You can find 2" 16 ohm speakers in all sorts of places.  Look for one rated between 1W and 3W at 16 ohms, it'll work fine.  Are you sure it's the speaker?

One of the things I've been looking at is good quality H.O. speakers for DCC decoders. Most are 8-ohm/2 watt, but have enclosures and are small enough so you can put two of them in series to get your 16 ohms (or in parallel for 4 ohms). Depending on how things are arranged in the tender, you might be able to use this as an option.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

You can find 2" 16 ohm speakers in all sorts of  Are you sure it's the speaker?

No. But everything else works fine and its about 16 yrs old, so its probably time.

I've used this one with good results. Last summer I replaced every speaker in every engine. Much clearer sound in all of them. 

http://www.parts-express.com/2...amp;utm_campaign=pla

One thing to check with a garbled speaker is to see if it picked up any stray metal pieces from running it.  A small screw, nail, or wire can make the speaker "rattle".  Eric from Eric's Trains has a video on Youtube if you need a how to guide.

ChiTown Steve posted:

I've used this one with good results. Last summer I replaced every speaker in every engine. Much clearer sound in all of them. 

 

http://www.parts-express.com/2...amp;utm_campaign=pla

I started looking online last night.  I saw this one but at less than a dollar I was a little worried about "getting what I paid for" type of quality.  Thanks for letting me know you have used it successfully already.

JZ

Started trading email with Midge. She asked for a picture and I am glad she did.

The installed speaker is not the same as what the BOM said it was. 

The best I can tell it is still a Star, but I can't tell if the first letter is a F or a P, but it looks like FR-050-A1421. What is clear is that a 16 ohm, 5 watt speaker, not 2 watt as called out.  

Also some of the coating around the diameter of the magnet has frayed. I don't know if this is cosmetic or related to the garbled sound.

By the way is there supposed to be a cover over this ?

GET RID OF THAT SPEAKER!

The flaking is a sure sign of a speaker going bad.

You can use almost any 16 ohm 2" speaker in the 2-5 watt range, I've used a host of different ones, depending on the situation.

Working on it GRJ!!  I  am glad I didn't order one yet, I would have gotten something underpowered. 

I have speakers if you needed.  Both the BF-0000033 shown, or your originally called for speaker.  E-mail in profile. G

Get a 16Ω fatboy from Lionel.  It will sound better and you will not have to deal the the speedy delivery of the locos OM

David Minarik posted:

Get a 16Ω fatboy from Lionel.  It will sound better and you will not have to deal the the speedy delivery of the locos OM

Dave,

Thanks for chiming in.  What is the difference between a "fatboy" and any other speaker?

What is the difference between a "fatboy" and any other speaker?

Stronger magnet for one thing!

The Fatboy will typically have better bass, and usually renders more accurate sound.

GGG posted:

I have speakers if you needed.  Both the BF-0000033 shown, or your originally called for speaker.  E-mail in profile. G

Sent you an email.

Okay, so I ordered a replacement speaker.  

Now, since there is some room to mount the speaker a little higher, would there be any benefit to trying to make a cylinder of some kind to create a sound chamber? Admittedly I probably won't get more than 5/8", so I'm not sure it's worth the trouble.

You might get some benefit by making a tube as tall as possible and covering the top as well.  Airtight is best for a baffle, or as close as you can get.

Not being too adventurous, I ordered an in- kind speaker replacement from ggg.  I don't know if speaker magnets lose strength over time, but the new one definitely had a stronger magnet!  Here's a side by side with the new one installed.

And since we are dealing with a speaker replacement here's an obligatory how-does-it-sound? clip.

This was with the sound turned way down.

As long as the tender was open she got a replacement battery.  Next up is some lube for the gears, four new traction tires and she'll be good to go for another million miles��

(edit - in all honesty at first it was dead quite, and I thought I somehow fried the new speaker while soldering the leads.  That's when I remembered it was still unplugged inside the shell!)

