Hey everyone, I am hoping you can help me with a problem I am having. This week I installed my first ever Soundtraxx Tsunami decoder into a locomotive and at first things went well, now I am having an issue. Here is my setup: Atlas GP40 Locomotive Soundtraxx Tsunami TSU-AT1000 EMD 645 Decoder QSI Speaker I hardwired everything and everything worked beautifully, I had lighting control, speed & direction control, and all the sounds and it sounded great! The only problem was i accidentally put the decoder in the wrong way so the directions were backwards. I took the decoder out and flipped it around reinstalled everything put it on the track and at first the speaker started working like normal making the engine startup sound and then it kind of shorted out and stopped working. Lighting still works, moves forward fine, but when I put it in reverse I get a lot of humming and distortion thru the speaker. It still moves in reverse fine but weird distortion thru the speaker, and the sound functions no longer work. I tried reversing the polarity of the speaker wires and this did nothing. I took the speaker our altogether and the lighting and forward/reverse worked great. Tried putting the speaker back in and forward works fine, but when I put it in reverse it starts buzzing again thru the speaker. Anyone have any idea what is going on? And why does this happen only in reverse? The only thing I can think of is when I was soldering the wires back onto the speaker my soldering iron accidentally touched the back of the speaker and may have melted it a little. It seems like the speaker has shorted out but why does it only buzz when I put it in reverse? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
So, is this a Soundtraxx speaker problem or a QSI speaker problem? Is the speaker frame metal? In you soldering did you perchance get a wire touching the metal frame, which then may be touching the metal chassis of the loco? Pull the speaker. Leave it connected. Fold up a paper towel, lay it on the chassis, lay the speaker on the towel, and try it. Dave
Not sure why you removed the decoder to correct the direction issue. You could have just swapped the orange and gray wires on the decoder tabs that were coming from the motor. The way the decoder sits into the locomotive might effect the lightin direction?? You may have a wire touching the speaker connection. Remove the speaker and test like the post above said. Test and see if that does not cure your problem.
