Anyone else encounter tender rattling at high volumes?

Yes. I have had to pack a few Sunset/3rd Rail steam locomotive tenders with soft foam, in order to stop the tinny ratel sound.

Apparently the sounds are causing the tender shell to vibrate. Foam is one solution. Another is to squeeze a piece of cardboard or plastic or styrofoam at the loose point(s) to eliminate the vibration.

On my Lionel PRR S1 Duplex, the tender hatches rattled.  I found that there were two center supports inside of the shell that I was able to put electrical tape on.  This stopped the rattling.

Thanks for the input guys. Jack, by pack the tenders do you mean just stuff the whole thing with foam? Which foam as well so I know where to buy some.

Bill, thanks for describing your specific situation as well. On this tender though the hatch is static and there are no center supports so I'll likely have to go with what Jack and Reading Fan describe.

Did you try rubber washers between the speaker and the frame?

That's another good idea I hadn't thought of Paul. These are the older Lionel speakers that are just housed in plastic cases against the frame so that would help things a lot.

I used some of that black foam that Sunset/3rd Rail uses inside their packaging, thus I have not purchased any. I simply accumulated a buch of different foam pieces from different models ( I never throw any of that stuff away), and jammed a bunch into the tenders. 

Thanks Jack. I'm too neurotic about factory original packaging to cut up the 3rd Rail foam but we did just get an auto parts delivery that had identical black foam in it. Will stick some in there next time I'm home.

Another thing you can do is put a blob of RTV on the inside of the tender sides. That extra mass will dampen the vibration/movement of the sides.

Let the RTV dry thoroughly for a few days before reassembling the tender.

I use small "spacers" of electrical tape for that same purpose -- I cut and position a small piece everywhere there is a screw or joint, and prick with a needle point so the screw will go thru - same effect.  I've been using it everywhere when I reassemble tenders etc., and even if they are a plastic case, on speaker cases, too. (Except where metal to metal contact is needed for grounding, etc.)

Never noticed the hatch covers buzzing, but I bet now that I've read this, I'll notice it, too.

Rubber cement is another idea. It is not permanent and peels off easy if you make a mistake or decide you do not want it. Don

Stop playing AC/DC with the amp cranked to 11 and the rattle will go away....

I have used electrical tape, fiber washers, or rubber washers to address this issue in other contexts.  Plain old electrical tape will work, but it is hard to make it neat.  That's why I try to find the washers.  A good old fashioned hardware store should have these.  Rubber cement is also a good idea -- I hadn't thought of that.  Just make sure it's reversible if the need arises -- seems obvious but it wasn't that obvious to me one time (where's the icon where I can kick myself in the hindquarters?)

I have often found that a rattle in a Lionel tender is caused by the battery connector moving around when no battery is being used. Assuming that the connector might be the problem, the simple fix is to tape the connector to the battery holder.

Eric Hofberg

TCA, LCCA

I cut a gasket out from automotive gasket material around the speaker attachment and "seat" area. This usually kills the rattle.

Only one engine it did not and it turned out to be the water hatch lid rattling on top of the tender.

That's actually what I assumed first so I removed the bracket and wrapped the connector in masking tape. No effect on the rattle unfortunately. It's definitely the properties of the shell and the acoustics of the speakers that combine to produce the shrill rattling during RailSounds sound effects. I was able to reproduce the noise by running a metal tool along the bottom edge of the shell, and I can physically feel the shell vibrating at a very high frequency when the RailSounds are active.

There have been some great suggestions here and when I am home this weekend I will make a video documenting the issue and testing all the solutions presented here.

Maybe you should consider only running diesels or electrics and then you wouldn't have any problems with the tenders.

jackson

If the actual shell is vibrating, some sticky-backed foam to dampen it out might do the trick.

Whenever I upgrade my speakers on a model I place strips of Dynamat sound deadening material on the interior of the shell.   It is used in automotive speaker installations and works great for what you are looking for.  I have a lot of brass models, which sound more "tinny" anyway.  This stuff gives a deeper sound like a diecast shell.