The metal flaking is the issue, and internally it gets around the coil preventing proper operations.  I did find out that the manufacture is no longer making that speaker with reasonable minimum orders and MTH is looking for an alternative.  G

GGG posted:

 I did find out that the manufacture is no longer making that speaker with reasonable minimum orders and MTH is looking for an alternative.  G

Given the performance of the speaker, that may be a blessing in disguise!

gunrunnerjohn posted:

GGG posted:

 I did find out that the manufacture is no longer making that speaker with reasonable minimum orders and MTH is looking for an alternative.  G

Given the performance of the speaker, that may be a blessing in disguise!

Not the same OEM as the original. So no blessing. G

I got a note from Deb at MTH and they no longer have the much needed BF-0000033 speakers anymore ( 5 watt, 16 ohm ) and do not plan to restock (like GGG posted). Any recommended replacements?

Chuck Sartor posted:

I got a note from Deb at MTH and they no longer have the much needed BF-0000033 speakers anymore ( 5 watt, 16 ohm ) and do not plan to restock (like GGG posted). Any recommended replacements?

Lionel lists many 16 ohm speakers in stock including both versions of the Fatboys. Take your pick.

Pete

I saw those, but nothing close to a 5 watt rating.

You don't really need a 5W rated speaker for that task.

Jason, Said they were researching an alternative source. G

One source is Moyer Electronics in Pottsville PA. They have a website, if you want their phone number my email is in my profile.

Train Doctor posted:

One source is Moyer Electronics in Pottsville PA. They have a website, if you want their phone number my email is in my profile.

I hope they keep the inventory more up to date than their free software page.  An example...

Windows 98?  The newest O/S on there is XP!

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Train Doctor posted:

One source is Moyer Electronics in Pottsville PA. They have a website, if you want their phone number my email is in my profile.

I hope they keep the inventory more up to date than their free software page.  An example...

Windows 98?  The newest O/S on there is XP!

Xp being listed is probably the least thing wrong.  VCR's, turntables, and answering machines have all been outlived by toy trains!  In all seriousness I did notice when I initially started looking for parts that the mth and supporting documentation seemed to be seriously out of date.

Parts Express has something that fits those specs: https://www.parts-express.com/...31#lblProductDetails

That speaker will work fine for PS/1 locomotives.

Can a PS2 locomotive using these bad 16ohm 5W STAR speakers be replaced with 8ohm or 4ohm speakers... or does the PS2 audio amp really only support 16ohm speakers?

Thanks.

If it's a 5V board, use a 16 ohm speaker.  For 3V boards or PS/3, use a 4 ohm speaker.

Thanks John.  Bet I asked you that once before, but couldn't find the email, and couldn't find an answer here.  Have fun with that new train room.

Can I revive this topic? I have a chessie steamer ( round charging port ie: 5 V? )  with the same MTH star spkr shown above....same flaking spker,same crappy spkr. Ordered one from the bay" (a link that I got from GRJ awhile back..but things change with time)  a "PS2 MTH  steam replacement spkr" Got it in...nothing like the old one except it looks like it could fit,,,same diameter. New one is 8 ohm 2 w with REAL small magnet, old one is 16 ohm 5 watt and a huge magnet for a 2" spkr.  I will check a couple of links above...but, since this topic is from 2017 I wondered if anyone had a better source here, not what it is nearly 2024!! Thanks for any and all feed back. Gotta run and try to return a speaker that is not right to a seller that has a "no returns" policy!  See attached picts Greg

Replacing a 16  ohm with an 8 ohm is a bad idea.

@cngw posted:

Can I revive this topic? I have a chessie steamer ( round charging port ie: 5 V? )  with the same MTH star spkr shown above....same flaking spker,same crappy spkr. Ordered one from the bay" (a link that I got from GRJ awhile back..but things change with time)  a "PS2 MTH  steam replacement spkr" Got it in...nothing like the old one except it looks like it could fit,,,same diameter. New one is 8 ohm 2 w with REAL small magnet, old one is 16 ohm 5 watt and a huge magnet for a 2" spkr.  I will check a couple of links above...but, since this topic is from 2017 I wondered if anyone had a better source here, not what it is nearly 2024!! Thanks for any and all feed back. Gotta run and try to return a speaker that is not right to a seller that has a "no returns" policy!  See attached picts Greg

Let's cut straight to the chase. It's this simple, you have a PS2 5V because of the round charging port and 9V style rechargeable battery, which takes a 16 Ohm speaker.

