I'd like to lower the volume on a Lion Chief loco. There is no volume pot. I was wondering if there as something I could splice into the wires that run to the speakers. Something like headset volume control on wired cell phone earbuds.
Replies sorted oldest to newest
Well, there is the obvious, just add a potentiometer.
Gilly
i need to start reading first. Still not sure how to calculate the appropriate size for one. I will read.
I took the shell off of my tender. I am looking for a way to raise the volume. LOL!
Any way, there are only two small wires that come from the integrated sound card(on main card) through the drawbar to the speaker. It's an 8ohm speaker.
I assume you are talking about the PE.
I didn't take any output voltage measurements.
I took the shell off of my tender. I am looking for a way to raise the volume. LOL!
Any way, there are only two small wires that come from the integrated sound card(on main card) through the drawbar to the speaker. It's an 8ohm speaker.
I assume you are talking about the PE.
I didn't take any output voltage measurements.
Moonman,
You are correct. Despite having 4 loops running, I seem to have a 1 track mind. It is the 8ohm speaker on the PE.
I need to work on my communication skills! Its the Pot size I am looking for.
One way would be to replace it with a 16 ohm speaker, the amp won't mind, but it'll have a lighter load and thus less current. If you want to put a pot in series with the speaker, it would be a very low value pot, say 25 ohms full range. It will also be a wirewound pot, not one of the carbon composition ones.
http://www.radioshack.com/25-o...65.html#.VJrWx1BmRFc
One way would be to replace it with a 16 ohm speaker, the amp won't mind, but it'll have a lighter load and thus less current. If you want to put a pot in series with the speaker, it would be a very low value pot, say 25 ohms full range. It will also be a wirewound pot, not one of the carbon composition ones.
http://www.radioshack.com/25-o...65.html#.VJrWx1BmRFc
John - I rread your answer andGoogled it
So, doubling the speaker impedance would halve the power, So I'm guessing it will at least lower the volume.
Conversely, could Moonman put in a 4 ohm speaker to raise volume?
It's a 8ohm 3W speaker. What would you go to, to raise or lower?
I found 16 ohm 2W and 25 ohm 1W speakers. Mathematically the lower power should be ok. They are cheap enough, that I can play with both, unless 1 might damage the PE board.
Thoughts?
Additional info. 2 squares of construction paper muffle the sound nicely. VERY nicely. The tinniness is eliminated
The audio amp is rated for a specific speaker size. So going up in impedance of the speaker is less of a load on the audio amp and won't hurt it. Going down in impedance can cause issues and demand more power than the audio amp is rated for. So normally you don't do that unless you have more specific knowledge of the load placed on the audio amp. G
I've connected the PS/2 3V boards to a 16 ohm speaker, they worked and the volume was lower. GGG is correct, connecting to a lower impedance speaker than the amp is designed for can result in overloads. That will create at least excessive distortion, and likely worse like a failure of the amp.