I'm inatalling one for a friend as I type, I will put the same #s in that you listed, and report back.
Eyup everyone, I'm new here and I read this thread with great interest. I have just fitted an AC12 with this decoder and have experienced all the things mentioned. The chuff rate is a real let down and the top speed and motor control is woeful. Anyway I will be trying out changing the CVs mentioned to see what happens.Many thanks. James.
Welcome to TrainBoard James! I hope you can find a solution to the many problems faced with this decoder. I'd reinstall it in my AC-12 in a heart beat if the chuff and other issues could be corrected! (I'd probably stick with the TCS M1 for motor control though, smoothest decoder I've used)
Hello back again. I changed the CVs on the decoder and that made a vast differance to the moter control. Still trying to get the chuff rate in sinc but I fear the only way is to fit a cam. Any more thoughts on this subject out there ? James.
More disappointment from this decoder. (And a little bit of anger!) Over my visit back home, I had re-installed this decoder into the tender of my other Kato Mikado. Right off the bat the chuff actually matched the mike pretty well (even though the sound profile is for a mallet). Anyways, I still never used the whistle or bell because of how terrible they sound, and I had to figure out how to turn off the generator and another idle clicking sound. With out those annoyances, hearing the chuff circle Thunder Ridge was actually quite pleasant. ...until... I hear a crackle crackle sound and the train hesitates. I throttle down to a stop and then poof. Magic smoke. Knowing what is about to happen, I kill the power and as quickly as possible and I tear into the tender to try and remove the decoder and capacitor. Unfortunately... I was too late. The tender shell had already become a casualty. And of course, the tender shell is no longer available from Kato Parts. It appears it was just the capacitor that went belly up as a test today showed the decoder still produced sound. However, without the capacitor the sound does not last even 1 full second before cutting out and restarting. It's good that Digitrax has a no worries warranty. But at this point, I dont think this 50 dollar decoder is worth even the postage it would take to get a replacement. Perhaps they might exchange with me for a DZ125 or two instead of sending out a replacement? (Also, I just looked and Digitrax does not even list the SDN144PS on their website anymore. Hmmm)
http://www.digitrax.com/prd_mobdec_sdn144ps.php The link is on the front page. They haven't updated the actual sound decoder page in a while because since then they have also released a couple of drop in sound decoder light boards for Kato loco's (similar to the MRC boards). Sorry to hear about/see the tender. Curious, what DCC system and voltage are you running at? The Cap is rated at 25V so voltage shouldn't matter but I still keep my system voltage at 12V to be safe.
Ah, I was trying to find a link from the sound decoder menu on the right. I didn't see any sound decoders for N scale listed there anymore, but I guess they just haven't updated the site like you said. At my fathers, it logged a few hours on a Digitrax, I want to say Empire Builder, bought about 10 years or so ago. I have no idea what the output is there. Here, I had maybe a half hour of running on a MRC Prodigy Express which outputs 14.5 volts.
Hey Mark.... Dont worry about a little melted plastic. My wife tells me on my stuff it... "Adds Character"...LOL .
Now THAT is a cruddy experience. I am glad I haven't fried anything lately.... but I know the feeling. Tell ya what, I have an undec. Kato Mikado tender shell just sittin' here gathering dust, it won't be used either (GHQ in the works!). You want it? Just PM me your address and I'll drop it in the post. Don't melt this one, brother!!
If your sure it's just the capacitor, it maybe easier to replace just the cap as opposed to removing the whole decoder. Try using one with a 35v rating and at least 220 micro farads. Just make sure you get the polarity right when you solder it in. On the other hand you've never been happy with the sound from this decoder maybe it's time to get something else.
(Bob) I'm new member. I just installed this same Digitrax decoder in my AC-12 yesterday. I'm still trying to figure on how to make this engine run above a fast crawl! Anybody have any ideas? Thanks Bob
I have a tsunami in my AC-12 and I have not been impressed by how slowly it moves after conversion. It's a problem IM has acknowledged and fixed for the HO Cab-Forwards but not the N. Basically, the motor needs a lot of juice and so when you have a sound decoder also drawing juice the motor doesn't get enough to move beyond a crawl. I haven't devised a fix for this as it will probably mean re-motoring.
Turn off BEMF on the decoder. Set CV57=0 There is an issue with the decoder that limits top speed to roughly 50% with BEMF turned on. There is no real cure other than to not use BEMF. As SteamDonkey mentioned, the AC-12 do draw quite a bit of power as is so they are making the decoder work hard for a living, add the extra draw of sound and it will bog down things.
Don't understand this. The Tsunami (TSU-750) has a internial fuse on the motor drive. If shorted it will blow the fuse and you will still have sound but no drive. To say that there is power being drawn from the drive circuit to power up the sound circuit seems unlikley to me. I have done several Tsunami sound installs into the IM AC-12s and they all ran well. The sound was good and the motor control was good too. Not great, but good on the motor control. You have to work with CV's 209 and 210 for motor control. Check your setting on CV2- might want to up it a bit? BTW when you set CV's 209-210 you have to have CV's 3 and 4 set to zero.
Mine runs okay, it's just that even at top throttle it's going about 10 scale MPH but sounding like it's really hammering down the track. If I could just get the thing to go even a modest 40 scale mph at 100% throttle I would be happy. If you have suggestions for CVs to start with (e.g., what values would I start with for CVs 209 and 210?) I will try that.
I am not saying that sound is coming directly from the drive circuit, but some power must be getting diverted. When I ran it before conversion it ran at reasonable speeds. Since I converted it, it's topped out at about 10 scale mph. I have turned off BEMF. I have it with me and I am taking it to the club tonight to try some of these ideas.