If you install an 8 Ohm speaker or 4 Ohm, this loads the amplifier which is already probably near it's thermal limits without heatshink.

This is not something to mess around with if you want to get maximum life out of that semi fragile PS2 5V board. In other words, cannot recommend installing that new 8 Ohm speaker.

Last- the seller sold you something with a specification and possibly pictures. They can have the no return policy all they want- if you have evidence (example the pictures and marked rating) of your received speaker doesn't match the auction details and description- then you have every right to dispute. This is a cautionary tale for those selling- your description better be perfect or else you open yourself to liability. It is a buyer centered platform and you can get caught out as a seller if there are any mistakes or errors in your listing.

Even worse, MTH parts and sales recently listed 16Ohm speakers for PS2 5V in the discount section of the site (last item on the page).

https://www.mthpartsandsales.c...ts/239?type=junkyard

Yes, you need to have a 16 Ohm speaker load for the 5v PS2 boards. I test my speakers before installing them to ensure they have the correct resistance no matter what is printed on them. Many times I find a number 4 & 8 Ohm speakers are 3 and 7 Ohms respectively.

Vernon may disagree with me on this solution, in the past, I cheated on one of my 5V engines and used an 8 Ohm speaker but added an 8 Ohm resistor inline to dummy the load up to 16 Ohms. This will make the speaker quieter but not by much. I ran this on an old RK engine that didn't have much value so if I blew the board... not a big deal.  So far, 7 years and 225 hours of runtime later, it still runs & sounds like a champ.

Vernon, thank  you for the rapid reply. Like you, I like "cutting to the chase" also. So, to cut:

Evidently, I knew what I had due to the charging port, (that was why I listed the info) but since my memory is like the rest of me and OLD, I put the ? mark. You have no memory/age problem, since you were adamant as to that . And I thought I made it evident that I have no intention of using the speaker, as you might have surmised from my "off to see the selling/return wizard" of ebay. No sense making bad, even worse!

Second, prior to coming here (you and I sound a lot similar!) I had already filled a claim for refund from the bay and sent the two photos along with the sales description stating " MTH replacement.....etc" and telling them I felt due a refund.  Great minds, and all that, I can only hope that the brains there agree with you and me!

Third, my posting was to hopefully generate a lead for the speaker I need. Clicking on links above gave some out of stock messages, and also numerous speakers that did not meet the criteria,  AND....(I am not quite sure why you thought it was "even worse"........

lo and behold, you provided a link to such an animal!!! And, at only $5 per pop, and $10 shipping, straight from the MTH God itself.  I should buy 2 and have one for a spare since it is probably the same shipping fee.

I am now hoping that MTH (or who or whatever is now using those initials) does have those speakers and will send me a pair, thank you for that link. Perhaps in a week - though I imagine it will take longer with the PO the way it is these days, I can report great success and that the engine is again "tooting away!" I appreciate the replies.    Greg

@cngw posted:

Can I revive this topic? I have a chessie steamer ( round charging port ie: 5 V? )  with the same MTH star spkr shown above....same flaking spker,same crappy spkr. Ordered one from the bay" (a link that I got from GRJ awhile back..but things change with time)  a "PS2 MTH  steam replacement spkr" Got it in...nothing like the old one except it looks like it could fit,,,same diameter. New one is 8 ohm 2 w with REAL small magnet, old one is 16 ohm 5 watt and a huge magnet for a 2" spkr.

Don't know what link you mention, but I can assure you I wouldn't be recommending an 8 ohm speaker for any PS/2 pr PS/3 locomotive unless it had multiple speakers.  Could be the vendor pulled a switcheroo on you.

John, I dug up that old speaker post, I remembered part of it, but not all.. The part I remembered was a statement you made about "any speaker....." and the info I posted about one I found on the bay, Looks like I should have dug it up before I ordered this speaker. Like my old speaker, my old memory is not what it used to be, sorry to wrongly incriminate you! The post is here  https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...0#169233314960521340

Eventually, I will wind up with one I guess, but not without effort. Entering this, ' 2" 16 ohm 5 watt speaker  ' into the search on the bay  yields a great many...none that will work, Their search engine leaves a lot to be desired,

a web search shows this one

https://www.parts-express.com/...ZIIX8LQaAupsEALw_wcB   

It is $6 and probably more than that to ship it,   A web search turns up many - but I am guessing that .5 watt will not work if 5 watt is required. The Lionel site & the Lioneltrainstore sites do not return any after a search  (1 wont take the 2"....it just searches for 2 speakers! seems nothing is straight foreward anymore!)

