My 3rd Rail Q1 Rides Again..

Looking great Norm.  I particularly like the low angle perspective of the trains and right of way. 

Ed Rappe

Thanks for all the nice words guys. I am working on my next 3rd Rail project, a T1 to pull some heavy mail/express trains at speed. Here's me trying to fabricate and fit up a proper Kadee mount...

Norm, the scenery is over the top. What size and shape is your layout. It's certainly awesome. Please share this.

Thx TJ, my layout is L-shaped, roughly 29' by 36'.

Norm, do you have a web page to see the layout? Thanks 

I went to your blog, but it's really dated, lol. Oh well, that is an awesome size layout. I like the idea of the layout being along the walls. Seems it would make the detailing somewhat easier and not having to climb onto the layout. Maybe you could update your blog at some point along the way with your new layout. Thanks 

Norm that Q1 is incredible! Can we get a longer YouTube video of it at differebt speeds, camera angles etc. can't wait to see the T1!

DJ, I've been meaning to film those engines but have been busy with other things lately. I think I took the old Q1 video down because of the generic sounds. 

My latest efforts have been directed at a bit more layout scenery:

Norm Charbonneau posted:

DJ, I've been meaning to film those engines but have been busy with other things lately. I think I took the old Q1 video down because of the generic sounds. 

My latest efforts have been directed at a bit more layout scenery:

I like those houses. Everything looks startlingly real! 

So here is a few questions. I am going to put the S1 sounds in my Q1 and I would like to put in a better speaker. The engine has a 8ohm 2W speaker. Can I swap that out for 2 fat boys? They are 16ohm 1W. I'm not sure if I will fry the boards if I do that. 

Also my read switch is working good and smooth but it only gives me like 3 chuffs per driver revolution. Any suggestions on that? 

Thank you!

Tbh I haven't messed around with speakers that much. I've been meaning to though, especially after seeing and hearing what Doug LOS did with his 3rd Rail SF 2-10-4. I have been using the ERR speakers but they only seem a little better than typical stock speakers. The setup you're describing will work. Are you going to use the Lionel enclosure too?

How is your reed switch set up? I have been using two magnets on a tender wheel if they are somewhere close to half the driver diameter. The best setup is to use GRJ's Chuff Generator now.

Dougs 2-10-4 is incredible! I've seen his video on it several times.

here is what my engine has. It looks like EOB speed control rather then ERR. And the optical sensor is shown in the 3rd photo. No chuff switches on this engine. 

Do you know the proper way to wire in the 2 speakers? And yes I will probably use an enclosure. 

Q1 looks excellent; someone should make it available again.  think only 3Rd Rail has made a Q1 in O Gauge/Scale

Ah yes I should have asked if it still had the factory EOB. Does it run well? Fixing the chuff would be a matter of setting the chuff count. The EOB manual posted in the TMCC forum has the procedure. Mine showed up with ERRCo installed but it needed some antenna help to get it running right.

Wire the speakers in parallel and in phase to get the correct impedance.

Norm Charbonneau posted:

Ah yes I should have asked if it still had the factory EOB. Does it run well? Fixing the chuff would be a matter of setting the chuff count. The EOB manual posted in the TMCC forum has the procedure. Mine showed up with ERRCo installed but it needed some antenna help to get it running right.

Wire the speakers in parallel and in phase to get the correct impedance.

Yes it runs well, the only issue is with the chuffs. When I set it to 1 chuff I get 1/2. When I set it to 2 chuffs I get 1. And 4 chuffs I get 3. 

Is there some instructions on how to wire the speakers parallel and in phase. I'm not sure how to do that. I will look for the EOB manual post.

thanks for helping me here!

If you need 8ohms and have two 16 ohm speakers... connect positive from one speaker to the negative of the other speaker. Then your other two connections connect to the audio out side.

If you have two 4 ohm speakers, connect positive to positive and negative to negative and that will give you 8 ohms. 

Laidoffsick posted:

If you need 8ohms and have two 16 ohm speakers... connect positive from one speaker to the negative of the other speaker. Then your other two connections connect to the audio out side.

If you have two 4 ohm speakers, connect positive to positive and negative to negative and that will give you 8 ohms. 

Thank you!

Uh Doug, that is exactly opposite. Speakers wired in parallel reduce total impedance. If they are all the same impedance, you simply divide a single speaker's impedance by the number of speakers in parallel. Speakers wired in series total impedance is the sum of all speakers' individual impedances.

Here is a nice page on calculating speakers:

https://geoffthegreygeek.com

Ok so how should I wire the speakers.

1: run positive from 1 speaker to negative of the 2nd speaker. I'm guessing this is wiring them parallel?

or run pos to pos and neg to neg, and this is wiring them in series?

I need to reduce total impedance so looks like what Doug said is correct for me. 

Norm Charbonneau posted:

Ah yes I should have asked if it still had the factory EOB. Does it run well? Fixing the chuff would be a matter of setting the chuff count. The EOB manual posted in the TMCC forum has the procedure. Mine showed up with ERRCo installed but it needed some antenna help to get it running right.

Wire the speakers in parallel and in phase to get the correct impedance.

I found those instructions and reprogrammed the chuff sensor. I'm getting 4 chuffs now!

Yes Norm you right....I wired my speakers properly but wrote my response down the opposite.

That's what I figured. I like what you did with your SF 2-10-4! I wouldn't mind getting one someday since PRR used them as rentals.