Farish Class 08 with sound and stay-alive - the holy grail

[John YouChoos]

So, everyone has an 08 diesel, but how many are fitted with sound?  In OO it isn't always easy to get a good sound installation, but there are plenty out there, and plenty of approaches too... but in N gauge this is really the holy grail of sound-fits - there can only be a handful of them worldwide that have made a successful conversion, and many of those probably using the little CT SL76 sound decoder, which is OK, but a little flakey and unreliable.

 

An even smaller number have attempted using Zimo's MX649 with a speaker in the cab, but until now I don't think I've come across one with this and stay-alive too.  Not for the faint-hearted or ill-prepared, but it is doable, and I surprised myself that it went together as easily as it did in the end.  Thanks to various people sharing their experiences along the way, so here I'm sharing my approach in the hope that it inspires a few more to take the brave plunge themselves - there's nothing like seeing photos and reading a description of the approach to build confidence!

 

The full installation guide is available as the final example (#4) here: http://youchoos.co.uk/Index-Resource.php?L1=Guides&Item=Farish08DCC

 

...for the forum, I've chosen a few photos and words to give you a taster...

 

First we mill of a wedge off the motor housing:

 

 

Now remove the cab detailing, reduce the cab floor, and milling a bit out of the roof at the back:

Test-fit the MX649:

Wire it all in:

With the body back on, we attach a MicroCube speaker (modified to 6mm height), and attach a cut-down Zimo SACC16 stay-alive board with a single 330uF/16V Tantalum aboard:

Gently push the stay-alive inside the body behind the motor housing, and the speaker in the cab:

Minor filing down of the rear glazing:

All back together:

 

Slow running is vastly improved by the addition of the little stay-alive... you'll never avoid stalling totally, but this really helps.

 

Enjoy!

John

 

[Paul80]

Nice Job john, what size speaker did you use and what is the Stay alive, not seen one like that before.

 

I assume you insulated the cab floor before fitting the Cab as the speaker contact looks far to close for comfort

 

Paul

[John YouChoos]

Nice Job john, what size speaker did you use and what is the Stay alive, not seen one like that before.

 

I assume you insulated the cab floor before fitting the Cab as the speaker contact looks far to close for comfort

 

Paul

Hi Paul,

The speaker is a Zimo MicroCube, but with a custom YouChoos enclosure, giving overall 6mm height.

The stay-alive is Zimo's SACC16 board, cut-down to minimum and a single 330uF Tantalum soldered on.

I know what you mean about the speaker being close to the metal... I deemed that the whole thing was tight enough that there was absolutely no movement whatsoever, and the pad is actually about 1mm away from the metal so no insulation - works a treat!

Cheers, John

[Nigelcliffe]

Impressive John. 

 

But, you've missed some space at the front, ahead of the motor     Must be room for another Tantalum or two in there, and it will be pretty much unstoppable on decently laid track. 

 

Removing the two surface-mount suppression capacitors from the front of the motor may further improve running - it does with some CT's in that chassis, and won't be doing any harm to a Zimo.

[John YouChoos]

Impressive John. 

 

But, you've missed some space at the front, ahead of the motor     Must be room for another Tantalum or two in there, and it will be pretty much unstoppable on decently laid track. 

 

Removing the two surface-mount suppression capacitors from the front of the motor may further improve running - it does with some CT's in that chassis, and won't be doing any harm to a Zimo.

Hi Nigel,

You jest, but yes, I rather suspect I could have found room for 1 flat 330uF Tant in the nose too!

Interesting what you've found about the CTs with the model's PCB - hadn't considered that, which is silly because we always consider those components in any other model!

Perhaps this has laid down the challenge for another budding modeller?!! ... takers?

Cheers, John

[Paul80]

One more question, how does the sound from the modified microcube compare to the minnow speaker shown in the other install shown on your site, I know when I did mine I went with the minnow, but had to remove the glazing to let the sound out, is the microcube louder than the equivalent minnow.

[John YouChoos]

One more question, how does the sound from the modified microcube compare to the minnow speaker shown in the other install shown on your site, I know when I did mine I went with the minnow, but had to remove the glazing to let the sound out, is the microcube louder than the equivalent minnow.

Hi Paul,

Probably a little quieter than the Minnow, but it isn't bad.  I didn't want to lose the glazing, so that was the only option.

J

[Izzy]

I always remove the pcb from 03/04/08’s etc - they are just soldered onto the motor tags - as I have never been able to get them to run well with them fitted whatever the decoder make - I tried a few before discovering they were the issue.

 

Izzy

[Paul80]

Yep, removed them from mine as well, slow running was greatly improved one they were removed.