And it appears Amazon sells every kind of speaker ever made....numerous .5 watt ones..... Here is a pair for less than $6, but only .25 watt and shipped free! Seems you can buy a ton of everything you DON'T want on Amazon AND get it shipped for free.

So, like Vernon said, cutting to the chase, anyone have a link to a known good supplier with a known satisfactory replacement speaker, at a reasonably shipped price.... before I die of old age?

Greg (Lord knows how much I hate typing on a laptop,,,,I don't understand how people do it on a phone!)

NOTE: Clicking on my link takes you to the speaker page. Clicking on the link in John's post below yields "Page Not Found" MORE interestingly is that, if you copy my link (or John's) and paste it into a browser, you get the "PNF" message. I am betting John copied and pasted mine into his reply. I have no idea why this is!! Anyone know why?? )

The only issue with the https://www.parts-express.com/...ZIIX8LQaAupsEALw_wcB might be the height and/or thickness of the mounting rim.  I've used those, and they work well for early PS/2 5V boards.

Crazy John....your link looks like mine (you might even have copied and pasted) but your returns page not found! Gets better and better. But, if I use the link in my post, I can add 2 speakers, the shipping is $10 so I get two delivered for $ 21+ not bad considering.

Unless someone else can post a better alternative (Time for Vernon to chime in and post a link to a better, cheaper version....I hope! I can't figure out how he found that link in the MTH junkyard! HOWEVER, that speaker appears to be 16 ohm, and either 2 or .2 watt - hard to tell from the pict, I posted a pict below) and if you are pretty CERTAIN that this will fit into the Chessie Steam Special that needs it, then I guess I will complete the order with these guys.

The MTH one if the wattage works is only a dollar cheaper for two....BUT, it is still a Star made speaker, the same as the OEM one that has the flaky magnet. Do I really want to bet on this one lasting??

With all the speakers going bad out there, I am thinking that someone else has another source - but I could be wrong.

How about it....anyone else have a good source? Thanks to all, Greg (MTH below John's suggestion under that one, though I am not sure picts help. The MTH one might fit the holder better. Thoughts???)

Any 16ohm speaker will work with PS2 5V. Wattage rating doesn't matter.

Lou is right, they work.  It's actually labeled 0.2W, but I don't know where some of these places get the ratings.

Roger on that one, thank you Lou and John!

@Vernon Barry posted:

Even worse, MTH parts and sales recently listed 16Ohm speakers for PS2 5V in the discount section of the site (last item on the page).

https://www.mthpartsandsales.c...ts/239?type=junkyard

I decided to go with Vernon's suggestion and went right to the source...or cut to the chase, so to speak. Thanks to all, and especially Vernon for finding this for me. I spent $10 on shipping, so I decided to order 3 to have backups. Greg

I've been using this one from MTH.  It's only slightly better on rating at .25 watts vs the other one listed at .20.

Jim

The speaker that Vernon shows is the old BF-0000033 speaker. It is rated for 5 watts just like the original. The .20 watt is the minimum rating. 5 watts is the maximum rating. Some companies stamp the Max range, some the Min. rating.

@Chuck Sartor posted:

The speaker that Vernon shows is the old BF-0000033 speaker. It is rated for 5 watts just like the original. The .20 watt is the minimum rating. 5 watts is the maximum rating. Some companies stamp the Max range, some the Min. rating.

Wonder why MTH is listing it in the Junkyard section as for projects rather than the primary parts section?

@Mikado

Jim

Maybe because we have a ton in stock or perhaps we just want to draw attention to it. Or because we have a couple left. The world may never know! 🤣

Mike

@Chuck Sartor posted:

Some companies stamp the Max range, some the Min. rating.

That actually makes sense, I was wondering how you'd even make a speaker that had a max rating of 0.2W!