A continuation of the installation and review of a Soundtraxx Tsunami 2 sound decoder into an Athearn Genesis GP40-2. Save 5% off regular priced items at www.midwestmodelrr.com with coupon code DGMODELWORKS
the extra work you put in really will show when she's done. the Tsunami 2 sounds great. too hot to play outside, so have some fun staying cool on your layout. thanks for your vids. mike
You are correct, it's miserably hot outside. It certainly has been extra work, but the led's are definitely worth it. I wish Athearn would switch to them already. IT wouldn't cost them that much to use leds instead of bulbs. ~deryk
Its always fun to put in led's, not. It take me forever to get them in. I solder the SMD together and glue them on the lens for the lights and that is a pain. Liquid tape is great stuff to get rid of light bleed. A little messy.Scott
I have never done a dcc install or added LED's to a loco ,, was thinking this was going to show that ,, but ,,,,,,,nope ,,,,,, lol ,, you get the light bleed all fixed up that going to be a great loco ,,
that's ok ,, lol ,, some day I have to loose the fear of taking the shell off one of these loco's of mine ,, lol ,, I figure I going to break or loose some thing ,, and at 250 a pop ,, well that's enough to keep me from doing it
Trust me, I had some detail parts fall off as I was working on it. But Athearn doesn't do a very good job at gluing some things on. I just had to re-glue them. To be honest, this is the most extensive LED swap that I have done so far. Which is why I didn't video it.
it is the switching out bulbs for LED's I would like to learn most , as you know all my pulling power is dcc and sound ,, can you up grade to LED's in any loco , no matter the brand and or the decoder ?
Have you any expereince in Lok Sound 5 ESU with an athearn Gensis Tsunami 2 sound decoder. I am having trouble consisting. sounds like im gonna have to change to 1 decoder. Hard to decide which lol Cheers!
@@DGModelworks Gotcha worth the ask. I hate how these manufactures have standards but with sound and consisting they just dont care. Lucky the scale trains model looks so nice other wise I would have returned it. Now I have to spend another 130 on a decoder to match my consist. What a joke. lol.
Just received a Athearn Genesis Tsunami 2 Sound GP-38-2 NS and the lights won't work at all. What kind of lights come with this loco from the factory, Bulbs or LEDs? I checked the default settings and no joy there. Checked all my changes in JMRI Decoder Pro as well and no problems there I can see. Would like to have LEDs and ditch lights front/back installed by someone with great eyes and small fingers! Any suggestions for custom installers or do you do this for others yourself? Thanks in advance.
It's strange than non of the lights are working. Athearn has just now started putting LED's in some of their Genesis models. Chances are it still has bulbs in it. Bradley DCC does some really good custom work. I don't have the time for anything like that right now.
You can contact our Customer Support Center and they can help you determine if this is a decoder issue or a model issue. SoundTraxx Customer Support (970)259-0690 ext. 22 or support@soundtraxx.com. You can also contact Athearn customer support.
Deryk...As usual, very nice job! Can't wait to see the loco all buttoned up and running. Are the positive tabs for the lightning on the new Tsunami 2 boards all14v? The reason I'm asking, I'm doing LED upgrades on several Athearn Genesis ES44AC and SD70Ace. There is one common tiny 14v lead on the older Tsunami board that is a little more finicky to work with. The new board seems easier to work with. Have a great day...Fred
The only positive tabs on the Tsunami 2 board is the normal 'common' tabs on each end (your 14 volt), and the 1.5v tab for bulb use. Hope this helps... Pretty easy to work with. There isn't any build in resistors on this board, so don't forget to use them. ~Deryk
Great seeing the work. Question, what glue did you use for the ditch lights? No matter what I do I can not get super glue to bond to any surface of surface mount LEDs.
Thanks, I used super glue for the ditch lights. I put some around the edges of the led and put it up against the hole. The LED was just slightly bigger than the hole for the ditch light. ~Deryk
Hey dude. I just got this decoder and im having a hell of a time figuring out the alternating ditch lights. They are hooked to fx5 & fx6. I followed the manual and set CV 51 & 52 but they still stay steady in forward and reverse. Any idea?
man....I'm looking around and I found a guy who make his own I think and I know I've seen the commercial product your using by where can I find those speakers...please help...I want to do my first video series of a decoder/led upgrade/speaker install for my first attempt...lol...please help...keep doing your Deryk...
