I would like some feedback on others who may own one of these rather new locomotives. S4 owners too.
Everything I have read said these locos run quietly, in addition to having nice shells and a great decoder.
I received mine, and ran it on F8 mute just to judge how quiet it runs.
Well…mine is very noisy. Its mechanical, no CV settings are going to change it. It sounds like my 44 tonner and 70 tonners. While I wouldn’t expect it to be as quiet as an atlas, kato, or proto, the fact that it makes the same mechanical noises as the 44 and 70 tonners is disappointing. Is mine a lemon, or is this the way they all sound on F8?
What have others experienced?
And not to be a bachmann bash-fest, because the one DC GP38 I owned was the quietest loco I ever owned.
I don’t own the S2 or S4 but bought a Bachmann GP7. I put sound in mine and then I brake it in. I run the loco on a lap of my layout and about speed step 15 for about half an hour. I then run it in reverse at the same setting for about half and hour. I do this at speed step 50 and then full speed. This helps quiet it down. I’m happy with the little noise I get from my GP7 on mute. Joe
Don’t have the S2 but,I do have the S4…It runs as smooth and quiet as a Kato or Atlas in F8…And yes I was shock by the way this engine runs and the realistic Alco 539 6L prime mover sound and turbocharger whistle.
You said that the noise is mechanical. Does it seem to be coming from the motor or from the gearing? It will be interesting to see if the noise level changes as the loco is broken in. If the noise is from the gears I wonder if a tear down and treatment of the gears as has been suggested for the older Athearn locos might quiet it down.
What I meant by mechanical is that the noise is not created by the dcc board. Its the motor and the driveshafts. Typical growl, but really loud. It was so loud I could hear it through the full blast on sound settings that come from the factory while only on speed step 4.
Didn’t really want to pop the shell off, but I did, and lightly lubed one motor bearing and both worm bearings. Can’t get to the front motor bearing without tearing down the entire locomotive. Not ready to do that yet.
After lube, I ran it for about 15 minutes in each direction again, and it helped. It now sounds about the same as my old Roco/Atlas S2 and S4, which are never the quietest beasts on the layout, but it’s acceptable.
Now its time to find the Soundraxx manual online (not included in the box) to program the horn and bell to be full blast loud with all other sounds at 50%. CV128 turns everything down uniformly, which is great for the prime mover, etc, but I can barely hear the horn now.
Please, manual, tell me that I can adjust those sounds separately! Time to fiddle…
If it wants to run, let it run some more. Since it’s gotten quieter already, likely just a piece of flash. You’ll likely find it in the gear train in the trucks. You can take the bottom cover off easily to check that out, but let her run and she may fix herself. No, it’s not a Kato, but it shouldn’t be that loud.
In the full-featured Tsunami, yes, you can adjust levels for a number of different things with specific CVs. CV 128 is master volume. Read the manual for your loco, as many of the factory installed Tsunamis have more limited features. IIRC, you still get the ability to adjust the primary sounds, so hopefully you’ll find them.
I’m surprised your S2 makes so much mechanical noise. My Bachmann S2 and S4 are smooth as silk and didn’t really need a break in period. I was surprised since these are Bachmann and not even from the Spectrum line.
Run your S2 more to see if the mechanical noise lessens. If it doesn’t, maybe it is defective.
The horn, bell, etc…volume levels can be adjusted. Here is the CV list (it’s for the S4 but the S2 is identical)
I had a Tsunami in a Stewart VO-1000. While the bell was good, the horn was pretty quiet - even on the loudest setting. It was pretty pathetic, too. I was also disappointed with the motor control and ended up sending it back for a refund. [:(]
That’s disappointing. I’m happy with my Tsunamis, but I have yet to crack the “diesel barrier” with a Tsunami.
One good thing for those needing another option in a small form factor sound decoder is that TCS will be coming out with one that is in between in size between the Micro-Tsunami and the full size Tsunami. Look for it soon.
