I purchased a Tsunami heavy steam decoder for my 2-10-2. Installed it and can only get the speaker to work. It accepts the 4 digit address on the programing track but won’t move on the mainline. Speaker only plays the sound of the engine in “idle”, but won’t make the sound of the bell, whistle or anything else. A Red light comes on on the side of the Tsunami decoder with track power is on.
Any idea’s?
Meyblc - Sounds like the same problem I had. After talking at length with Allen at Soundtraxx, he said I needed a programming booster for my programming track. Seems my Digitrax booster and other like boosters are not powerful enough for these Tsunamis to use. Allen recommended Soundtraxx’s booster but no one had one. So, I went to Tony’s Trains and bought his booster called PowerPax for about the same pricey price but, if you plan more Tsunamis, it’s worth the trouble it saves. It’s easy to install. You just put it into the line between your primary booster and your programming track. Once you plug in the power source, you program as usual. Hope this helps.
If it is truly connected properly, then I would guess you need to set CV 29 to a value other than what it currently is. In the case of the QSI’s, enter Ops mode, and set it to a value of 38 to enable dual mode operations (DC and DCC when applicable). That value enables the 4 digit address. Then when you exit programming, dial in the new address and acquire the loco. It should now move.
It should be the same for the Tsunami.
The red light indicates a short or overload. I suspectyou have miswired the motor connections or the motor is not truly isolated. Verify your wiring. The meaning of the red light is in the Tsunami manual. --Randy
There are two red lights on the Tsunami; one is a pilot light and the other is a fault light; the one near the center of the assembly is the pilot light and “on” indicates the decoder is receiving power; if this light does NOT come on, it may indicate an improperly wired decoder. for the Fault light see the manual excerpt:
Fault Light
During normal operation, the fault light will turn on and off with the headlight, and is useful for establishing basic control of the decoder. Additionally, Tsunami monitors a number of its input signals and if a fault is found, reports an error code by flashing the fault light as well as the headlight and backup light (if connected). The number of times the light flashes corresponds to the number of the error code.
I would suggest resetting the decoder in OPS mode on the main line; this will provide more programming signal current to the locomotive for proper reset.
Ok, after reading the responces so far written here, I downloaded the Tsunami ops manual and am able to confirm that the red light that is glowing on the decoder when I try to operate the locomotive is indeed the Pilot light. According to the manual, this light indicates that the decoder is getting power. The fault light is not flickering at all.
I am going to try to reset the decoder as the manual suggests and see what does…
ok, It works fine now. from my programming track the decoder never took the 4 digit address. It was still operating on 0003. I realized this by trying 0003 instead of the 4 digit number that I had thought I programmed into the locomotive. When I entered 0003, it came to life.
I then put it on the main line and was able to program it to the 4 digit number. Everything works fine now…
Thanks for all of your help althought I still don’t really understand why it wouldn’t program correctly on the programming track in the first place…
Like many other sound decoders, the Tsunami need extra power ont he program track to program correctly. Others say you MIGHT need a booster, Soundtraxx says you pretty much NEED a booster. The alternative is to program on the main if your system supports that, as you found out.
Based on reports on the Soundtraxx Yahoo group, the one to get is Soundtraxx’s PTB-100 programming track booster. It seems this can program Tsunami as well as QSI decoders, whereas the DCC Specialties/Tony’s booster still seems to have trouble with Tsunami.
–Randy
What if there is a slight hum to the decoder, even without the speaker installed? Sort of like a high-pitched squeal. I connected orange to orange, red to red, grey to grey, and black to black.
No, the decoder is not making the humming noise if there is no speaker attached; it’s probably the motor that is making the high pitched squeal you hear.
What if there is a slight hum to the decoder, even without the speaker installed? Sort of like a high-pitched squeal. I connected orange to orange, red to red, grey to grey, and black to black.
OK,. I take that back. The hum is only when the speaker is installed.
It’s a Digitrax 8-Ohm speaker, and according to Soundtraxx, it doesn’t matter which of the purple wires go to the + or - on the Digitrax speaker.
The speaker hum still persists when the speaker is connected and the sound is supposedly muted.
I took out the capacitor, and the hum still persists. I also tried a different 8-Ohm speaker, and the buzzing humming noise still comes out of the speaker. It does this when the steam locomotive is stilling on the track and when it’s moving.
Once again, it’s not the motor, as the sound disappears once the speaker is disconnected.
Is this a sound output problem with the decoder?
Turn the headlight off. What you think is a hum might be the sound of the turbogenerator.
–Randy
The headlight was not on. Also, the headlight is not connected. I only made eight connections: two for the track, two for the motor, two for the capacitor, and two for the speaker.
It’s very annoying. Anyone know what it could be?
What brand 2-10-2 is it ? Does it have a curcuit board ? If you wired the decoder through the cucuit board your problem could be there.
Truck.
If you have the headlight function turned on, it may be the dynamo sound you’re hearing. Try turning the headlight function off and see if the noise slowly stops.
The dynamo was a steam-powered electrical generator on steam engines that powered the headlight, and they made a high-pitched whining noise when running.
Then again Cacole and Randy could be right, even though the head light is not connected if the light function is on you will still here the dynometer whinning.
If you want to rule out the dynometer find the sound volume CV for it and give it a value of zero and see if the whine goes away.
Truck.