Fitting Sound to New Bachmann V2

[zr2498]

This project is intended to improve the 'standard' sound available with the new (ish) Bachmann V2. The DCC ready V2 has a prefitted speaker and decoder socket, located between motor and firebox.

 

The modification is virtually identical to that done by Mike Wild for the Hornby magazine, however I have managed to use an even larger speaker in the tender by some cutting and carving of the coal space.

Also included is a 2 wire plug / socket between tender and loco, as I prefer to be able to uncouple completely especially for weathering, a new Locoman Sounds decoder, and a stay alive.

 

Here is a picture of the components used:

 

 

 

First, the tender. A sharp scalpel is used to cut out a good portion of the coal space. The supplied coal load will fit over the modified space, however longer term a false floor and real coal will be added.

 

 

 

Speaker and plug / cable added.

 

 

Speaker fitted using black tack.

 

 

 

Locomotive prefitted speaker removed, and new cable / plug soldered to pads on rear of PC board.

 

 

The tricky soldering of stay alive connection. Wiring to ZVS pad + blue, and GND (ground) black on the decoder.

 

 

 

Ready to close up.

 

 

A massive difference. Well-rounded sound, and certainly worthwhile if a sound decoder is to be added. The stay alive may not be so important as there are pick-ups on all loco and tender wheels.

The firebox flicker is rather poor as it relies on reflections, and the opening / doors make the visibility even more difficult. A future modification? Perhaps some CV brightness changes will be possible?

The sound project was installed on two V2s, but one of them took significantly longer to achieve as once per rev' binding was present. Lesson learnt ....... check with DC before modification in case it needs to be sent back. Eventually found two of the driving wheels were incorrectly quartered. I was also surprised to see one gear (on centre driving wheels), nearly running off the teeth of the gear above it. This would cause wear longer term, so I added a couple of fibre washers to restrict the side-play on the centre wheels. I do not have tight radius curves so not an issue.

 

 

 

[trw1089]

Great work.  That certainly is a decent speaker you’ve got there and it would be great to see a video of it to hear what it sounds like.  I’ve done two like this now, but have wired them in parallel with the built in speaker and using a Scale Sound Systems rectangular speaker.  It certainly transforms the sound of the loco, especially with Locoman’s excellent sound files.

 

kind regards

Tony

[zr2498]

13 hours ago, trw1089 said:

Great work.  That certainly is a decent speaker you’ve got there and it would be great to see a video of it to hear what it sounds like.  I’ve done two like this now, but have wired them in parallel with the built in speaker and using a Scale Sound Systems rectangular speaker.  It certainly transforms the sound of the loco, especially with Locoman’s excellent sound files.

 

kind regards

Tony

Hi Tony,

Thanks for the kind comment. I guess I need to learn how to load a video to U-tube, and then link to RMWeb - if that is how it is done.

I see you are in Australia, and Scale Sound Systems (who I had not heard of), are based in the USA.

Cheers

Dave

[thegreenhowards]

Hi Dave and Tony,

 

I’ve just done a similar mod. I wish I’d read your thread before I did it! I initially tried using just the Bachmann speaker but I was shocked how tinny that sounded. An upgrade is definitely worthwhile.

 

I used a Youchoos YLR302815 Bass Box in the tender. I found that was possible without cutting into the coal space, but I did have to remove the weight which I’ve replaced with lead tucked into corners.

 

 

I drilled holes in the base of the tender chassis to let the sound out - this made a big difference.

 

 

I decided to retain the Bachmann speaker unlike Hornby mag and your methods, so I soldered the new speaker wires to he spring clips on the Bachmann speaker so the two speakers are in parallel. I thought this might help with treble sounds given I was using a bass box in the tender.

 

 

The difference in sound is very noticeable with a much better bass now. @trw1089 was asking about a comparison video, so to allow readers to judge, I have two YouTube videos….one before…

 

….and one after.

 

 

The second whistle still sounds a bit asthmatic, but otherwise I’m really pleased with the install. Sound file is a Youchoos V2 project on a Zimo 21 pin decoder.

 

I hope this is useful to someone.

 

Regards

 

Andy

 

 

 

[trw1089]

Great work Andy, the difference is pretty huge.  I reinstated the Bachmann sugar cube in mine to get a better balance of the sound so that the whistle sound tends to come more from the Front of the loco and the bass from the tender.  
 

Not so sure about the YouChoos file sound, but the whistle is quite accurate as Green Arrow’s LNER single short bell whistle would go into overtones quite easily and sound asthmatic like that.

 

Look forward to seeing it running on your layout.

 

cheers

Tony

[thegreenhowards]

Just now, trw1089 said:

Great work Andy, the difference is pretty huge.  I reinstated the Bachmann sugar cube in mine to get a better balance of the sound so that the whistle sound tends to come more from the Front of the loco and the bass from the tender.  
 

Not so sure about the YouChoos file sound, but the whistle is quite accurate as Green Arrow’s LNER single short bell whistle would go into overtones quite easily and sound asthmatic like that.

 

Look forward to seeing it running on your layout.

 

cheers

Tony

I’ve got to detail and weather it first. Couldn’t possibly run a loco without lamps!