Durranhill Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 I have been fitting a sound decoder & 28mm ABS speaker to my new D369 class 40 . After taking the loco apart I found that the speaker housing was very restrictive in letting out the sound so drilled out the existing holes & added a few more . On fitting the body back on & putting it on the track for testing I found that I was getting a dead short which was shutting down the controller, after much head scratching I found the cause . The ABS 28mm speaker is deeper than it's ESU equivalent & as it sits in a hole in the PCB the speaker magnet was shorting out on the bogie contact strips below the PCB . I have now placed a thin piece of plastic between the PCB & the bogie contacts & this has solved the problem on D369 . I then decided to carry out the speaker housing mod on my DCC sound fitted 40 & found another problem . Although the fitted ESU 28mm speaker is not as deep as the ABS one the cone sits higher & this was found to be touching the underside of the housing & rubbing the cone away . After removing the fan & drilling extra holes as on D369 i drilled a large hole in the centre & countersunk this on the underside with a 5/8" drill bit, this now gives the cone space to work . The fan locating pin was then glued upside down (pin up the way) on top of the housing & the fan glued to it . I now have no shorts ( it's still too cold for them ) & better sound on my 40's . Stewart . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitefighter Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 Hello, Would you be able to make a video of the improved sound and running? I'm curious to see the difference from the factory fitted DCC Sound by Bachmann. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durranhill Posted April 17, 2014 Author Share Posted April 17, 2014 Unable to video I'm afraid & I don't know about improving the running ( I never mentioned that ) but it does sound better even with only allowing the speaker cone free movement . Try pressing down on a working speaker cone then allow it to work freely & you can hear the difference . Even with the short time my DCC fitted 40 had been running ,when the speaker & enclosure had been taken apart there was a trace of fine powder / dust where the two faces had been rubbing together & this would I think lead to eventual failure of the speaker cone . Stewart . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NERBOB Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 Interesting to read this. Mine arrived and runs well. Fitted the 28mm speaker and Loksound decoder and boy, was it loud! Had to reduce the volume as it was just too loud for the shed! Didn't have any difficulty at all with fitting and all went back together well. (I got the 28mm/1.1 speaker from Digitrains which fitted perfectly). Anyway, I have modified the pickup arrangement as I didn't like the brass contact strips idea they've put on this one. There's a lot of talk about it on another thread and as DCC is wholly reliant on a good contact from the track I fail to understand Bachmann's choice of contact strips rather than soldered joints. I'll post some pics of the mod in due course. Basically I soldered very fine enamelled wire to the pickup strip and the contact strip beneath the PCB (The PCB is probably the best I have ever seen). I put a generous "loop" in the cable to allow for movement when cornering, although with the pickups being almost centered on the bogie, there's little movement at that point. This works a treat so I've left it be and I also soldered the contact strip to the motor chassis (very hot iron and the slightest touch so as not to disturb/damage anything within the motor housing). However, she runs beautifully when at a pace but "crawl" for shunting is terrible. She jerks along the track as if riding over the sleepers (it's not, just looks as if it is). I've tried the CV54 trick and that only improved it slightly. It seems to me that the cog/gearbox ratio is a poor match for slow running and it seems to "ride the cogs" until a decent momentum is reached. Some have suggested packing the gearbox with white grease to help and I might do this but only after attempting with reprogramming the CVs. It's a great shame; I'm not the only one to have this and it was a quite well known "problem" when I mentioned it at Scalefour North last weekend. In comparison I have the "fitted" Class 45 which creeps along at a fantastic slow speed. I'm going to read all the 45's CVs and then reprogramme the 40 to match. Will let you know how I get on! Pictures of pickup mod tomorrow all being well. Happy Easter. Bob Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold pheaton Posted April 21, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 21, 2014 does it run poorly with the sound turned off out of interest? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NERBOB Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 does it run poorly with the sound turned off out of interest? Sadly, Yes. Not much better on dc either; I have stripped it down today, by removing the bogies. I removed the captive plastic shroud above the worm gear and turned the drive via the shaft. Very smooth. With the captive shroud fitted it was tight to turn and I could feel each position of the cog drive. This coincides with the performance on the track which, as I say, it seems to be 'notching' on each tooth of the first cog. Unfortunately the plastic shroud has to be refitted as it secures the worm drive bearings. It's tight! I have packed the gear train with silicone grease and will leave it overnight to bed in. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold pheaton Posted April 22, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 22, 2014 NERBOB, does the 40 use bevelled gears? i wonder if that cog has been installed upside-down! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NERBOB Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 Hello All and thanks for replies. The grease overnight has bedded in and she now runs very smoothly. Come to think of it I didn't see much lubrication at all - it might just have been a lube issue. All is now well When I can work out how to upload photographs I'll show the pickup mod I have done. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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