Railing imperial big boy sound issue

Are you sure the tether is plugged in all the way?

Are you saying the sound is the issue or some vibrating noise (mechanical) in the engine?  Is this in conventional or DCS?  G

To add to what Brian has already posted, i just purchased the same Imperial Big Boy model over the weekend and have the exact same issue.   It's somewhat of an oddball problem as it doesn't always happen and it only occurs when blowing the whistle.   Bell works fine, chuff sounds work fine, PSA works fine.  No distortion for any of them. But when you blow the whistle, it sounds as if the speaker is rattling or vibrating, even though the screws are not loose.

Where it gets even more odd is that, at least for me, the problem seems to completely go away once the train is under motion.   Now i guess that could be because the other noises generated while the train is moving are masking the sound, but i don't think so, because the vibration noise is pretty distinct and easily noticeable.   Lowering the volume does seem to help the problem, but not completely.   None of my other PS3 engines display this problem.   I'm wondering if the particular frequency that the whistle sound is operating at is causing some sort of distortion issue?  Or perhaps there is some sort of signal distortion for the whistle sound that smooths out once under power because the electrical load changes?  Not an expert on this by any means, it's just a very odd problem.

FYI - I am running on DCS.

When you brought this issue to the attention of the manufacturer, what was their recommendation?

I would try removing the tender shell and see what effect that has.

You need to determine whether something is vibrating in resonance, or if its the speaker or speaker baffle, or something related.

If the standard speaker is suspect, I would replace it with a high performance unit such as a Peerless.

I have the Imperial Bigboy and have not noticed this problem.

Rod

I have an Imperial Big Boy as well -but with PS2. Its just had the boards replaced and the sounds - all of them are just brilliant. Really loud and very clear. The whistle is perfect.

I would agree with remeoving thre tender shell and checkingl

The Peerless is no. 830970. I think they came from Allied, but I may not be correct on that. You can Google the number and find out. I think they were around $14 a piece.

The frame size will fit the same space as the standard 2" speaker, but they are 1-1/2" high. You should have no trouble with the Bigboy tender.

The hole spacing is different, so you may need to drill new holes.

Since this is time consuming, I usually just glue the speaker to the tender floor using Goo or something similar. It can be removed if needed.

This makes it an easy job.

The glue also eliminates the possibility of vibration.

Rod

One other thing; the Peerless 830970 will come up as a 4 ohm, which is what you need. Don't use an 8 ohm or anything other than a 4 ohm.

Note the Lionel Fatboy speaker is great, but it is an 8 ohm, and can't be used, unless you install 2 wired in parallel.

Rod

I also am having a sound problem with the Imperial Big Boy.    Different problem than Brian's though (even though it's the same club!)  The sound will just randomly stop when running the engine.  If I hit the Start Up button the engine will come to a halt and the sounds will restart.  Happens over and over and on different places on the layout.  And yes Ben, I did check to make sure the tether was seated properly . 

I'm going to give it another session at the club next week and if still no good then MTH is going to get a call.