Model Railroading > Loksound decoder issue, no sound

Hey Gang,

I got four Atlas ESU Loksound equipped locomotives in the mail today. These are N scale GP38-2's. All four run fine, independently or in consist together. Two provide sound as designed, two do not. Re: the two that provide no sound, the decoder takes an address, responds to throttle commands perfectly, headlights function on/off as designed just no sound. I have reset the decoder to factory defaults, no sound. I have hit Function 8 (Start-up/shut-down) multiple times, still no sound. Anything simple I am missing? 

I can of course send them off to Atlas, but want to try the easy stuff first. Thanks for any input!

I guess the first simplest question would be are you sure they're indeed sound-equipped and not just sound-ready?

 

Are you using the LokProgrammer and it's software, or something else to reset the decoder?

Arved Grass
Fleming Island, FL

The ESU decoder for sound is quite different than the non-sound, ( called LokSound vs LokPilot ) not sure what the N-scale versions look like but the HO scale and larger are very different. The decoder info that is ' read ' by the throttle, controller or interface is different as well. Should be obvious with either JMRI or the ESU programmer.

I'd be looking for loose speaker wires or similar. Perhaps the current ' draw ' might suggest something but not necessarily.

Consider going to the ESU Groups io discussion site and check around over there, for example use the ESU model number, or the Atlas description. Using the key word search was very useful for me. They do have a lot of gotcha's in the formatting tables but the reset should have cleared them all out, ie it defaults to ' working just fine ' mode.

+ of course there needs to be a way to verify the reset commands actually got in, that would be depending on the confidence of the controller or what ever method is used for the reset. Should be obvious from any previously changed CV's being reset to default.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/31/21 10:47 by TCnR.

Read each decoder, should all have same manufacturer number.  If all have same decoder type
then something is indeed wrong, but if two of them have a different decoder type then you
probably have two non-sound decoders.

WrongWayMurphy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Read each decoder, should all have same
> manufacturer number.  If all have same decoder
> type
> then something is indeed wrong, but if two of them
> have a different decoder type then you
> probably have two non-sound decoders.

Hell, just look to see if there is actually a speaker in the silent units.

Could be a speaker but wrong decoder. Although some decoder boards have speaker solder pads and others don't. Another one of those need more info posts.

But sometimes ya don't know what ya don't know.

Looking at their website, I don't see where they made four different road numbers in sound (for any road). Are you sure you ordered four with sound?

Thanks for all the input. To answer a few questions:

Yes, there are speakers installed.
All four boxes are lettered as Loksound equipped.
Yes, Atlas made three different road numbers, I ordered one duplicate to change/patch with a new number.
I have had the shells off all four units and the part numbers for the decoder are identical
I have reset all four to factory defaults, yes that changes the address back to "03" no sweat, all four respond to commands, but two remain silent.
I have not checked for loose speaker connections/bad speaker. These units use a split frame design. I would have to disassemble the units to get to the speaker. I am concerned about warranty issues if I did that.
I have contacted Atlas about returning the two problem units for inspection and repair. Left a message two days ago, no response but I am willing to be patient on this considering workplace/workforce changes due to the virus.

Thanks again for everyone's help and suggestions, much appreciated!

Is there a way to find out what sound file is loaded in to a Loksound decoder? Maybe the sound file is still blank, ESU ships them out as blank.

If a person had the LokSound programming widget they could follow the instructions and load a new sound file, return it to the seller and have them load it, or find a Club or freind who could load a sound file. Not sure how to determine if the sound file is missing though.