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LGB 65001 American Steam Sound Installation Problem


LGB333
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I just finished installing a LGB 65001 steam sound board into an LGB 27253 Forney locomotive.  I powered the sound board from the loco's rear axle truck wheels which are power pickup for the loco.   I also switched out the other rear wheels (none power) pickup wheels with an LGB power pickup wheels and spliced these into the other pickup power line from the rear axle.  Purpose of this is to give constant and even power.  The sound works fine but I the LGB 65001 Sound Unit Power Storage unit does seem to hold enough charge at low speed to keep the sound board operating.......the owner's manual for it states to run the loco at high speed for 30 seconds.  But when operating at low speeds there's insufficient storage power to keep the sound unit operating.  Is this a defective Sound Power Storage Unit that doesn't hold any charge very long at low speed?  Or is there a better way powering the sound unit from other wiring in the locomotive instead of directly from the rear truck?  It's not acceptable to not be able to run the locomotive a low speed without getting the sound unit to operate.  Suggestions please.

 

Thanks

Tom

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I'm not familiar with how the electronic circuit is for this or other LGB units but I would see the following as coming to mind as possible issues:   1) the Sound Unit Power Storage (SUPS) is either not getting proper connection so it can charge  2)  The SUPS is defective  3) The circuit providing power voltage is defective/not functioning.

 

I would power the engine for 30 seconds to 1 min to allow enough time for the SUPS to charge then unplug it.  Then using a volt meter see if you can identify DC voltage on two of the pins and note what it is.  Would have to know what the desired operating voltage should be to know if it is acceptable or not.   

 

From there if the pack is showing low to no voltage when it should be then next step would be to test the pins on the board that feeds the SUPS to see if there is any charge voltage when the engine is running.  From there you can possibly isolate if it is the SUPS at fault or whatever is providing the input that is.

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Okay, thanks for the suggestions.  The SUPS is getting some input and works for a very short time after it's charged when operating the loco at higher speeds.  But then moving to slow speed, apparently there's not enough power input to keep the SUP recharged to operate the sound system.  I have not had this issue when I've installed LGB diesel sound units on LGB shunting diesels.

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Okay, I chatted with the USA LGB Rep/Ron Gibson by phone yesterday and he suggested charging up the SUPS with 5 + volts for about 10 minutes.  I did and it still didn't hold the charge to operate the sound unit but a few seconds at slow speed.  He stated that the diodes in these LGB SUPS sometime are defected and should be replaced by the vendor.  So yesterday I shipped it back to Only Trains for a new replacement.  He also said that the LGB sound systems are really designed to operate best on DCC and are not a perfect match for the analog DC locos.  He also said that Marklin/LGB doesn't have any plans for now in continuing to manufacture the line of LGB sound units.  I mentioned to Ron that I have installed the Piko sound units in some locos and I've been very pleased with their operation.  In fact, I installed the Piko 36221 analog unit in another LGB 27253 Forney locomotive and recently sold it on eBay.  It does have a small battery built into the sound board that helps with the loco slow speed issue and engine sounds when coming to a stop.  The whistle sound is fine but the bell is funky, ringing too unrealistically fast.  But for the price @ $80 not bad overall sound unit.  The Piko 36220 digital dcc/dc American Steam Sound Kit is really a good deal @ $140 - $180........is also a dcc power decoder.  I installed one last year in a Bachmann Two Truck Shaw and sounds great on my DCC layout.  The whistle sound has three versions you can choose from, and you can also adjust the chuff speed rate, easily done on my Massoth DiMax Navigator.  The only thing missing:  No connection on the board for wiring a engine cab interior light bulb.  But excellent overall quality and features for the price.

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