Adding a Tsunami and speaker to my P2K GP7


twforeman

twforeman

Certified Great Northern Nut
Finally bit the bullet and milled the frame of my P2K GP7 to add a Tsunami decoder and speaker.

I have a Shapeoko 3 CNC router/mill, but mainly use it for wood and foam. This was pretty much the first metal I've milled in it. It came out fine, but I had to stop and adjust the process a couple of times.



I milled off the screw bosses where the PC board was mounted and took a little bit more off there, then I removed a bunch of the nose to fit a speaker in it. I should have weighed the frame before and after, but didn't think of it until now. Oh well.

Edited to add: Here is the frame all milled and deburred.



I'll post more photos as I get it all wired up.
 
Got the wiring done for everything except the lights. I cut back the wires and did a much neater job than the first decoder install I did. I may redo the decoder install in the VO-1000 just to neaten it up.

I don't have any LEDs to do the lights with yet, so I'll have to pick some of those up.

I'm happy to report that the shell fit on and sat all the way down on the first try!



I tested it out on the track and the sound works and the locomotive moves. I'll call that a win.
 
Got this all finished up today. I ordered some white SMD LEDs on Amazon - 25 of of them with soldered on leads and three sets of resistors for $9.99. Can't pass up that deal. I think I should have ordered some warm white ones instead, but at $9.99 I'll probably just order another batch.

Anyway, I ended up just gluing the LEDs to the underside of the little covers for the original lights. That worked out pretty well.


I forgot to take a picture after I neatened the wires and taped it all down, but it all fit in the shell still, so I'm happy.

You can see the lights here on the rear of the engine.


You can see that they are pretty white. I'll probably replace them with warm white bulbs in the future. You can also see a lot of bleed into the cab. When I open it up again I'll paint the light pipe black on the outside to try and cut down some of the bleed.

I'm pretty happy with the way this install turned out.
 
If you use a Dremel, take your time and let the tool do the work. The bearings in a Dremel aren't designed for the side loads a milling machine takes. Zamac isn't very homogenous. It has hard spots through it. Makes for interesting work!
 
twforeman said:
Got this all finished up today. I ordered some white SMD LEDs on Amazon - 25 of of them with soldered on leads and three sets of resistors for $9.99. Can't pass up that deal. I think I should have ordered some warm white ones instead, but at $9.99 I'll probably just order another batch.

Anyway, I ended up just gluing the LEDs to the underside of the little covers for the original lights. That worked out pretty well.


I forgot to take a picture after I neatened the wires and taped it all down, but it all fit in the shell still, so I'm happy.

You can see the lights here on the rear of the engine.


You can see that they are pretty white. I'll probably replace them with warm white bulbs in the future. You can also see a lot of bleed into the cab. When I open it up again I'll paint the light pipe black on the outside to try and cut down some of the bleed.

I'm pretty happy with the way this install turned out.
Click to expand...
If that's a Soundtraxx Tsunami2 or Econami decoder, the blue light is coming from an LED on the decoder board, inside the wrap. On their FB page, they got several unfavorable comments about it/them. Seems one is to indicate that the decoder is receiving power, another, or others indicate when the lights are on. Early Tsunamis used red, which although visible, seemed less noticeable.
 
tootnkumin said:
If that's a Soundtraxx Tsunami2 or Econami decoder, the blue light is coming from an LED on the decoder board, inside the wrap. On their FB page, they got several unfavorable comments about it/them. Seems one is to indicate that the decoder is receiving power, another, or others indicate when the lights are on. Early Tsunamis used red, which although visible, seemed less noticeable.
Click to expand...

It is a Tsunami, but its not the light on the decoder that's shining in the cab. It's definitely the LED for the headlight.
 
Not in to DCC, sound, lighting, and such as this, but I enjoyed reading the "build".
A really nice workover and nicely detailed.

NOW, If you provide me an address ... I'll send you mine to workover?
 
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