Component photos of FEF Sound install

[jdcolombo]

Hi folks.

I posted a video of my now-sound-equipped Kato FEF in the N/Z forum (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=34911.0).   For those interested in the technicalities, here are two photos of the component layout, first in the boiler (not much to see, except the wires.  The Zimo MX621 for motor control and front headlight is stashed in the space underneath the rear of the Kato board.)   The second photo may be more interesting.  In the front of the tender is my 13x18mm Knowles Dumbo speaker (now replaced by the Knowles Grand and available from Digikey), with a custom enclosure.  The enclosure design was sort of interesting.  It narrows at the bottom so it would fit between the sides of the tender bottom.  The TSU is mounted at the rear and fits perfectly in-between the tender bottom sides.  Power for the TSU comes from the phosphor bronze power pickups underneath the plastic base at the bottom of the tender (this unclips and you can then access the true base of the tender, which is where the pickup strips are; I soldered a black wire to the fireman's side and a red wire to the engineer's side, then fed them through a convenient hold in the plastic tender base before clipping it back into place).  The yellow things at the front of the TSU are two 220uf, 16v tantalum chip caps that I use in place of the stock round keeper cap, and at the rear I've mounted a 3mm sunny white LED from Richmond Controls to light the backup light on the tender.  That's pretty much it - plenty of room in here to do pretty much anything you want sound-wise. 

John C.

[carlso]

John,

Very nice neat install. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I and I am sure many others really appreciate your expertise and the fact you will share.

carl

[woodone]

Nice going John! Do I note that there is no weight in the tender? Or is just out of sight.
On the caps I think that I would lean to the 20 Volt caps, don't like running the voltage to close to the max ratings.
BTW how does this perform with the coreless motor?

[peteski]

I agree on the cap voltage rating. I prefer using 25V caps (but will go as low as 20V). To me using 16V caps is too risky. Especially since tantalum caps are VERY sensitive to overvoltage (and they exhibit that is a spectacular way). Booooom!  Electrolytics are much more forgiving.

[jdcolombo]

Nice going John! Do I note that there is no weight in the tender? Or is just out of sight.
On the caps I think that I would lean to the 20 Volt caps, don't like running the voltage to close to the max ratings.
BTW how does this perform with the coreless motor?

The long sides of the speaker enclosure are made from .75mm lead sheet, as is the bottom; in addition, I added a bit of sheet lead to the center of the tender floor - you can sort of see it underneath the wires next to the speaker.  Overall, the tender is a bit heavier than stock.

I have my track voltage set at 11.5v, which makes me comfy with the 16v caps, and I don't run my engines on any other layout.  If it wasn't for this fact, then I'd use a single 220uf, 20v cap, which is almost certainly enough capacitance given the overall excellent electrical pickup for this model. 

John C.

[nstars]

The long sides of the speaker enclosure are made from .75mm lead sheet, as is the bottom; in addition, I added a bit of sheet lead to the center of the tender floor - you can sort of see it underneath the wires next to the speaker.  Overall, the tender is a bit heavier than stock.

I have my track voltage set at 11.5v, which makes me comfy with the 16v caps, and I don't run my engines on any other layout.  If it wasn't for this fact, then I'd use a single 220uf, 20v cap, which is almost certainly enough capacitance given the overall excellent electrical pickup for this model. 

John C.

I wouldn't be too afraid as most systems (especially in N scale setting) won't go over 11-12 V. Only some older systems (like f.i. the old Atlas system) may be a problem. The Atlas system has a very high track voltage (around 18V).

Marc