whistles, the primary and the alternate.

You can download and run the programmer software from the QSI site to preview the sounds, it will do everything except program the loco, i.e. you do not have to buy the programmer hardware... the software is a free download.

All the sound files are also on the site...

Regards, Greg

 

[lexpar]

.. again thanx for the input. A friend warned me that maybe I might have buy a DCC booster because of overload on the current 5 amp system. Any thoughts?

 

[Greg Elmassian]

5 amps will be fine for 2 and possibly 3 motors.

The QSI is rated at 2.5 amps, but will run at 3 all day if you jumper around the polyswitch. (Don't worry about this now unless your loco cuts out under heavy load).

Regards, Greg