Just picked up a 4014 supposedly new, NOT, but I am getting it back into good running shape except it has a habit of stalling when the sound is turned on. Runs OK but stalls way too frequently. Wheels are cleaned, Drcoder reset to factory settings but I am afraid it needs Keep Alive for proper performance. Anybody have any experience with this? I have a TCS KA2 but I don't have any idea where to attach to the new Tsunami 2 Decoder. If I can't get it to run better, she is going back.
I'm not sure what the Athearn Tsunami boards look like, but the hardwire/plug-and-play Tsunami 2 decoders have a socket on the end for the Current Keeper. You may have to source a plug to splice onto the end of the TCS Keep Alive to make it compatible with the Soundtraxx decoder. Although 'stalling with the sound on' sounds like a different issue. If the performance issues do not happen when the model is muted, it doesn't sound like a problem a keep alive can solve. Does the model stop intermittently (like what would happen on dirty track), does the sound cut out while the motor keeps running or vice versa? How loud is the volume?
I took the tender apart toning and was checking out the connectors, etc. I wasn't looking for a plug Keep Alive. I will look when I open it up again if I have to. I properly lubed the gears, put extra weight in the tender with 2 sided tale and ran it for 2 hours withour so much as hickup. The extra weight that was temporary, seems to have broke in the tender wheels and contact so now it has been running for 3 or more hours without the first hint of stalling. This happened to me once before when I installed a Tsunami sound decoder to a Kato FEF3. The keep along did the trick and it runs great now. Thought it was my install and the keep Alive "hid my tracks". Thank you for the heads up on the Plug in Keep Alive.
Randy, no information with loco? Sounds like you are getting poor contact with the rails. Clean the tender wheels- I would think that Athearn would have used a keep alive with the Tsunami 2. Sound does draw more amps & volts- easier to stalling. I would be looking inside for a keep alive.
I ended up pulling the tender shell off and adding weight from an old tank car, then running it in for a couple hours. The stalling went away. I pulled the extra weight off as I used 2 sided tape to hold the extra on the tender till it quit acting up. This run of the Athearn Big Boy seems to be a little finicker that the 1st 2 runs as far as trackage goes. My old ones run just fine on Unitrak. This one is going to force me to re-lay one part of my layout with Flex as the radius is a little tight and I need a better easement in nad out of a horseshoe. It may loosten up in time but I need reliable trackage NOW!
I have a Keep Alive here on my desk but it's too big to fit the tender without removing the rear weight. Since it's running ok, I will leave it for now. I may send it out for an upgrade of the sound rewnload. I don't understand why the manufacturers use such lousy sound files. Listen to Colombo's sound profiles vs what come in the OEM decoders like the Micro Selects.
