A Newbie to Postwar and Sound Commander...

Look up or down on this page for the topic regarding TVS

I recently did a sound upgrade to a Lionel Hudson using a very popular sound system mentioned very often on this board.  I have been very disappointed with the outcome in that the output volume sounds great in the controlled environment of the test bench but once you replace the tender shell and place the engine and tender on an operating layout the engine chuff  is not audible more that 5 ft away.  You can still here the whistle and bell but they too do not carry enough volume to be properly heard over the roar and growl of a postwar train.  After conveying my concerns with the manufacturer, they replaced the first board and speaker but this produced very little in the way of improvement.  It has been suggested that the boards were not turned up electronically at the factory so now without adding a complete compatible command system there is no way to increase the volume beyond the limits of the on-board pot.  I am going to replace the factory speaker with a fat boy type and hope it will give me a little more volume.  My suggestion would be: for the same money search the shows, sales boards and ebay for a stand alone railsounds equipped tender.  As for circuit breaker protection, either upgrade to a newer power supply or as TRAIN NUT suggested search this board for the threads on TVS protection.  There are several of these conversations and some very detailed instructions.  Good Luck!

Sound Commander?  Are you talking about the ERR RailSounds Commander?  If so, the kit and a 1500W 33.3V TVS at Digikey would be a reasonable start.  You could also add a 1.3A PTC Trip at Digikey to limit the power to the board.