I bought a K-Line Milwaukee Road Pacific # K3343-0810S, that I bought back in 2001. The other day I took it out to look it over and operate on my layout, now that I have one, and the sounds are terrible! Quite a bit of distortion etc. The instructions seemed pretty generic, so I don't even know if it uses a battery or just what. I was going to pose this situation out on the forum first, before I try and open up the tender to see what gives.
Any ideas what to do? Should it be converted? Thanks.
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If this is the K-Line sound system (not RailSounds), I say convert it. I was never pleased with the sounds from my ATSF Pacific. The steam exhaust was kind of goofy and didn't seem to always be in sync with the speed of the loco. I finally had mine converted to TMCC and now it sounds fine.
Converting it is certainly an option. The old K-Line sound system is not up to modern standards. However, the most likely explanation for the bad sound is a speaker that has gone bad. Speakers are cheap, under 10 bucks. The old one should be marked for an ohm rating and a wattage rating. A new replacement speaker should match the old for those two parameters. It is imperative that the ohms impedance matches, as a mismatch there can damage the electronics. The wattage is less critical, but it will affect the sound level and possibly the longevity of the speaker.
Brasseur might be able to help you with a replacement speaker, or there is an outfit called Madison on the Internet that has a good reputation for quality miniature speakers. There are many other sources as well.
Converting it is certainly an option. The old K-Line sound system is not up to modern standards. However, the most likely explanation for the bad sound is a speaker that has gone bad. Speakers are cheap, under 10 bucks. The old one should be marked for an ohm rating and a wattage rating. A new replacement speaker should match the old for those two parameters. It is imperative that the ohms impedance matches, as a mismatch there can damage the electronics. The wattage is less critical, but it will affect the sound level and possibly the longevity of the speaker.
Brasseur might be able to help you with a replacement speaker, or there is an outfit called Madison on the Internet that has a good reputation for quality miniature speakers. There are many other sources as well.
If this is the K-Line sound system (not RailSounds), I say convert it. I was never pleased with the sounds from my ATSF Pacific. The steam exhaust was kind of goofy and didn't seem to always be in sync with the speed of the loco. I finally had mine converted to TMCC and now it sounds fine.
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