Bachmann n scale sc-44 speaker issues

[simsuper80]

Has anyone had any problems with the sound decoders that come with the sc-44s? All 3 of mine have blown speakers (from what they sound like anyway).

Keep in mind, I never changed any settings on these units. Is it easy to replace a speaker? Because I see that bachmann has it as a separate part

[delamaize]

It's not blown speakers, it's metal debris stuck to the speaker, picked up off the tracks. Mine did the same thing. Behind the grill in in the fuel tank, there is no material to keep things from getting to the speaker. I ended up replacing the speaker, and put some very thin, sheer material between the fuel tank and the speaker to hopefully keep the metal debris out of speaker. Knock on wood, it hasn't had an issue since.

[tehachapifan]

Another reason to forego holes in the fuel tank, which I believe serve no purpose with regards to sound quality. In fact, I believe it detracts from sound quality (especially in N scale). The one thing that is still widely misunderstood is the need for an adequately sized and sealed speaker enclosure on ONE SIDE of the speaker. A speaker just sitting in a cavity or shell with no isolation between the front and back of the speaker just doesn't cut it. And, yes, those little speaker magnets work great for picking up track debris! All this said, my Bachmann N Charger actually sounds pretty good! However, I haven't dissected it to see what kind of enclosure setup it has (or doesn't have).

With regards to the failure, if it was indeed debris that caused a short, my concern is that it could be a fatal blow to the decoder depending on what shorted to what. A speaker lead to frame short, for example, can be trouble.

[spookshow]

My Aztec track cleaning car has a magnet that picks up metallic debris so that my speakers don't have to.

-Mark

[peteski]

Yes, those small speakers use very strong rare-earth magnets and that can be problematic when the speaker  is mounted in the fuel tank and there are holes for sound in the tank. Covering a hole with some very thin fabric should prevent debris from being pulled up from the roadbed. Used up fabric softener dryer sheets lightly glued to the bottom of the fuel tank should do the job.  I found that one  of the layers in a 3-ply Electrolux vacuum cleaner bag is perfect.  It is very thin and it has even finer (tighter) fiber structure than the dryer sheets.

[simsuper80]

It's not blown speakers, it's metal debris stuck to the speaker, picked up off the tracks. Mine did the same thing. Behind the grill in in the fuel tank, there is no material to keep things from getting to the speaker. I ended up replacing the speaker, and put some very thin, sheer material between the fuel tank and the speaker to hopefully keep the metal debris out of speaker. Knock on wood, it hasn't had an issue since.

I fixed the issue! I eneded up using tape to remove all the metal shards that were caught on the speaker.

[delamaize]

Smart thinking!! Ill have to remmeber that one!! Im glad you didnt have to replace the speaker!

I fixed the issue! I eneded up using tape to remove all the metal shards that were caught on the speaker.

[wmcbride]

Another reason to forego holes in the fuel tank, which I believe serve no purpose with regards to sound quality. In fact, I believe it detracts from sound quality (especially in N scale). The one thing that is still widely misunderstood is the need for an adequately sized and sealed speaker enclosure on ONE SIDE of the speaker. A speaker just sitting in a cavity or shell with no isolation between the front and back of the speaker just doesn't cut it. And, yes, those little speaker magnets work great for picking up track debris! All this said, my Bachmann N Charger actually sounds pretty good! However, I haven't dissected it to see what kind of enclosure setup it has (or doesn't have).

With regards to the failure, if it was indeed debris that caused a short, my concern is that it could be a fatal blow to the decoder depending on what shorted to what. A speaker lead to frame short, for example, can be trouble.

Exactly this. Holes to let the sound out is what has made so much of recent N scale sound "tinny."

I'm looking at you, Scale Trains...