Barry Pringle Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 Hi all,Anyone know what TTS DCC chip I should use for Edward from Thomas the Tank Engine fame? I believe he is a 4-4-0 tender engine but cant see a chip for one of those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augustus Caesar Posted January 19, 2020 Share Posted January 19, 2020 According to Rails of Sheffield this loco has restricted space for fitting a sound chip so they don't offer the service.If that's the case it may not be easy to fit one at all...Here's the link to the page where it lays that down although it does not mean it cannot be done - but would be difficult and especially so without modification to the loco itself I assume. https://railsofsheffield.com/products/28103/thomas-the-tank-range-r9289-oo-gauge-thomas-friends-edward-blue-4-4-0-steam-locomotive-no-2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruffnut Thorston Posted January 19, 2020 Share Posted January 19, 2020 The "Edward" model is based on the LNER "Hunt" class loco model, but with the tender from the SR "Schools" or Class V it seems. I think that the Hunt class was a three cylinder loco? As for Edward, I would think that almost any two- cylinder steam sound decoder would be ok, the main difference being in the whistle sounds... If a tender drive model, then the TTS decoders, though they will work, have the downside of the chuff rate being way out of sync, due to the Ringfield motor having so much gearing.... Certainly, the supplied Hornby TTS speaker would not be an easy fit... The decoder would have to be located in the smokebox I think... possibly with a "sugar cube" speaker? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted January 19, 2020 Share Posted January 19, 2020 Looking at on the videos it looks like the really old Hornby 4-4-0 tender driven locos made by Hornby in the 80's. If you are into wiring I suspect the easiest solution is put it into the loco and use a 4 pin connector between the loco and tender. Effectively, do the same as Hornby do, except the opposite way round. It all depends on the size of the weight in the loco, if it is anywhere like my old Stowe or 4-4-0 LMS locos, there should be some room below the chimney. I don't have one of these so I am guessing. Sarahagain is right about the synchronisation of the chuffing, but it is Thomas the tank range so is anyone going to notice. I fit TTS to a lot of my locos and I am just interested in the noise. You will need to use a sugar cube speaker though and you will have to do the normal fixes to the motor in the tender to isolate it, but it is do able. I did look into doing this with some of my old Hornby Ringfield based steam locos, but in the end decided not to bother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted January 19, 2020 Share Posted January 19, 2020 I was intriged by this. I looked at the service sheet, I think you might just get it to fit in the tender if you use a sugar cube speaker. The TTS is about double the size of a Hornby TTS decoder, so it might just fit. The best idea is take the tender lid of and start looking for space. According to the latest service sheet it does not have a ringfield motor. A good idea is get a piece packing cardboad (thick stuff about 4mm thick, cut a rectangle 27mm by 19mm and see if it fits. Allow a bit extra for the wires, but that is a good guide. I have a broken TTS module that I use, but the cardboard is cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Pringle Posted January 19, 2020 Author Share Posted January 19, 2020 I have already fitted a TTS Chip into James who is a similar size and fitted an aftermarket speaker (not a sugarcube) which works well and has great volume so I will be doing the same. I do separate the speaker and chip into the engine and tender depending on the space available. Edward is DCC ready so I'm expecting the normal 8 pin socket to be present, it was on James. There are a great deal of shapes and sizes of speakers available and I find the sugarcubes are just not loud enough. Always good to heatshrink the TTS chip and they should be like that as standard, poor oversight by Hornby not doing it out of the factory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted January 19, 2020 Share Posted January 19, 2020 I gather from posts on this site that Hornby don't heatshrink them as they are concerned about the flow of air over the components. Zimo heat shrink their modules and they use similar components. I use heat shrink but only lightly shrink it, so some air can pass through. As for speakers, I did wonder about the sugar cube ones, I once used I really small one and could hardly hear it. On my diesels I use iphone speakers that work well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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