Large Scale Central

Phoenix PB9 - suddenly no sound!

Electronics Power and Sound
#1
The Phoenix PB9 in my Bachmann 4-6-0 has suddenly stopped making sound. It was working fine, as usual, yesterday during the open house. I ran it from noon to after 4 pm. When I was done, I unplugged the loco's battery and put the loco away for the night. This afternoon I took it out, set it on the track and plugged the battery in. As soon as the power was connected, the sound board made a series of soft "tick tick tick" sounds instead of the usual "shoveling coal" sounds. After a few seconds it stopped and hasn't made any sound at all since.
 
 Looking into the tender, I don't see anything noticeably wrong such as a loose or broken wire. 
 
Any idea what happened, and what I should do about it?
 
 
#2

When mine does that, it usually means the battery needs charging.

And other times I can turn it off, then turn it back on and it works fine. But that’s usually after it’s been sitting out on the layout for awhile.

#3

I hate to do it, but Ill agree with Ken here. It sounds like the battery needs to be charged.

#4

Bob McCown said:
I hate to do it, but Ill agree with Ken here. It sounds like the battery needs to be charged.

:wink:

#5

The loco is currently running on battery power. The sound board still has its own battery from when I was using track power. If that battery has gone bad or something, would it prevent the sound board from operating? Maybe I should disconnect it and see.

#6

That battery is for track power. It get’s charged while the loco is running, so yes, it may need to be charged up.

#7

Ok, I tried unplugging the sound board’s battery, and now the sound works again. So I guess the battery needs to be replaced.

Of course I could run it without replacing the sound board’s battery, but I don’t like the way it suddenly cuts in and out when the loco starts or stops.

#8

Check with Phoenix for wiring details. You should be able to feed the battery input of the PB9 with your R/C battery eliminating the second battery. Might need diodes and/or resistors, that’s why i suggest checking with Phoenix.

#9

Or you may want to check with whatever RX/TX manufacturer you used as they may have a module that can be wired into the RX and Sound board to power the board from the on-board battery and trigger the sounds from the TX.

#10

The point here is that by wiring the main battery into the right spot, he needs no additional modules, batteries, capacitors or cash outlay.

An advantage of on board battery power over track power.

Greg

#11

Greg is correct here. there is no need whatsoever for the Phoenix battery. There is no need for extra modules, capacitors, wiring or any other stuff anyone wants to think of. Connect the Phoenix power to the system power. When you turn the system on, you get sound at idle , for as long as you want. no worries about recharging when moving, or minimum voltage levels etc .

This is why the newer p8 does not come with a backup battery, it is not needed when used in a battery /r/c installation. The pb9 will function the same way, though it is helpful to have the config software to make some fine tuning adjustments to certain settings in order to maximize performance.You will also get proper start up sounds. You can have all sound effects and lighting operational when sitting still, for steam locos this is a big deal.

Ray, you are semi local, bring it by and i will set it up for you on the computer for best performance with constant voltage supply such as you get from main primary batteries.

#12

I knew someone on here should have a better answer then what I had…:wink:

#13

The sound board is already powered by the loco’s battery, which is why it produces sound when the sound battery is disconnected. The only reason the sound battery was ever needed was to keep the sounds going when stopped, with track power. When running on battery power, there should be a constant supply of power to the board even when the loco is stopped.

What I don’t understand is why the sound cuts in and out when the loco starts and stops, and the sound battery is disconnected. For that matter, I don’t understand why the sound battery being dead would cause the sounds to shut off completely.

#14

Ray, yes, the sound board is powered by the battery. But the sound board needs power from two sources to fully function. That second source can be the same battery, all it requires is a second set of wires.

What you need to do is run additional wires directly from the road power battery to the sound board, inserting them where the small battery was plugged in. This will provide continuous power to that portion of sound board that was powered by those small batteries that have failed. Run those wires through the on/off switch, and make sure they are fused.

Airwire has a good diagram of how to do it, and that applies even if you are not using Airwire. I know that it is counter-intuitive to run a second set of wires from your batteries to the sound board, but that is what it takes.

Well, re-reading your last post, I probably don’t know what I’m talking about.

Take Jonathan up on his offer of help.

#15

Steve Featherkile said:

Take Jonathan up on his offer of help.

“Thumbs Up” to that!

#16

Jonathan, how “semi-local” are you?

My email address is [email protected]

#17

he’s in Chino area…

http://www.rctrains.com/

#18

Ah, not local at all then. Thanks.

#19

He DID say “semi-local” :wink:

#20

Definitely worth the trip. I used to commute from there to Navy Station San Diego. It’s 110 miles up I 15.