problem with...possible cure for soundtraxx ?

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I have a soundtraxx unit that just started “crackling” when the engine is sitting idle on a 0 throttle setting.It sounds like static.and seems to have the same cadence as the engine does at very low speed(3 to 4 chuffs per revolution.It sounds like a torn speaker,but doubtful because I operate the unit at about 30% of it’s full volume.Any ideas for a possible fix before I send it back to TTX for repair.I dont hear the “static” when the engine is running w/sound on.

2

Possibly the speaker is shot. I have a loco that was scratchy so I bypassed the speaker and put another speaker in temp and it was fine. So I swapped out speakers. Not sure what I did to blow it but now its back to normal.
Terry

3

Another possibility is that the capacitor in series with the speaker is shot - very inexpensive to try a replacement.

4

Not to imply your housekeeping is bad, but recently when I was testing a DSX installation, I had REALLY bad static, which seemed to have the same cadence as the main sound. I was worried, checked the wiring, then noticed a small staple stuck to the front of the speaker (by the magnet). Removing the staple fixed the problem.

Brian Pickering