Peachy Posted August 13, 2023 Share Posted August 13, 2023 Hey gang, I’m not sure if this has been mentioned elsewhere on the forums,but just a quick note of caution.myself & Richard (R3) from This Way Works have found it’s best practice not to run your TT120 sugar cubes much over 25% volume (on the HM7000 app)Anymore and they start getting seriously hot and can endanger the chips.I’m guessing the compact nature of TT120 doesn’t help. Compounded of course if you’ve had your loco adapted by Rich as they are super packed in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard-358946 Posted August 13, 2023 Share Posted August 13, 2023 Peachy rounded that up nicely,Please Hornby maybe update the firmware to cap the global volume CV to avoid blown amps on your decoders 🫣.From the testing i did, anything much over 25% volume and the speakers do heat up, i mean got close to melting plastic hot, I tried different enclosures too.A symptom of this speaker overheat happening is gradually the sound will quiet down and get crackly/distort.Potentially this could maybe damage the decoders. This is just from my experience so i dont want to scare anyone, at 25% volume most locos are blimming loud anyways.This was the Next18 And 8TXS HM7000 sound decoders, with Hornby Speakers..If your reading this, i personally dont go above 25% volume 👍I set my locos at 15-20% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTSR_NSE Posted August 13, 2023 Share Posted August 13, 2023 I’m fairly sure this has been discussed before & the developers have stated that the sugar cube speakers are not supposed to get hot anywhere near this volume. If they do it suggests a fault with that particular speaker.Several users have noted that 25-30% volume is a decent level & I believe the developers are considering whether this might be a more appropriate default in future.Edit - I have made the developers aware of this thread - just in case I am mistaken about this only being caused by faulty speakers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted August 13, 2023 Share Posted August 13, 2023 Richard, Hornby don’t read anything in the forums so it might be worth dropping an email to George who is lead on HM DCC. I think it’s his email that’s the one in the app. I find 20% of GV easily enough sound Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RB51 Posted August 14, 2023 Share Posted August 14, 2023 As has been said, the developers are aware and have had Richard’s post forwarded to them. R- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntpntpntp Posted August 14, 2023 Share Posted August 14, 2023 Mismatched impedance speaker .v. decoder amp? Sounds like the speaker impedance may be too low allowing excessive current for the volume level set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted August 14, 2023 Share Posted August 14, 2023 It has been reported that adding a 4-ohm bass speaker in series with the provided speaker to give 12-ohm impedance saw no ill effect, coupled with the trend towards a 25% global volume and it may be the TXS amp is mismatched. A job for Hornby lab guys to look at as notified by Rog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Too Tall Posted August 29, 2023 Share Posted August 29, 2023 It appears quite common for other railway modellers to use i-phone speakers, do these avoid overheat and fit in the space allowed on our TT tenders ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted July 15 Share Posted July 15 Sugar cube speakers are just bad news, they are difficult to insulate and sometimes when you solder to them the spring clips "ping" up. Road and Rails even sent a mail highlighting the issues. I used them on the Hornby locos with the included sound enclosure, otherwise as Too Tall says I use i-phone speakers or the low profile bass speakers that Road and Rails sell, which are about the same size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted July 16 Share Posted July 16 To give the last few posts a TT:120 context given this topic is in the TT:120 forum: a possible design problem has been identified in matching the HM7000 amplifier to the supplied (sugar cube) speaker and a workaround identified. Then Colin has identified better speakers in his experience. However, for all TT:120 locos, the average user will have little choice but to use the supplied speaker and the best enclosure (no enclosure for most) mounted in the intended space as there is little to no space elsewhere. It is also clear from the experience of TT:120 forum users that this is working for the majority with the caveat the speaker may get hot. To deviate from the designed components and mounting arrangement is possible but requires engineering skills likely beyond the capability of the average user. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dBerriff Posted July 16 Share Posted July 16 I have adopted a policy of being patient and waiting for the TXS version of locomotives, although this is not possible with the little Class 08. The chap who runs Road and Rail makes some interesting posts on Facebook discussing the (non-Hornby) returns he has to deal with. It confirms my suspicion that many modellers these days do not even have a basic understanding of electricity and the need to keep those little blobs of solder apart. Also, he is a good source of speakers and will pre-solder components for a modest charge. