Dav2 Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 Fairly new to the hobby so go easy. But baffled by Hornby's lack of thinking. Especially to the fitting of TTS. The space they provide for the speaker simply isn't big enough.I understand some tools will be prior to TTS even being a thought. But my Woolwinder has the circle diameter for the speaker built into the tender. Obviously useless as the speaker doesn't really fit. I did (or thought I did), manage at first by removing the plastic shell from the speaker. However as I went to run it. The speaker was catching 2 wheels giving a short circuit. How is everyone fitting the TTS decoder and speaker in the tender? I find it daft to have the need to modify it.Am I missing something rather easy. Also I wont be buying another speaker, as in the sugar cube. I'm rather stubborn and having just purchased the hornby TTS kit don't want to buy something else. Shouldn't the hornby parts fit in a hornby loco?No wonder the hobby is hard for new comers to get into. TIA for any help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 Find a simple O ring gasket or sel to sit in the speaker mount to lift the speaker rim out of the wy of the wheels. Not rocket science. If you can’t find or make a suitable ring cut down the provided speaker enclosure to suit. Do try to fit the enclosure back shell as this provides isolation twixt front and back of the speaker to improve the sound quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dav2 Posted November 3, 2019 Author Share Posted November 3, 2019 Not rocket science! Really hope I'm reading that wrong! Otherwise, lovely attitude from a forum mod hahaNo chance the speaker fits with the back on. But will try cutting down the front enclosure to lift it up a bit and maybe try insulation tape on the bottom of the speaker to stop it shorting over the wheel. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissaf Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 Dav2,.You haven't given any indication of the age of the model or its R number..Early sound locos were launched when Hornby fitted ESU Loksound decoders and speakers. These predate TTS decoders and thus were never designed for the TTS speaker..The chances are that your loco is an early 'sound ready' loco that was designed for Loksound and not TTS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 The problem has been seen before. The speaker rim touches the wheels in the circled areas. Those square pegs are probably supposed to hold the speaker clear. All it needs is a little packing (along the sides) for clearance, by whatever method you like. If you are into fitting your own decoders and speakers then expect to have to do a bit of fettling. There is no such thing as a universal one size fits all retro-fit kit, as there are far too many model variants to cover. /media/tinymce_upload/38661073560affff39371a3cea1b3e88.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morairamike Posted November 4, 2019 Share Posted November 4, 2019 Bin the supplied speaker and fit a sugar cube speaker instead. No more problems, better sound. My original speaker failed in my A4 after a short useage at mid volume. Hornby replaced it but i went sugar cube. Also smaller speaker fits inside some locos (space under chimney) giving better sound origination location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dav2 Posted November 4, 2019 Author Share Posted November 4, 2019 Thanks for the tips. restrictions stopped me replying till now.Loco is the 2016 (I think) LNER Class A1 Woolwinder 2554 (R3439)Thanks Chrissaf, wasn't aware there was an ealier version speakers. Anyway I have got it fitted now. Probably not overly happy with the fit to be honest. No plastic shell as this is a pure no go, room wise. So I added a small piece of 3M foam under the speaker to raise it a touch. This hopefully stops it touching the wheels. I also put some tape on the metal on the underside of the speaker. Hopefully no shorting now. However the weight that fits down over the speaker is really tight. It is possibly pressing down a touch on the speaker cone. Anyway got it wired in and setup. Loco runs fine and speakers sounds work. Bit lower volume to my King Class TTS, and not as impresive. I may take it all apart again and run without the tender top attached and speaker fitted with casing and no pressure fro the top to see what it sounds like. If not much different then I'll be happy with my fit.Thanks again.. Just wasn't expecting hornby parts to not fit well with each other when both look like they'd been designed to.Still learning :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted November 4, 2019 Share Posted November 4, 2019 You can just plonk the speaker on top of the weight facing up. The important bit is to seal the front from the back of the speaker for best possible sound quality./media/tinymce_upload/67ecd2bfba7d5607d11a9a20a014a8cd.JPG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted November 4, 2019 Share Posted November 4, 2019 For those wondering why TTS retro-kits don’t just drop into place in every loco have a read of the installation guide provided with every kit.https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/media/Fitting_a_Decoder.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dav2 Posted November 4, 2019 Author Share Posted November 4, 2019 Cheers RAF, I did try that position early on too, but the tender casing wouldn't fasten down. But my loco also has the decoder and 8 PIN connection in my tender which is why I found it so hard to fit everything in.The more you play about the more you learn. Also did you drill all those holes for better sound? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morairamike Posted November 4, 2019 Share Posted November 4, 2019 As i said bin the cheap supplied speaker. Put a sugar cube they cost around £5 or little more or less, BETTER sound come with mount fit in tender or loco. Yiu eill.be sble ti get top on and it won't short out on the wheels. Example belowhttps://www.dccsupplies.com/item-p-104225/speaker-8-ohm-15mm-x-11mm-the-sugar-cube Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted November 4, 2019 Share Posted November 4, 2019 What I am starting to do is to try and put the DCC decoder in the tender. I took Chrisaf's advice and looked up the Service Sheet for the corresponding model with sound, and found the corresponding part number for the tender base that will house the speaker. It means adding the 4 pin connector, but if you are going to have Tender pickups then you need that anyway. I damaged so many DCC controllers and valve gear trying to squeeze everything into the loco body, on a Britania I even managed to break the back locating slot, that I found the extra expense worth it. The only disadvange is it makes running lamps on the loco more difficult. Fortunately at the moment you can still get the tender bottoms as spares. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted November 4, 2019 Share Posted November 4, 2019 Don't think many people fit working lamps on steam locos, they are very dim and not used as headlights, and of course should be moved depending on what train is being pulled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dav2 Posted November 5, 2019 Author Share Posted November 5, 2019 So with the sugar cube speaker. Do you still purchase the hornby TTS and just cut off the speaker and attach the sugar cube? I'll look into it in the futureThanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 Yes and always cut/unsolder the speaker off from the speaker end not the decoder end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plumloco2 Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 I recently installed a TTS decoder with Lais stay alive in the A4 Dominion of New Zealand R2826. The baby speaker is up the front and put in a switch to disable the stay alive if programing was a problem. I also replaced the wiper connections to the tender with Hornby spare parts plug and socket.Runs about 400mm across the floor with no track. Love it./media/tinymce_upload/143e8546c673de067a58e1b997e8b5a6.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 Nicely done PL2.I have seen a block shaped stay alive that may drop into the space ahead of the socket better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 Wow, that stay-alive sure looks like it's pleased to see someone. 400mm, that's impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnyRailMan Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 I recently installed a TTS decoder with Lais stay alive in the A4 Dominion of New Zealand R2826. The baby speaker is up the front and put in a switch to disable the stay alive if programing was a problem. I also replaced the wiper connections to the tender with Hornby spare parts plug and socket.Runs about 400mm across the floor with no track. Love it./media/tinymce_upload/143e8546c673de067a58e1b997e8b5a6.jpgThat looks a very neat & tidy job there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnyRailMan Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 /media/tinymce_upload/37969664a995df4f5c8000b24d50f56b.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/c1f89eb743242cea58c33b154aaba329.jpg Here I fitted TTS Sound the a P2 the gloss version from the Gresley set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now