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peachy Posted July 19 Author Share Posted July 19 Just seen someone on Facebook posting some photos of his cooked class50. Apparently he was just going through the set-up process and the sugarcube had nearly melted through the sound chamber! I’m assuming this is a one off, possibly a faulty cube? I can’t comment on the FB post as it’s one that my “page” can’t post on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted July 20 Share Posted July 20 11 hours ago, Peachy said: Just seen someone on Facebook posting some photos of his cooked class50. Apparently he was just going through the set-up process and the sugarcube had nearly melted through the sound chamber! I’m assuming this is a one off, possibly a faulty cube? I can’t comment on the FB post as it’s one that my “page” can’t post on. Can't find it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grenkin Posted July 20 Share Posted July 20 2 hours ago, 96RAF said: Can't find it. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/QCkNKgSshDy3eze8/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Wellsted Posted July 26 Share Posted July 26 (edited) Morning , I'm the person that posted on Facebook so will share details here. I installed the decoder and speaker in my TT120 class 50, connected and the locomotive was controllable, I did a firmware update but while that was happening I noticed a burning smell and discovered the the speaker was excessively hot and started to melt the sound enclosure. I've spoken with tech support and its been sent back and hopefully replaced but I am a bit concerned fitting the replacement , I'm pretty sure it's nothing that I did nothing wrong ( I watched Peachy's video of him doing it on a class 50 ) and didn't fiddle with any CV settings. I had to pry the speaker out as it had melted into the plastic. Edited July 26 by Steve Wellsted 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Wellsted Posted July 26 Share Posted July 26 On 20/07/2024 at 09:55, 96RAF said: Can't find it. It was me , see my post on this thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peachy Posted July 26 Author Share Posted July 26 @Steve Wellsted I’d hate to think what could have happened if you stepped away during the “20 minutes left to download” bit! 🫠 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted July 27 Share Posted July 27 Lucky escape and as pointed out, why you should never leave locos like many electrical appliances running unattended. I hope Hornby give some guidance on what caused it rather than leave it to the usual speculation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Allen Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 On 26/07/2024 at 11:28, Steve Wellsted said: Morning , I'm the person that posted on Facebook so will share details here. I installed the decoder and speaker in my TT120 class 50, connected and the locomotive was controllable, I did a firmware update but while that was happening I noticed a burning smell and discovered the the speaker was excessively hot and started to melt the sound enclosure. I've spoken with tech support and its been sent back and hopefully replaced but I am a bit concerned fitting the replacement , I'm pretty sure it's nothing that I did nothing wrong ( I watched Peachy's video of him doing it on a class 50 ) and didn't fiddle with any CV settings. I had to pry the speaker out as it had melted into the plastic. Posted one Facebook also but yes they'll sort it for you. My Flying Scotsman decoder burned out and melted the socket, they just replaced the tender and the decoder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 Posting on FB is a waste of time as the best place to find accurate help is here at the horse's mouth with direct access to the beta test team and Hornby Tech, as opposed to the other end of the horse posting social media dis-info.. 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
What About The Bee Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 10 minutes ago, 96RAF said: as opposed to the other end of the horse posting social media dis-info.. 😆😅🤣 The hoof, obviously. Its closest to the carpet. Bee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Fox 17 Posted July 29 Share Posted July 29 6 hours ago, 96RAF said: Posting on FB is a waste of time as the best place to find accurate help is here at the horse's mouth with direct access to the beta test team and Hornby Tech, as opposed to the other end of the horse posting social media dis-info.. Not sure that is correct as a few people with knowledge on here are on FB too. Plus, there are some on here, at least 3 in the last 18 months, giving wrong information out. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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